Academic mobility, education and scientific research can become powerful tools for building collaborations that extend well beyond the lifespan of a single project. This is one of the key legacies of CoEHAR’s involvement in TNE-LEGO – Transnational Education, “Italy-East Asia Cooperation: from Local Expertise to a Global Outlook”, a project that strengthened cooperation between Italian and Asian universities and, for the University of Catania, provided new momentum to its collaboration with Indonesia.
Coordinated by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and funded under the TNE – Transnational Education initiatives of Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), LEGO brought together 12 Italian universities and a broad network of Asian partners, promoting international mobility, advanced training, knowledge exchange and new academic collaborations.
According to the project’s official results, LEGO generated a total of 555 international mobilities, exceeding the initial target of 511, while contributing to the development of new cooperation opportunities among participating institutions.
From Catania to Bandung: a partnership built over time
For the University of Catania, TNE-LEGO represented above all an opportunity to further strengthen the scientific partnership that CoEHAR has developed over the years with Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD) in Bandung, Indonesia.
The collaboration began several years ago and has progressively expanded through research, education and capacity-building activities, including international initiatives such as REPLICA and the SMILE Study, eventually leading to the establishment of CoEHAR Padjadjaran, a hub dedicated to research, education and health promotion in Indonesia.
TNE-LEGO built on this already well-established partnership, turning academic mobility into a further opportunity for scientific cooperation. In June 2025, the programme carried out in Bandung with the involvement of Prof. Riccardo Polosa engaged six university faculties and reached more than 1,100 students, through seminars and academic activities spanning respiratory medicine, tobacco harm reduction, public and oral health, nursing sciences, replication science and sports medicine.
The experience generated outcomes extending well beyond mobility: four peer-reviewed scientific publications, two joint grant proposals, PhD co-supervision and mentoring activities, new research protocols and projects, as well as an additional mobility programme supported by the Indonesian Government, which was completed in January 2026.
Seven years of cooperation towards a model for international academic partnerships
This continuity is now emerging as one of the most significant outcomes of the experience. The conclusion of TNE-LEGO does not mark the end of the collaboration between Catania and Bandung. Instead, it provides the starting point for a new scientific reflection on what has been achieved over the years.
Prof. Polosa has announced a new scientific paper currently in preparation, examining seven years of CoEHAR’s experience in Indonesia. The work will explore the model developed through health promotion, education, research and international mobility, assessing its potential as a model for university cooperation in LMICs – Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
“The real success of LEGO will not be measured only by activities completed, but by the partnerships strengthened, the knowledge shared, and the opportunities created for the future,” said Prof. Riccardo Polosa, founder of CoEHAR.
The CoEHAR experience demonstrates how international mobility can become much more than a temporary exchange between universities: it can provide a starting point for building expertise, scientific relationships, research projects and new opportunities for collaboration.
This is also part of the broader legacy of TNE-LEGO: turning cooperation between Italy and Asia into academic and scientific relationships capable of continuing beyond the end of project funding.
For CoEHAR, that continuity is already tangible: seven years of collaboration with Indonesia, educational activities and international mobility, joint scientific publications, and new projects looking ahead to the future of university cooperation and health research.
Find out more: official results of the TNE-LEGO project on the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice website. TNE-LEGO project results
