Tommasina Pianese and Daniela De Gregorio (CNR-ISMed) received the Best Paper award in Track 8 – Educational Innovation at TEEM 2025 – 13th Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality, held at the University of Salamanca (Spain) from 21 to 24 October 2025.

The award-winning paper, entitled Designing Innovative Remote Internships Through Service Design Methodology: A Case for Educational Transformation, presents the results of the activities carried out in the European Erasmus+ PREVIEW project, coordinated by the CNR and completed last August.

The research proposes an innovative approach to the design of remote internships, conceived as experiential learning opportunities capable of responding to changes in contemporary working contexts. For this experience to be truly effective, it must be properly designed and structured. The study highlights how existing literature has mainly focused on the roles of university tutors and company mentors, while neglecting the central role of students in the internship process.

Referring to the principles of Service Design Methodology (SDM), the research proposes a new vision of experiential learning in increasingly dynamic and digitised work contexts. In particular, it introduces the Remote Internship Blueprint (RIB), a tool that allows for a detailed visualisation of the entire remote internship process, distinguishing between frontstage activities (aimed at students) and backstage (support and coordination).

The model offers universities a scalable and replicable methodology for innovating internship programmes as part of the broader digital transformation of education and training. Furthermore, the research highlights the importance of promoting specific skills and attitudes for remote working, for the benefit of students, universities and host organisations.

Daniela De Gregorio is chief technologist at CNR ISMed and project manager for the EU Erasmus+ PREVIEW project Promoting Resilience and Employability in uniVersity students through Internship for futurE Work. She is an expert in European and national planning, with a particular focus on university and postgraduate training programmes. She is responsible for doctoral activities for the FOSSR PNRR project and is also an evaluator for the Indire Agency for the Erasmus Higher Mobility and K220 HED programmes.

Tommasina Pianese is a researcher at CNR ISMed and scientific manager of the EU Erasmus+ PREVIEW project Promoting Resilience and Employability in uniVersity students through Internship for futurE Work. Her research interests include, among others, innovations in remote working models and collaborative spaces. She has published her contributions on the subject in top-tier scientific journals and participated in national and international conferences.

Further information about the conference is available at the link https://2025.teemconference.eu/

Certificate of the Award received