The European Universities, a flagship initiative of the European strategy for universities, sets the ambition to support 60 European Universities who fully embody the vision of Europe, which would involve more than 500 higher education institutions by mid-2024. In line with this aim, the European Commission has open calls for both new applications and current alliances willing to expand.
EUt+ expands with a 9th member
The European Universities, a flagship initiative of the European strategy for universities, sets the ambition to support 60 European Universities who fully embody the vision of Europe, which would involve more than 500 higher education institutions by mid-2024. In line with this aim, the European Commission has open calls for both new applications and current alliances willing to expand.
With its long-term vision to merge eight (now expanding to nine) member universities from all European geographical regions and become a single entity with a single governance and a joint budget, EUt+ takes a pioneering position among European Universities as a forerunner of a model of deep institutional transformation of the European higher education landscape. Their Mission Statement has never been more relevant: «There is an urgent need for bold action in tackling global challenges, where technology will play a pivotal role; the European University of Technology will be a reference for policymakers and help drive European strategy towards common and evidence-based solutions to global problems.»
Timothée Toury, Secretary general of the Alliance states «Our application is carrying a strong vision, based on our first 3 years of experience in development and organisation. It was clearly recognised by the experts, who awarded EUt+ the astounding score of 96/100 for its proposal to the 2023 European Universities Initiative call.»
The University of Cassino and Southern Lazio (UNICAS) will officially join the European University of Technology Alliance (EUt+) on 1 November 2023, date marking the beginning of the 4-year deployment phase of EUt+. UNICAS shares the mission and vision on the highest level and meets the vast majority of the criteria set out by the Alliance for the integration of the ninth member.
University of Cassino and Southern Lazio (UNICAS)
Marco Dell’Isola, Rector of UNICAS, states «We will become the Italian campus of EUt+».
UNICAS is a public higher education institution founded in 1979 and located in a strategic geographical position between Rome and Naples with a student population of 7 500, 280 professors and researchers, and 250 employees. UNICAS counts five departments: Civil and Mechanical engineering; Electrical and Information engineering; Economics and Law; Humanities and Philosophy; Human sciences, Society and Health, offering a variety of undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. programmes many of which are entirely taught in English.
The established ability of UNICAS researchers, in particular from the two engineering departments, to attract funding for outstanding national and international projects, together with the strong activity in technological transfer, make UNICAS a truly international district for Education, Research and Public Engagement. EUt+ has established a clear strategy to help the new member catch up in the fast-moving initiative and looks forward to starting its deployment phase not only with eight members anymore, but as a nine-members Alliance.
EUt+ criteria for the integration of a ninth member
As described in the proposal validated by the expert of the European Commission, EUt+ has now opened its doors to a ninth member, in accordance with the European policy of Alliance extension. UNICAS is becoming a full member who shares the objective of a full merger and the same dynamics of convergence. This member allows EUt+ to keep the balance, in geographical terms as well in terms of diversity and complementarity of the members. The geographical balance is a key point, knowing that EUt+ is less represented in the South and a little less in the East, as well as the general balance of European universities.
The chosen ninth member is a mid-size public university from an EU member state, focusing a large part of its activity on technological or engineering fields. It demonstrates its full endorsement of the EUt+ Mission Statement, its commitment to a merger process, and the support of its internal and external stakeholders for this process as well as its willingness to make the necessary changes and reforms.
The additional partner covers the three Bachelor, Master, Doctorate cycles and is very active in research. It demonstrates its expertise in the European education and research area and its ability to manage large numbers of incoming and outgoing students. It buys the «human first» and transdisciplinary approach to technology, as well as an advanced EDI approach while being well-integrated within its territory and able to balance it with a European-wide presence.
The European University of Technology (EUt+)
With now 9 members in 9 countries, which host in total more than 100 000 students in 1 single European university, the European University of Technology has a strong vision to share. The vision and mission of EUt+ are underpinned by the pivotal role that technology plays in forging an inclusive and sustainable future: humanity today faces challenges of unprecedented breadth such as climate change, overused resources and the social consequences of the digital era.
Answers to these challenges necessarily involve technology but need to be multi-faceted. They must consider the needs and aspirations of people and of our environment, they must be respectful of individual freedom and diversity. This can only be achieved by empowering technologically responsible citizens, and researchers who fully comprehend the potential of technology as well as the risks of neglecting its purpose. This requires a fundamentally new approach to technology and the training of people to foster it. It requires a new model of university.
EUt+ is preparing the future of Europe by building a pioneering institutional model for developing a radically human-centered model of technology.
The nine members of EUt+ are now:
