European Universities Initiative (EUI) is re-shaping the landscape of European Education Area. Despite their focus on education, the EUI intrinsically has a research and innovation dimension. RMAs will play a key role in the development of this R&I dimension. The EUI Thematic Group of EARMA provides a space for RMAs to build networks, share knowledge, and develop expertise that will facilitate the integration of R&I into and among the European Universities.
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If you want to be involved in the EUI Thematic Group, please contact us on LinkedIn.
If you are not a member of EARMA, you must first register as a "Guest", "Institutional", or "Individual" member.
Background
The European Universities Initiative (EUI) is an initiative to create a more integrated and transnational collaborative European higher education research area. The family of European Universities, facilitated by funding from the Erasmus+ programme, has already grown to 64 alliances with more than 560 higher education institutions of all types, from all across Europe. Research and innovation is an integral part of the mission of universities, and its integration into the alliances has been supported by several ad hoc initiatives from Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.
Motivation
A sustainable and robust strategy for the development of the R&I dimension of the alliances is not in place yet. Hence, supporting R&I integration in the alliances requires significant creativity and broader knowledge of the European Research Area (ERA) landscape. This is the domain of RMAs, who play a key role in the success of the EUI, by (a) providing the expertise and support needed to develop and operationalise the R&I dimension, and (b) helping to enable joint research projects, programmes, and initiatives.
Key Objectives
The primary objectives of the EUI Thematic Group will be:
- To exchange best practices on R&I integration in European Universities Alliances.
- How are the university alliances embedded in their member universities? Is the educational and R&I dimension embedded in the same way?
- How is the interplay of education, R&I, and societal engagement facilitated in different alliances?
- How are RMAs represented in the emerging new legal entities representing the alliances? How can RMA support be organized on the level of alliances?
- How are different facets of research management integrated into the alliances? (e.g. Open Science, research assessment, research infrastructures, knowledge transfer)
- How can the RMAs support the development of projects and initiatives that develop the R&I dimension of the alliances?
- To stand for and highlight the importance of RMAs for the success of European universities in all their dimensions (education, research, innovation, societal engagement).
- To support the development of robust and sustainable funding and policy framework for R&I in European universities.
Contribution to EARMA
The EUI brings new challenges to RMAs in the involved universities, connecting education, research, innovation, and societal engagement on an international level. Working on such multi-dimensional development is difficult – there is a need to explore new organisational frameworks, new connections among stakeholders, and support professions in academia and beyond, teachers and researchers. EARMA members will benefit from sharing their experience with navigating this complex environment, and mutual empowerment to identify good practices and avoid managerial dead-ends.
Contributions to Europe's research community
The EUI has started up strong on the educational dimension, but developing joint R&I proves to be a challenge. RMAs, with their expertise in research funding, are essential to move forward with the R&I integration in EUI, given that the currently available support is not easy to navigate. On top of that, RMAs can contribute to the policy process leading to a more sustainable and robust funding framework for R&I in European Universities.
Conclusion
Since the launch of the first 17 European Universities in 2019, the initiative has grown massively, encompassing more than 560 higher education institutions. This represents also a huge pool of RMAs working in increasingly integrated international consortia spanning education, research, innovation, and societal engagement. However, most coordination efforts across EUAs (FOR-EU) are focused on the strategic management level, involvement of RMAs in them is limited. EARMA is the best platform to remove this gap and empower RMAs to tackle the challenges of working in European Universities.
Overview
The working group meets approximately every two months online and once a year in person.
Core group
The core group will look after the vision and mission of the EUI Thematic Group. Each member brings their experience and knowledge to plan the best activities in collaboration with our participants.
Nicole Birkle, University of Mainz, Germany, FORTHEM
Ladislav Čoček, Masaryk University, Czechia, EDUC (Chair)
Cynthia Dahomé Mørk, Université Paris 8, France, ERUA
Elisa Fancello, University of Trento, Italy, ECIU
Ross Hanley, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom, CIVIS
Laura Paternoster, University of Trento, Italy, ECIU
Laura Tuduri, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain, Unite!
Maria Grima Calleja, University of Malta, Malta, SEA-EU
Marie Jadrníčková, Palacký University Olomouc, Czechia, AURORA
Natividad Mansilla Ovejero, University of Groningen, Netherlands, ENLIGHT
Hana Owsiankova, Palacký University Olomouc, Czechia, AURORA
Katja Ritari, University of Helsinki, Finland, Una Europa
Margarida Santos, Universidade Lusófona de Lisboa, Portugal, FilmEU
Francesca Tomasi, University of Trento, Italy, ECIU
