trAining younG researchers On shaping MetaveRse for business and social vAlue (AGORA)

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.