Highly regarded universities from six countries in the European Union (EU) have agreed to intensify their cross-border cooperation. Freie Universität Berlin (Germany), Università di Bologna (Italy), KU Leuven (Belgium), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), Uniwersytet Jagielloński (Krakow, Poland), and Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France) set a working agenda for establishing a European university alliance. The rationale behind this step is that universities support important European values and train future talents and are therefore important players for new transnational aspirations and dynamics. The European University Alliance aims to encourage a structural development of the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area, establishing long-term, sustainable, solid, and dynamic relationships. Representatives of the six universities met last Friday in Bologna.

The six partner universities already work together in many projects. All of them are already interconnected through intensive student exchange. In individual cases some have already reached agreements on double degrees, joint doctorates, and joint participation in EU-funded projects and networks. Beyond these close bilateral links, the universities are aiming for an innovative partnership based on the synergy of their disciplines and common new multilateral programs.

Leaders of the six universities plan to meet in Leuven, Belgium, on June 29 and 30 to set out concrete steps for future cooperation. Their goal is to implement initial resolutions at the beginning of the 2018/2019 academic year. They will examine various practical measures, including possible steps in the areas of teaching, research, and innovative formats for fostering mobility of students and staff. In addition, they will discuss the awarding of joint degrees, summer schools for doctoral candidates, joint proposals for European tenders, and interdisciplinary cross-border research projects.