AGORA

AGORA is the center of groundbreaking research where young scientists and doctoral candidates investigate the technological, societal, and economic aspects of Metaverse.

Training Young Researchers on Shaping Metaverse for Business and Social Value

Discover the future of Metaverse through AGORA

Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network and supported by a consortium of academic and industry leaders, AGORA promotes forward-thinking innovations that resonate with European values and global technological advancements. The AGORA project values practical experience and strong industry connections. Thus, early-stage researchers involved in AGORA will fulfill physical mobility around Europe at both an academic institution and an industry organization.

IFF has co-organized the EU Blockchain Week on two occasions, and hosted conferences in Nicosia and Ljubljana, in addition to organizing a range of other online workshops and events. Through its involvement in EUBOF, UNIC has participated in projects and initiatives like the Blockchain for the UN Charter Values and the SDGs Action Plan 100+ (BC100+).

INATBA - International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications has recently awarded the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum with an Award for Partnership Excellence.

Project Summary

As metaverses operate in real-time their wide adoption is expected to create digital public spaces for interaction in which the already possible online interactions are intensified and blended with the physical world as never before. To lead in this field and maximize positive implications, Europe needs to ensure that new multi-dimensional challenges arising, are addressed in accordance with European values. AGORA responds to the lack of doctoral programs which go beyond the technical understanding of Metaverses and consider its business and social value while unpacking and addressing potential unintended consequences. Through a rigorous and robust research and training programme, AGORA aims to develop a critical research and talent base capable of leading by example. AGORA’s approach is to train the researchers not only to understand Metaverse's infrastructure but also to understand and oscillate between the different levels of Metaverse’s business and societal value, paving in this way a more integrated understanding of this disruptive ecosystem. Combining theoretical and hands-on industrial research and transferable skills training will enable researchers to target high-quality publication outlets and to become creative and autonomous so that they can exploit and commercialize research results and become competitive in the global arena. One of AGORA’s unique selling points is its ability to prepare the ESRs to work in any of the three pathways (academia, industry, policy making) as well as their intersections. AGORA's inter-sectoral network brings together leading academic and non-academic co-supervision arrangements of high quality, stimulates the development of new industrial doctoral training procedures between top business schools and industries in the region.

AGORA’s Approach

Academic and industrial bodies join forces and share expertise on the impact of Metaverses from different perspectives and train the next researcher generation.

  • AGORA considers the Metaverse's multi-faceted value and challenges.
  • AGORA provides comprehensive training for Doctoral Candidates.
  • AGORA program emphasizes individual research, innovative methods, soft skills enhancement, and networking for diverse future prospects.

Goals

Metaverse Doctoral Programs

AGORA project is a research and educational programme of doctoral studies which aims to train the next generation of Metaverse researchers and practitioners who will be able to address the ecosystem challenges and co-create new knowledge and solutions across sectors and industries. AGORA aims to:

  • Enhance understanding of Metaverse's technological, societal, and business aspects.
  • Address challenges following the European values.
  • Provide comprehensive research, training, and industry insights.
  • Cultivate holistic skills for research excellence and global competitiveness.
  • Prepare Early-Stage Researchers (ESRs) for diverse success pathways.
  • • Emphasize innovation through top academic and industry collaborations.

Early-Stage Research Projects (PhDs)

The methodological approach of AGORA is designed around the following pillars:

  • Societal Considerations
  • Technological Considerations
  • Business and Economic Considerations

Around these pillars the following Early-Stage Research Projects will be undertaken by the AGORA Doctoral Candidates:

  1. 1Decentralized autonomous organizations in the Metaverse
  2. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and asset tokenization
  3. Gamification in the Metaverse for business and market research
  4. Virtual office in the Metaverse
  5. NFTs, customer experience & distribution channels
  6. NFTs, customer experience & distribution channels
  7. Metaverse-driven sustainability
  8. Governance
  9. Digital marketing, ethics, and Metaverse
  10. Product Innovation
  11. Metaverse and Data management
  12. Metaverse adoption in SMEs
  13. Economic models and Business Strategies in Metaverse
  14. Metaverse and responsible business models
  15. Metaverse and non-human agents
  16. New forms of cyber-attacks
  17. Metaverse and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)