1. STEM - education for competitiveness: education policy, educational structure and labour market needs, national skills structure

(a)What are the needs of the different EU countries in relation to ensuring the competitiveness, independence and self-sufficiency of their states and their economies in the current geopolitical situation in different sectors of the national economy and what is the related role of higher education?

(b) What is the optimal structure of higher education to meet the needs of society and national economies?

(c) What is the perception of the need for higher education in STEM fields in relation to the structure of national economies?

2. Optimal competence profile of STEM graduates and employers' needs:

(d) What is the role and optimal competency profile of each level of higher education - bachelor's, master's, doctoral - in the national qualification structure in STEM studies and specifically technical education for industry needs?

(e) What is the role of post-secondary and higher vocational education in STEM studies?

(f) What are the educational needs in STEM studies from the perspective of employers, social partners and other stakeholders for designing the optimal competence profile of graduates of higher education programmes?

(g) What are the optimal forms of collaboration between universities and the business ecosystem?

(h) What is the role of technology parks to support entrepreneurship-oriented STEM education?

3. STEM study programmes and their parameters

(i) What are the optimal design parameters of study programmes as products reflecting the educational needs of society and employers (e.g., generality vs. specialisation, theory vs. practice, transferable skills, critical thinking, creativity, imagination, project thinking and project management, teamwork, problem-solving, business thinking, etc.)?

(j) What is the relationship between research-oriented and application-oriented education, the so-called academic and professional STEM studies programmes at different types of universities, their importance and role in the structure of education in terms of qualification and quality assurance standards?

(k) What is the purpose, potential and models of collaborative study programmes implemented in cooperation with industrial partners and other partners from the application sphere, especially at the level of Ph.D. studies in the form of professional or industrial doctorates?

(l) What are the needs, roles and opportunities of extension and post-graduate education as forms of continuing professional development for graduates and employees as a tool for deepening, broadening and upgrading qualifications ("upskilling" and "reskilling") and what are the optimal content and forms of such education for STEM and specifically technical education, including its recognition for practice and further study and certification in the form of micro-certificates?

(m) What is the optimal interface between undergraduate study and postgraduate, further vocational education to provide the necessary skill structure?

4. Marketing STEM education: characteristics of STEM degree candidates and effective marketing

(n) What are the reasons for low or declining interest in STEM studies and how to find solutions to stimulate interest in STEM studies?

(o) What are the motivational/demotivational aspects of decision-making and barriers to studying STEM fields as perceived by the incoming generation of applicants to higher education in the context of their psychographic profile, i.e. their perceptions, thinking, ideas, decision-making, attitudes, motivations, values, needs, preferences, expectations, lifestyles and other influences determining their choices?

(p) What are the roles of prior education at the secondary and primary levels in science subjects and the impact of the quality of teachers and teaching of these subjects on the motivation and preferences of STEM studies choices of university applicants and their successful mastery? In relation:

- Achievement and personality indicators of potential STEM studies applicants' optimal entry competencies and abilities for successful mastery of STEM studies at a given level of high school preparedness;

- the causes, possible solutions and measures that could lead to reform of the teaching of science subjects in primary and secondary schools, to increase preferences for choosing to study STEM subjects

- perception of the opportunities and prospects for future employment of graduates in these fields.

(q) What is the role of marketing and the different tools of the marketing mix in effectively influencing the decision-making of applicants for higher education and their recruitment for STEM studies?