European Universities – Development of deep institutional transnational cooperation (ERASMUS-EDU-2024-EUR-UNIV-1)

The ‘European Universities’ initiative is part of the ‘Partnerships for Excellence’ support provided in the framework of the new Erasmus+ Programme. This initiative has an ambitious mandate aimed to trigger and deepen unprecedented levels of institutional cooperation between higher education institutions, making it systemic, structural and sustainable. It aims to encourage the emergence of bottom-up alliances of universities across Europe, which will enable students to combine studies in several countries.

In line with the priorities of the European Education Area by 2025, these European Universities intend to:

• Promote common European values and a strengthened European identity by bringing together a new generation of Europeans able to cooperate within different cultures, languages, and across borders, sectors and academic disciplines;

• Reach a substantial leap in quality, performance, attractiveness and competitiveness of European higher education institutions, and contribute to the European knowledge economy, employment, creativity, culture and welfare by making the best use of innovative pedagogies and striving to make the knowledge square a reality. ‘European Universities’ will be key drivers to boost the quality of higher education and where possible to strengthen its link to the research and innovation landscape in Europe and its outreach towards the society and economy.

Activities that can be funded: Applicants can submit a proposal that aims to set-up alliances going beyond any existing bilateral and multilateral cooperation, through a step-by-step approach towards deeper institutionalised transnational cooperation and gradually achieving the long-term ambitious vision for European Universities. This action will test different innovative and structural models for implementing and achieving the long-term vision that has the potential to transform the institutional cooperation between higher education institutions and bring it to the next level. They will have the possibility to associate academic and non- academic partners from the world of work and to grow at a later stage. Higher education institutions will gradually implement the activities that are necessary to achieve their long-term vision, starting by increasing their level of integration. To achieve this objective, they will agree on a joint mission statement9 endorsed by the relevant decision-making bodies10 at institutional level of each member of the alliance. This mission statement will entail a full joint strategy outlining the long- term vision to drive systemic, structural and sustainable impact at all levels of the institutions (e.g. governance, academics, professional/support staff and students), and across different areas of activity (strong education focus with links where possible to research and innovation and service to society), going beyond the alliance EU funding period and building on their complementary strengths. As this action follows a bottom-up approach, each alliance will have the flexibility to shape through a step-by-step approach its joint work plan of activities that is the most relevant to reach their strategic objectives and that will enable them to achieve the long-term vision of European Universities described above. This joint work plan of activities should be supported by the design of relevant and efficient common management and governance structures.

To achieve this, the present call will provide support for applicants wishing to establish deep institutional transnational cooperation in a ‘European Universities’ alliance.

The European Universities initiative responds to a long-term vision that has the potential to transform the institutional cooperation between higher education institutions and bring it to the next level. In this context, ’European Universities’ will reach the above aims by gradually implementing the following specific objectives:

• Develop and implement an integrated long-term joint strategy5 for education with, where possible, links to research and innovation, and service to society, that is responsive to the digital and green transition and key socio- economic challenges, while remaining committed to excellence:
  • → Based on a common vision and shared values, for pursuing a high level of systemic, structural and sustainable institutional cooperation at all levels of the involved institutions, across all their missions, and across different areas of activity, building on their complementary strengths.
  • → Supported by the design and implementation of relevant and efficient joint management and governance structures6. Students and staff at all levels of the participating organisations are empowered to take an active role in the governance structures of the alliance, where the diversity of the student and staff bodies is reflected.
  • → Building on a shared pool of resources (financial, human, digital and physical, intellectual and administrative resources, infrastructure, data and services) to ensure joint capacity and capability, reach critical mass and facilitates access to high quality and inclusive education. Where appropriate, pilot or fully implement a common legal status for the alliance, to facilitate pooling together resources and activities to reach higher levels of excellence, acting with a legal personality.
• Establish a European higher education inter-university ‘campus ‘where:
  • → Students, doctoral candidates, and staff benefit from seamless mobility opportunities (physical, blended mobility or virtual learning) to study, train, teach, do research, work, or share services in any of the partner institutions. Embedded mobility at all levels, including at Bachelor, Master and Doctoral levels, is a standard feature. At least 50% of the students within the alliance should benefit from such mobility, be it physical, virtual, or blended.
• New joint, flexible and innovative curricula are delivered, where relevant, in the three cycles (Bachelor, Master and Doctoral), based on inter-disciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches, integrating student-centred learning approaches and innovative pedagogies, including the use of the latest digital technologies and the STEAM approach. While content is personalised, cooperation is global, in particular to develop the green and digital skills that society needs. Students at all levels are empowered to customise their own flexible curricula, choosing where and what to study, within the confines of pedagogically sound and logically structured study programmes between the different higher education institutions and other members of the alliance, setting a solid ground for exploring the feasibility of a possible joint degree at all levels, based on co-created European criteria, to be delivered at all levels, based on co-created European criteria, to be delivered at national, regional or institutional level, in accordance with the National Qualifications Frameworks.
• Other flexible learning opportunities and alternative learning pathways are offered to learners at all stages of life, across disciplines and sectors, including small volumes of learning leading to micro-credentials.
  • → Practical and work-based experience and traineeships supported by external mentors are provided to foster entrepreneurial mindsets and civic engagement, as well as to promote knowledge transfer with surrounding ecosystems; employability and flow of talent with other sectors is amplified.
  • → The student, academic and research body better reflects the social, economic and cultural diversity of the global population, including lifelong learners, part- time and non-traditional students. Access, participation and completion of under-represented and disadvantaged groups are ensured. Institutional change is fostered, for example, through the development of inclusive gender equality and inclusion plans at institutional level, complemented by actions at the level of the alliance.
  • → Diverse career paths are rewarded and valorised, while the academic, teaching, research careers are strengthened; parity of esteem between teaching and research is ensured when it comes to academic career assessment. → European Universities are expected to work towards open science, open education and open data practices.
  • → Any other creative and innovative activities that are key to reach the joint long- term strategy are implemented.
• Build European knowledge-creating teams (“challenge-based approach”) of students and academics, possibly together with researchers, entrepreneurs, companies, local and regional actors, and civil society actors – depending on the overall strategy and vision of the alliance – working together to address societal and other challenges of their choice in an inter-disciplinary approach through:
  • → Challenge-based approaches combining shared education, teaching and learning, pedagogical innovation, research and innovation and allowing involved parties to work jointly and across disciplines through investigation and invention, thus reinforcing excellence in education and research and engagement with citizens.
  • → Innovative learning and training that develop knowledge and equip students, lifelong learners and researchers with critical thinking, entrepreneurial, creative and transversal skills, and innovative spirit relevant for a fast-changing labour market and profound structural transition-driven changes in markets, technologies and society, including through the transfer of research results back into education e.g., in teaching, re-skilling, through student traineeships in research teams.
  • → Innovative solutions adaptable to different regions in Europe. 

