- This recently formed governing body will develop the objectives and strategy of the Arqus European University Alliance
The Arqus European University Alliance was publicly presented at an event held at the Hospital Real – the seat of the Rectorate of the University of Granada, on Friday 18 October. This event followed the formal establishment of the Council of Rectors of the Arqus Alliance — the governing body that will be responsible for developing the general policies, medium and long-term strategies, and primary objectives of the Alliance.
Arqus is one of 17 alliances that have been selected for funding by the European Commission in the pilot phase of this pioneering initiative within the Erasmus+ Programme.
The Undersecretary of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Pablo Martín González, once again expressed the Ministry’s congratulations to the 11 consortiums featuring Spanish universities, especially to the 3 consortiums coordinated by Spanish universities. These three consortiums comprise the European University of the Seas (SEA-EU), coordinated by the University of Cádiz; Charm-EU, coordinated by the University of Barcelona; and Arqus, coordinated by the University of Granada. The Undersecretary also highlighted the Ministry’s support for the consortiums, both through co-funding at the national level, and through the modification of legislation that poses barriers to more effective European integration.
Dorothy Kelly, Full Professor at the UGR and coordinator of the Alliance, underscored the ambitious nature of the initiative, which aims to foster a structural, systemic and sustainable transformation of the partner universities and, ultimately, the entire European higher education system.
As part of the event, the rectors signed the partnership agreement defining the commitments and internal working procedures of the network for the next three years. Throughout October and November, the six boards responsible for the consortium’s different action lines will be established, as well as the Student Council, with a view to launching the first 3-year programme of work. This ambitious programme encompasses activities in the areas of joint academic offerings and mobility programmes; inclusion; research support; entrepreneurship; multilingualism; and European citizenship — each of which is managed by one of the partner universities.
Executive summary of Arqus
The Arqus European University Alliance brings together the universities of Bergen, Granada, Graz, Leipzig, Lyon, Padova and Vilnius, seven longstanding comprehensive research universities who share extensive experience in joint projects in many fields, and a common profile as internationalized institutions with deep regional engagement in medium-sized cities.The Arqus European University Alliance aspires to build on the member universities’ sound prior experience in cooperation in order to achieve a high level of integration in its members’ policies and action plans in order to:
• enhance the education of critically engaged European and global citizens who are able and willing to contribute to a multicultural, multilingual and inclusive Europe which is open to the world;
• increase and improve the joint research capacity of the partner universities;
• better respond to the grand societal challenges of the 21st century in Europe and beyond.
The principal ambition of the Arqus Alliance is to act jointly as a laboratory for institutional learning from which to move forward in the design, testing and implementation of an innovative model for deep inter-university cooperation. The Alliance aims to consolidate a joint governance structure to facilitate the development of consensual joint policies and action plans, to consolidate participative structures to facilitate cross-cutting integration at all levels of the partner institutions, and to share its experience with other groupings in order to communicate the added value to be found in its model of integration.
The Arqus Alliance aims to centre its efforts on enabling people: enabling a widely diverse student body and enhancing their learning experience; enabling a similarly diverse staff community and promoting their individual and collective professional development; enabling society at large by opening our doors and fully responding to the mission it has entrusted us.
Contact information:
Arqus European University Alliance:
info@arqus-alliance.eu
