The objective of the DigiOmica project is to develop an innovative educational curriculum based on ICT, molecular life sciences, and the EQF/NQF strategic systems for the education process. The DigiOmica project's motivation was to provide in-depth insight into the application of advanced molecular technologies for ecological and health outcomes. The project integrates omics knowledge with digital learning approaches in the DigiOmica curriculum, which reveals HE prospects for green and innovation policies in Bulgaria, Spain, and Türkiye. The innovative multilingual blended educational content for HE stakeholders supports HE interdisciplinarity and gives in-depth insight into molecular changes and ecological outcomes. By implementing the project, the realization of the following specific project objectives was foreseen: - Increased activities and practices of project partners institutions. - Enhanced capacity of organizations to work transnationally and across sectors. - Addressed mutual needs and priorities of education and training through improved connections to job opportunities. - Transformation at individual, organizational, and sectoral levels leading to systemic and lasting change in environmental omics education.
Omics has undergone rapid development in recent decades. This progress was driven by improvements in genome decoding techniques and high-throughput technologies. Environmental omics is the application of omics technologies to understand genetic factors, toxicity mechanisms, and modes of response to environmental stress. The rapid growth and the inter- and multidisciplinarity of omics biology motivate the development of DigiOmica. The project addresses the need for: • Enhancing understanding of living systems at the molecular level to benefit higher education (HE) players by providing innovative HE curriculum content and teaching methods tailored to modern scientific needs. • Selecting education technology, offered by Education 4.0, and linked to the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Currently, there is a lack of such methods in HE practice. • Innovative curriculum structuring through the development of a new HE program that changed the learning environment from a theoretical to a practical and concept-based one. Thus, DigiOmica answers the emerging need for digital transformation of HE. It focuses on advanced environmental omics knowledge that fosters the circular transition to the 4.0 industry and supports interdisciplinarity in HE.