Abstract

EUROLIFE is a network of European universities in life sciences, founded in 1999 and currently consists of 9 institutions from 9 countries (www.eurolifeuniversities.org). The objective of the network is to promote and facilitate collaborative research projects as well as joint education between the partners. Successful EUROLIFE initiatives include mobility grants for researchers and students to stimulate exchanges, organization of Summer/Winter Schools as well as distinguished research/education lectures.

The added value of the network for the university staff and students has changed over time, also influenced by digitalization. Initially, sharing hard copies of draft Work Programmes of the early EU Framework Programmes for research was a strong asset. This has evolved towards consortium building / joint applications and later on mainly towards education initiatives. Nowadays, activities such as Summer/Winter Schools for MSc and PhD students from the EUROLIFE partners form the foundation, on which research collaborations on specific topics are build. Moreover, the EUROLIFE network has been awarded an ERASMUS+ Strategic Partnership grant in 2020 (DATAETHICS project). Altogether, EUROLIFE can be seen as a European University alliance avant-la-lettre.

The presenters, representatives of the EUROLIFE Research Administrators committee, which is one of the three management bodies of this alliance, will share their experiences with stimulating European collaboration between partner universities, covering the activities / successes, the organizational structure and the role of RMA’s in such a network.