The General Assembly started by continuing the debate on the European Commission’s strategic priorities for Horizon Europe and its framing of the next framework programme for R&I (FP10). The Guild’s Presidents also discussed the major challenges research-intensive universities are facing today (e.g. safeguarding academic freedom and institutional autonomy and realising the Sustainable Development Goals) and established The Guild’s priorities for 2023-2024. Presidents stressed the importance of tackling foreign and political interference and exchanged best practices on how to deal with responsible internationalisation.
On the second day, the Presidents had the pleasure to welcome Minister of Research and Higher Education of Norway Sandra Borch to discuss the state of play of Norway’s national R&I strategy in relation to the EU’s R&I policy. Minister Borch highlighted the importance of research and education in addressing Norway’s most pressing challenges through programmes and initiatives such as Horizon Europe and its R&I missions, ERA, and Erasmus+. The Guild Presidents stressed that international collaboration and interdisciplinarity are crucial in responding to global societal challenges. Moreover, the Presidents urged the need for an ERA Action on fundamental research to agree on common objectives for boosting Europe's scientific leadership.
The Guild and ARUA (The African Research Universities Alliance) recently launched twenty Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence (CoRE) which aim to address key societal and scientific challenges framed by the AU-EU Innovation Agenda through equitable and sustainable partnerships. Bjørg Sandkjær, State Secretary for International Development at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs joined the session to share insights on recent developments related to development-oriented R&I, and the Presidents underlined the need for more investments in this domain. Additionally, Sandkjær discussed Norway’s strategy for international cooperation with Africa for research, education, and capacity-building. The outcomes of the session restated the need for equitable long-term scientific partnerships between the two continents.
The meeting concluded with two vital sessions on how universities are responding to the increasing presence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how universities can combat foreign interference in R&I and higher education. Presidents Toomas Asser from the University of Tartu and Gregor Majdič from the University of Ljubljana shared their universities’ strategies to respond to the increasing influence and presence of AI in higher education. Presidents stated that developing institutional approaches to the use of AI in education and research should be a priority for European universities.
New Board member
Daniel David, Rector of Babeș-Bolyai University was elected as member of the Board. He replaces Oriol Amat, former Rector of Pompeu Fabra University. The current Board consists of Svein Stølen, Chair of The Guild and Rector of the University of Oslo, Toomas Asser, Vice-Chair of The Guild and Rector of the University of Tartu, Rachel Sandison, Treasurer of The Guild and Vice-Principal of the University of Glasgow and Anders Hagfeldt, Board member and Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University. The Guild looks forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration.
Svein Stølen, Rector of the University of Oslo and Chair of The Guild said: “I am very happy to welcome Daniel David as a new board member of The Guild. As Rector of Babeș-Bolyai University, David has already brought important dimensions to The Guild’s work, strengthening its focus on excellence as it brings together leading universities from all parts of Europe. I am confident that his experience and perspectives will be a great asset to the Board.”
Daniel David, Rector of Babeș-Bolyai University said: ‘’The “world-class” model based on the research-intensive mission is the one which, in the end, stimulates the evolution of our civilization by major paradigmatic changes and advances, together with other important but more incremental innovations generated by all university models. By my new position as Board member of The Guild, I will defend and promote this model for those who assume it, as a complementary model to other legitimate ones, but also as a “gold standard” of the academic area, in the ultimate major benefit of people and society.’’