A decade of Guild

This year, we celebrate our 10-year anniversary. On this page you can find highlights from our work over the past ten years.

Anniversary publication

To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have created a special publication covering the main highlights of our work from the past decade.

Read our anniversary publication!

Strengthening the voice of universities

685 Current working group members

413 Internal meetings

152 Statements, Insight and Position papers

Social sciences, arts and humanities in Horizon Europe

Strengthening SSAH

We build on the input of SSAH communities and strengthen them through sharing best practice and regular meetings

Horizon Europe

We teamed up with other networks to ensure that SSAH integration was introduced as an explicit objective – and legal requirement – in FP9

ERC and MSCA

Our vocal support for the ERC and MSCA directly supported SSAH researchers, as in recent years over 25% of ERC grants have been awarded to SSAH researchers

Key to EU strategy

We have consistently sought to place SSAH research at the centre of the Commission’s strategic priorities, most recently in formulating ambitious SSAH-led R&I Moonshots (2025)

Driving EU research cohesion

February 2021

First meeting of the Research Careers & Assessment working group on the research assessment reform

March 2021

First Commission meeting with stakeholders on research assessment

May and September 2021

Bilateral consultation with European Commission

November 2021

Publication of European Commission’s scoping report Towards a reform of the research assessment system

December 2021

Stakeholder meeting on Research Assessment Reform

July 2022

Publication of the Agreement on Research Assessment Reform

February - October 2022

Core group meetings on drafting the research assessment agreement & meetings with the Stakeholder Assembly on Research Assessment Reform

October 2022

Publication CoARA Governance Document, Rules of Procedure and Code of Conduct

European Universities alliances

2018

Among the first networks to publish a Position Paper on the emerging European Universities Initiative

2019

We organised a Forum on European Universities alliances to discuss links between ERA and EEA

2021

We launched recommendations on the way forward for alliances at the end of the pilot phase

2021

We provided input into a series of consultations on the European Strategy for Universities

2022

Our response to the European Strategy for Universities

2024

Proposals on the Investment Pathway to strengthen alliances’ priority-setting and European added value, including research excellence

2025

Our Insight Paper Pilots without pathways offers detailed reflection on achievements and challenges, reshaping the narrative on alliances

Academic freedom

2021

We called for a European Ombudsperson to flag attacks swiftly and impartially

Since 2022

We have been providing input into EU initiatives to strengthen freedom of scientific research

2023

We joined the Sounding Board of Stakeholders for the European Parliament’s annual Academic Freedom Monitor

2025

Launch of our Annual Academic Freedom Lecture to bring together academia and policymakers

2025

Pioneering and comprehensive policy position in response to the EU’s ‘Choose Europe’ initiative, doubling down on the need to strengthen science as a global public good, in the face of varied and comprehensive attacks worldwide

AU-EU Innovation Agenda

2018

Start of ARUA partnership
2018-2020: Input into all the consultations informing EU strategy

2020

First Insight Paper, authored by Peter Maassen, and joint policy papers with ARUA

2021

ARUA–The Guild transcontinental conference
AU-EU Summit endorses draft AU-EU Innovation Agenda

2022

Stakeholders representing over 2,000 universities support our Call for Action to implement the Innovation Agenda

2023

Launch of the Africa-Europe CoRE in Brussels
Final AU-EU Innovation Agenda adopted

2024

Africa-Europe CoRE officially recognised as an AU-EU Innovation Initiative

2025

We championed the AU-EU Innovation Agenda at two Global Gateway Forums and AU-EU Business Forum in Luanda

Africa-Europe CoRE within two years

143

Principal investigators in European institutions

269

Principal investigators in African institutions

88

Publications in academic journals

+ $40m

Third-party funding awards for CoRE partners and activities

$4.3m

ARUA-Mastercard Early Career Fellowship Initiative

Launch of a new Africa-Europe Partnership

to strengthen research on mpox and Lassa fever under Team Europe’s AU-EU Health Partnership

University network collaborations

Horizon Europe and Erasmus+

The Guild was part of a core group of university networks that led the sector in providing joint amendments to the Commission’s proposals for FP9, FP10 and Erasmus+

EIC Board

The Guild led a coalition of university networks, research and technology organisations, and knowledge valorisation professionals to engage with the EIC Board and convince them to amend the EIC IP rules.

ERASuD collaboration

Together with the European Research Alliance for Sustainable Development (ERASuD), which brings together think tanks, universities and research centres, we have advocated for a strong research dimension as part of the EU Global Gateway.

UK/Swiss association

From the beginning, The Guild has emphasised the importance of UK and Swiss association, from leading an open letter to Commission President von der Leyen, to engaging with joint initiatives with other networks and stakeholders in Brussels, the UK and Switzerland.

Trusted space

We have provided a trusted space for informal discussions among Secretary-Generals of the European Universities alliances with whom we share members, and with a group of R&I Councillors from Widening countries.

Research matters

We are a founding organisation of Research Matters, an informal network of stakeholders, to ensure unity, clarity and impact in calling for an increase to the Horizon Europe’s budget to EUR200bn in 2028–34.

Public visibility

92 Opinion pieces in R&I media

1 210 Media comments

10 031 LinkedIn followers

Making a concrete difference

We have consistently argued that Horizon Europe must be distinguished by research excellence, pushing back tendencies in the Commission to steer funding towards predefined policy goals. The global impact of Horizon Europe depends on the quality of the problems identified and the research undertaken, as recognised by researchers, not politicians, including through world-leading programmes like the European Research Council and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.