01 October 2023 marks an important date for the E³UDRES² European University Alliance: The initial funding phase spanning over three years (Oct 2020 - Sept 2023) has come to an end, and the network starts into the next four years with renewed ambition and high goals. While the first phase of E³UDRES² was mainly about setting up structures for efficient collaboration across nine institutions, hosting pilot events and setting up the base for future work, the main focus of phase 2 lies on systemising, intensifying and expanding the existing cooperation of the now nine partner universities throughout Europe. Until 2027, the European Commission will support the network with funding amounting to 14.4 million euros. “With the extension we can make a significant contribution to strengthening the European higher education, research and innovation area. Our alliance is seen as a best practice example in the European higher education area – so we are particularly pleased to be starting the second phase with this confirmation,” says Hannes Raffaseder, Lead Coordinator of E³UDRES² and CEO of the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences.
Countless opportunities
With the start of the next phase of the alliance, all nine partners (including the newcomers Fulda UAS, Saxion UAS and JAMK UAS) are now equally on board and can make use of the funding, expertise, and resources of the whole network. Over 100,000 students can benefit from the network's diverse activities as well as the numerous opportunities for mobility and intercultural exchange of experiences. Intensive partnerships will also be developed with six further universities from Ukraine, the Republic of Kosovo, and Albania over the next few years. In addition, 36 business networks, business agencies, NGOs and other regional stakeholders contribute as associated members to the establishment and expansion of the E³UDRES² Alliance as a particularly socially committed and entrepreneurial European university to strengthen regionally anchored innovation ecosystems with networks at the European level. With the start of the next phase of the alliance, the focus areas and research networks will be expanded around the topics of “Health, Wellbeing and Social Inclusion”, “Digital Solutions & (Applied) Deep Tech”, “Resilient Economy & Innovation”, and “Creative Industries for Regions’ Identity”. In addition, new joint degrees, joint PhD programs, centers of excellence for research, innovation hubs for collaboration with start-ups and leading companies and an expansion of activities for and with society are planned. “We have already founded a joint supporting organization in St. Pölten and are therefore the first European University Alliance with its own legal status and headquarters in St. Pölten. With the new structures, we will coordinate the strategic developments of the participating universities even better and further develop them together in order to take big steps closer to the common goal of establishing a fully-fledged European University in the next few years,” states Raffaseder.
Read more about the launch of E³UDRES² 2.0 in our latest press release.
Links
➞ European Universities Initiative
