After yesterday's results of the second Erasmus+ pilot call on European Universities, the higher education community is enriched by twenty-four new university alliances. So far, almost 300 institutions have been awarded this prestigious and responsible role of leading the European Universities initiative.
We are particularly pleased that eleven Guild members are taking part in three winning alliances: ENLIGHT - European university Network to promote equitable quality of Life, sustainability and Global engagement through Higher education Transformation (including Groningen, Göttingen, Ghent, Uppsala, Tartu), Circle U. (including Oslo, King’s College London, UCLouvain, Université de Paris, Aarhus) and NeurotechEU - European University of Brain and Technology including Radboud University.
Commenting on the results, Jan Palmowski, Secretary-General of The Guild, said: "From the inception of the European Universities idea, The Guild has been active in the process of co-creating the European Universities initiative. We are delighted that through their success eleven more of our members can now implement their pioneering ideas for new initiatives for research, education, student mobility, citizen engagement and innovation."
Vincent Blondel, Chair of The Guild and Rector at UCLouvain, said: "Universities have a crucial role to play and we must strengthen all links so that knowledge has a real impact for all citizens. The COVID-19 health crisis is an example, but we also face many other challenges."
The Guild wishes all selected alliances success and the necessary support in testing new concepts related to pedagogical innovation, mobility and university cooperation. In the past few months universities have proven to be not only resilient institutions but also places of great adaptability to new (virtual) challenges.
See below some of our President's reactions shared on social media:
YES!!!
— Rik Van de Walle (@rvdwalle) July 9, 2020
The @EU_Commission gave green light for the ENLIGHT European University Alliance. Nine universities will join forces: Ghent (BE), Göttingen (DE), Tartu (EE), Basque Country (ES), Bordeaux (FR), Galway (IE), Groningen (NL), Uppsala (SE) and Comenius Bratislava (SK). 👍👍👍 pic.twitter.com/qwSO8r5Pea
Feirer sterkt europeisk utdanningspartnerskap! @CircleU_eu @UniOslo @SP_UiO @Dikunytt https://t.co/3eeJ3jSmg7 pic.twitter.com/00PjU11hz8
— Svein Stølen (@sveinstlen) July 9, 2020