In addition, ‘European Universities’ should progressively build their capacity to act as models of good practice to further increase the quality, international competitiveness and attractiveness of the European higher education landscape. European Universities, in cooperation with their national authorities, should commit to work towards relevant policy objectives of the European Education Area, such as: multilingualism; automatic recognition of academic qualifications and learning periods abroad provided for by the participating higher education institutions within the alliance; the implementation of the European Student Card initiative; where relevant, the implementation of a whole institutional approach to sustainability and climate literacy and mainstreaming of education for sustainable development across all levels and disciplines; as well as the Bologna key commitments (quality assurance, recognition, and wherever applicable three cycle degree); and share relevant data with the European Higher Education Observatory. European Universities alliances are also encouraged to work together, for example by forming hubs, together with their innovation ecosystems, to join forces and work on common actions for bringing synergies between education and innovation, as highlighted in the European strategy for universities and the new European Innovation Agenda.

The European Universities alliances are expected to benefit to all involved higher education institutions, higher education systems, EU Member States, and the broader society and HEIs ecosystem. European Universities are expected to trigger the following impact:

• Play a critical role in promoting the European way of life, and in achieving the European Education Area and the European Research Area, in synergy with the European Higher Education Area.
• Contribute to a more united, innovative, digital, connected, and green Europe, open to the wider world, by increasing the resilience, excellence, geographical and social inclusiveness of European higher education institutions.
• Increase the attractiveness and competitiveness of participating higher education institutions on the global scene, by becoming stronger together through deeper transnational cooperation and seamless mobility of students, academics, and researchers, and creating and sharing knowledge, developing new concepts, technologies, and innovation at unprecedented speed.
• Promote European values, foster respect of academic freedom and institutional autonomy and strengthen the European identity for all learners, teachers, researchers, and staff to cooperate and co-create knowledge within different European and global cultures, in different languages, across borders, sectors and academic disciplines. • Act as actors of change for the digital and green transitions, for Europe’s recovery and future resilience.
• Boost the excellence dimension of higher education, research, and innovation, while promoting gender equality, inclusiveness, diversity, and equity.
• Trigger a much deeper level of transnational institutional cooperation between higher education institutions, leading to long-term structural institutional transformation with positive impact on higher education learning and teaching, fostering joint educational activities and allowing for more inclusive and enhanced flexible learning approaches. Improve students’, staff, researchers and lifelong learners’ skills and employability perspectives, including entrepreneurial, transversal, intercultural, digital and green skills, and fuel innovation through a flow of creative talents to support the establishment and scaling up of start-ups and SMEs in Europe, notably by setting up and reinforcing technology transfer, or sharing knowledge and technology transfer capacity, thus potentially supporting the development of emerging novel concepts likely to lead to breakthroughs or market creative innovations.
• Make lifelong learning a reality in higher education, by offering diverse education opportunities and introducing innovative and student-centred pedagogies, jointly delivered across European inter-university campuses, where a diverse student body can build flexible learning paths at all levels of their studies and career.
• Advance knowledge and enable talent circulation, thus fostering education, social and technological innovation to address societal challenges, and build a more sustainable future.
• Contribute to regional development and positively impact the local communities and ecosystems through education and training, research and knowledge exchange, contributing to improvements in societal well-being.

Act as catalysts for the launch of new instruments and legal frameworks to accelerate the transformation of all universities across Europe.

Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least 3 applicants (beneficiaries not affiliated entities), which complies with the following conditions:

• Minimum 3 eligible higher education institutions from 3 different eligible countries.
• A higher education institution may participate as full partner in only one European Universities alliance funded by the Erasmus+ programme at the same time.
• A higher education institution may only participate as full partner in one single European Universities application; they may participate in other applications only as associated partners.

In ‘European Universities’, the term “Universities” should be understood in its broadest sense, including all types of Higher Education Institutions. European Universities are highly ambitious transnational alliances of higher education institutions developing long-term institutional structural and strategic cooperation, based on common values, and agreed principles, and aiming to achieve sustainability of their cooperation.