Anna-Lena Claeys-Kulik introduces European Commission's European Universities Initiative and explains its background and the current partnerships between universities in Europe.

1. November 2019
European Universities Initiative:
Quo vadis?
AN EUA PERSPECTIVE
Anna-Lena Claeys-Kulik
Policy Coordinator
European University Association

2. Outline • About EUA
• Political context
• Common challenges & how collaboration can help
• EUA key points on the initiative
• 1 pilot call: requirements & results
• 2 pilot call: key features
• Key questions for the future
• Get involved & have your say
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AN EUA PERSPECTIVE
European Universities Initiative: quo vadis?

3. EUA
 750+ HEIs
 48 countries
 33 national
associations
3
INVITED PROJECT

4. Political
context
• Speech of the French President
Emmanuel Macron at Sorbonne
University, September 2017
• EC Communication 2017 outlining
the vision for a European
Education Area by 2025
• Social Summit in Gothenburg
December 2017
• European Council Conclusions
December 2017
4
The European Universities Initiative was born!
AN EUA PERSPECTIVE
European Universities Initiative: quo vadis?

5. Common
challenges
• Rapidly changing labour markets
• Increasing demand for highly skilled people
• Globalisation & digitalisation
• Internationalisation of research
• Financial constraints
• Increases the need for:
 Innovation in L&T
 Strengthening capacity in research & innovation
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AN EUA PERSPECTIVE
European Universities Initiative: quo vadis?

6. How
collaboration
can help
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AN EUA PERSPECTIVE
European Universities Initiative: quo vadis?
• Crossborder collaboration is important for innovation in
L&T: out of 303 respondents to TRENDS 2018
 96% say that international student & staff exchanges are
important for developing L&T
 53% say that they participate in international initiatives for
teaching enhancement
• Pooling resources & sharing services can help increase
quality of research & L&T, efficiency & competitiveness
• Various examples already exist:
 Border region cooperation (EUCOR; University of the
Greater Region; Franco-German University)
 Cooperation of institutions with similar profiles
(EuroTech; YERUN; ECIU; CELSA)
 ... and many others

7. EUA key points • Bottom-up approach
• Provide a framework, put do not prescribe a model
• Take advantage of Europe’s diversity: openess to all
Bologna countries
• Funding of operational costs, not only mobility
• Selection at European level
• Strengthen links between education, research and
innovation
• Need to remove administrative and legal obstacles at
national/sub-national levels
• No duplication, but links & synergies with existing policy
processes (EHEA, ERA ...)
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AN EUA PERSPECTIVE
European Universities Initiative: quo vadis?

8. EC
requirements
for pilots
• Bottom-up networks of European universities, pursuing a
common, long-term strategy for cooperation;
• the support should allow existing networks to scale up their
cooperation on a new/higher level;
• Integrated student and staff mobility;
• Innovative study concepts & approaches to L&T
• Contribute to regional development;
• Mirror Europe's diversity (geographically & profile);
• Socially inclusive, promoting European values and
strengthen European cohesion;
• in the long run, European Universities can contribute to the
development of policies, such as a European diploma and a
European status.
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AN EUA PERSPECTIVE
European Universities Initiative: quo vadis?

9. Results 1st
pilot call
• > 300 higher education institutions from 31 countries participated
• 17 alliances with 114 HEIs from 25 countries were selected (95
among those are EUA members)
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EINE EUA PERSPEKTIVE
Europäische Initiativen: Quo vadis?
2
4
0 1 2
15
2
0
3
11
4
16
2
5
2
12
3
0
2 1
4
2
5
3 3
0
6
1 0 0
3
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
AT BE BG CY CZ DE DK EE EL ES FI FR HR HU IE IT LT LU LV MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK TR UK
Number of HEIs involed in 1st pilot call
Nr of lead applicants Nr of organisations applying as partners Nr of selected HEIsData source: European Commission

10. Topics of first
17 alliances
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AN EUA PERSPECTIVE
European Universities Initiative: quo vadis?
Source: European Commission

11. 2nd pilot call • Launched on 7 November
• Deadline 28 February 2020, 17.00 CET
• 120 million € in total available
• 5 Mio. € per alliance for 3 years
• Maximum 24 new alliances
• Requirements remain the same as for first call
• EC advice: do not copy the first round, but learn from it!
• Call documents available at: EC website SEDIA Funding &
Tenders; European Universities EPP-EUR-UNIV-2020
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AN EUA PERSPECTIVE
European Universities Initiative: quo vadis?
Picture: © Science Business

12. Key questions
for the future
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AN EUA PERSPECTIVE
European Universities Initiative: quo vadis?
• Political level: links btw. European Education Area &
Bologna Process as well as ERA?
• Future geographical scope: E+ programme countries
only; CH?; UK after Brexit?; EHEA ?
• Development of research dimension: how?
• EU programmes: synergies versus simplification?
• Excellence versus/and inclusiveness/cohesion?
• Top-down versus bottom-up?
• Legal: legal status; cross-border accreditation?
• Financial: co-funding?
• Institutional level: capacity & prioritisation of partnerships?
• Impact at system level: sustainabilityy & spill-over?

13. Get involved &
have your say
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AN EUA PERSPECTIVE
European Universities Initiative: quo vadis?
Jan/Febr 2020: launch of EUA membership consultation
on strategic university partnerships
16-17 April 2020: plenary session on university alliances
at EUA Annual Conference in Gdansk
Call for contributions
for presentations & workshops open,
deadline: 9/1/2020
Registrations to
open soon, watch
www.eua.eu

14. Thank you for your attention
© EUA 2018
Anna-Lena Claeys-Kulik, EUA Policy Coordinator
anna.lena.kulik@eua.eu
@AnnaLenaKulik
ANY QUESTIONS?