University of Konstanz recognised as “European University”

Along with its four project partners in Bulgaria, Denmark, France and Greece, the University of Konstanz was successful in the European Universities Initiative (EUI) of the European Commission. In the next three years, the partners’ “European Reform University Alliance” (ERUA) will receive funding of approximately five million euros to establish a pan-European university network.

Together with Roskilde University (Denmark), Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (France), the New Bulgarian University (Bulgaria) and the University of the Aegean (Greece), the University of Konstanz was successful in the second round of the Erasmus+ European Universities Initiative. Starting in the autumn of 2020, the partners’ European Reform University Alliance (ERUA), along with 23 other university networks in Europe, will receive funding from the European Commission for an initial period of three years.

Establishing a European university
The European Reform University Alliance consists of five young European reform universities that will form a transnational university network with the same shared values and goals in research, teaching and continual institutional development. “One of the goals of the European Universities Initiative is to create a blueprint for an ideal European university”, explains Professor Silvia Mergenthal, Vice Rector for International Affairs and Equal Opportunities at the University of Konstanz. “I am convinced that our alliance, with the narrative of permanent institutional renewal shared by all five project partners, can make a decisive contribution to reaching this goal”.

Research, teaching and strategic development
While the ERUA members will engage in individual collaborations, reflection on reform processes will also play a particularly important role in the area of research. The alliance’s main focus, however, will be on teaching: Its members will ensure better student mobility by offering study programmes that are flexible and can be completed around Europe. They will exchange innovative teaching and learning forms and intensify initiatives involving staff exchange, staff mobility and best practices. Capacity-building projects and transfer initiatives that impact society will give the participating universities new impulses to establish their positions in science and society.

About the European Universities Initiative (EUI)
The European Universities Initiative (EUI) is one of the European Union’s (EU) flagship initiatives for the European education area. The initiative aims to strengthen strategic partnerships between universities across the EU and create 41 “European Universities” by 2024.

Facts:

  • Along with its four project partners in Bulgaria, Denmark, France and Greece, the University of Konstanz, as one of 165 European universities and 24 university networks, will receive funding in the second round of the European Universities Initiative (EUI) of the European Commission.
  • Successful application of the European Reform University Alliance (ERUA) to establish a transnational university network for the purpose of developing the European universities of the future on the basis of shared reform values.
  • Project partners of the University of Konstanz in the ERUA consortium: Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (France), Roskilde University (Denmark), the New Bulgarian University (Bulgaria) and the University of the Aegean (Greece).
  • Start of funding: Autumn 2020.
  • Funding amount and duration: Approximately five million euros for three years.
  • For a deeper look at Konstanz’s role in the European Universities Initiative, see the interview with Professor Silvia Mergenthal, Vice Rector for International Affairs and Equal Opportunities at the University of Konstanz, published in campus.kn, the university’s online magazine.