FAQ

European Universities are transnational alliances that will become the universities of the future, promoting European values and identity, and revolutionising the quality and competitiveness of European higher education. In order to achieve this major step forward, the Commission is testing different cooperation models for European Universities with two calls for proposals under the Erasmus+ programme. The alliances will:

• include partners from all types of higher education institution and cover a broad geographic scope across Europe
• be based upon a co-envisioned long-term strategy focused on sustainability, excellence and European values
• offer student-centred curricula jointly delivered across inter-university campuses, where diverse student bodies can build their own programmes and experience mobility at all levels of study
• adopt a challenge-based approach according to which students, academics and external partners can cooperate in inter-disciplinary teams to tackle the biggest issues facing Europe today

Results of the first call

Out of 54 applications received, 17 European Universities involving 114 higher education institutions from 24 Member States were selected.

This first call, together with a second one launched this autumn, will test different models for the concept of European Universities and examine its potential to transform higher education. For more information, see the Commission factsheet on the Initiative and the 17 European University alliances, as well as the press release.

The European Universities Initiative will be fully rolled out and scaled up under the next Erasmus programme 2021-2027.

The progressive and ambitious consortium “EU-CONEXUS“ („European University for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability“) consists of 6 European Universities – La Rochelle, Athens, Valencia, Zadar, Klaipeda and Bucharest. All these universities share the same geographical region that pays most attention to the sustainability of the coastal area, digitalization and blue growth.

The main goal of the EU-CONEXUS consortium is to implement a brand new idea of European University. It means:

• New inter-disciplinary and international study programs among the members of the consortium;
• Strenghtening international scientific research;
• Creation of common digital libraries;
• Creation of a smart university campus;
• Strengthtening universities’ competitiveness at national and international level;
• New models of mobility;
• Specialists, able to learn and research the sustainability of urbanised coastal areas, blue growth;
• New international academic activities using professional and innovative methods for solving global problems;
• Close cooperation between universities, business enterprises, companies, and municipal authority institutions for joining forces to solve arising regional problems.

E-mail: info@eu-conexus.eu

Information about undergraduate/graduate/PhD courses is here: https://eu-conexus.eu/introduction/studies/joint-degree-programmes/

The 2020 European Universities call for proposals was published on 7 November 2019 and closed on 26 February 2020. For further information, see the presentation on the second call for proposals given at the info session on the European Universities Initiative on 7 November 2019.