The COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) initiative between the University of Barcelona (UB) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) aims to provide an international and interdisciplinary learning experience for students of the Master’s Degree in Digital Humanities. Through collaborative project-based learning, mixed UB–VU teams will work on the transformation of textual and documentary corpora into knowledge graphs (KGs) and explore their integration with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and neurosymbolic artificial intelligence (NeSyAI).

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam contributes to the initiative through its participation in the Hybrid Intelligence Centre, an inter-university consortium dedicated to the development of human-centred artificial intelligence systems that enhance learning, reasoning and decision-making through meaningful human–AI interaction. This collaboration situates the project within a leading European ecosystem of responsible and explainable AI applied to cultural heritage and humanities data.

The COIL combines synchronous and asynchronous learning activities through a co-teaching model involving UB and VU lecturers. Students will engage in corpus and metadata curation, semantic modelling, knowledge graph construction, querying and validation processes, as well as experimentation with hybrid workflows integrating KG, RAG and NeSyAI technologies. The project culminates in a shared final product consisting of a technical artefact and a methodological report jointly presented by each international team.

Objectives of the Study

This project aims to strengthen the internationalization of the Master’s in Digital Humanities while fostering advanced technical and intercultural competences in collaborative digital environments. The initiative focuses on the practical application of semantic technologies and hybrid AI approaches to cultural and historical datasets through project-based learning methodologies.

The main objectives are:

• Promote internationalization through an inclusive international learning experience integrated into the curriculum and accessible to all students.
• Strengthen technical skills in cultural data curation, semantic modelling, knowledge graphs and neurosymbolic artificial intelligence (NeSyAI).
• Foster collaborative work in international and interdisciplinary teams through synchronous and asynchronous digital learning environments.
• Transfer advanced research methodologies and tools into teaching practice within the Master’s in Digital Humanities.
• Consolidate collaboration between UB and VU as a basis for future mobility initiatives, joint teaching experiences and international research projects.

Team

Prof. Sabina Batlle

Prof. Marina Salse

Prof. Miquel Centelles (PI)

Prof. Victor de Boer

Prof. Núria Ferran-Ferrer

Prof. Ilaria Tiddi

Expected Impact

The COIL is expected to have a direct and measurable impact on students by improving both intercultural collaboration skills and advanced competences in cultural data management, semantic technologies and explainable AI systems. Through the development of shared technical artefacts and methodological reports, students will acquire transferable skills relevant to research, heritage institutions and the digital labour market.

At faculty level, the project will generate reusable teaching resources including COIL guides, rubrics, datasets, activity scripts and knowledge graph templates that will support the long-term sustainability and replicability of the initiative. The project also reinforces the international profile of the Faculty of Information and Audiovisual Media (FIMA) in emerging areas such as Digital Humanities, cultural data and hybrid AI.

Beyond the university environment, the initiative aims to establish connections with the broader GLAM sector (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums), public administration and private organizations through demonstrable technological artefacts and transferable methodologies.

Sustainability

The sustainability of the project is based on the curricular integration of the COIL experience and the reuse of the teaching and technological resources developed during the pilot phase. The materials and methodologies generated will contribute to the redesign of the Master’s in Digital Humanities curriculum for the academic year 2026–2027.

The project also has potential to evolve into a microcredential programme due to its strong alignment with emerging trends in semantic technologies, retrieval-augmented generation and neuro-symbolic AI. The pilot experience will provide evidence and assessment data to improve and consolidate the initiative as a stable and replicable educational practice.

Institutional Collaboration

The collaboration between the University of Barcelona and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam strengthens FIMA’s international network and connects the Master’s programme with one of Europe’s leading ecosystems in human-centred AI research. Through the Hybrid Intelligence Centre, the partnership provides expertise in semantic technologies, knowledge graphs and neuro-symbolic systems, enabling the co-design of explainable and traceable AI workflows applied to Digital Humanities and cultural data.

Project Timeline

March – July 2026
Co-design phase between UB and VU, including curricular alignment, activity planning, rubric development, teaching material production and technical testing.

September – December 2026
Implementation of the COIL pilot (approximately five weeks), evaluation activities and final reporting.

Funding

Overall project budget: €6,000
Funding requested: €5,000
Co-financing: €1,000