The European Commission presents the additional 24 European Universities that will complement the 17 pilot alliances selected in 2019.
The European Universities initiative aims to enhance the strategic collaboration of of existing Higher Education Institutions (HEI) across Europe. A major goal is to increase the international experience of students, lecturers and staff significantly and to pool infrastructure and resources. In two pilot rounds in 2019 and 2020, a total number of 41 alliances were selected.
In the second pilot call, 62 projects competed for the 24 available grants. The 24 newly selected European Universities involve 165 higher education institutions with different profiles stemming from 26 different Member States as well as from additional other countries participating in the Erasmus+ programme. Switzerland is currently not eligible for this funding instrument, and Swiss institutions are thus not represented in the alliances.
A total budget of up to €287 million is available for all the 41 European Universities of the pilot phase. The major source of funding comes from Erasmus+, with each alliance receiving up to €5 million. However, this amount is complemented with up to €2 million from the Horizon 2020 programme. Projects and funding will last for three years and should help to start implementing the alliances’ plans. The alliances shall gain experiences from which other HEI in Europe can benefit as well.
Recently released survey results indicate that being part of a European University helped institutions to cope with the COVID-19 crisis (see SwissCore article).
The European Universities initiative is part of the European Education Area, which the EU leaders agreed in 2017 to build by 2025. The European Universities will also contribute to better linking the European Education Area and the European Research Area. The European Commission proposed the European Universities as a flagship initiative under the Erasmus+ programme 2021-2027 with support from Horizon Europe and other EU funding programmes.