Leaders from Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica and six other universities have signed a joint Mission Statement signaling their ambition to create a unique European Alliance focusing on education, mobility and research.

 

 

On November 7, 2019, the European Commission launched the second round of calls for the European Universities Initiative (EUI), a program funded by ERASMUS+ designed to strengthen the competitiveness of European higher education by adopting a challenge-based approach under which students, academics and external partners can cooperate in interdisciplinary teams to tackle the biggest issues facing Europe today. The EUI is one of the flagship initiatives of the EU’s ambitions to build a European Education Area. Under the initiative, 24 more multi-university alliances will receive funding to develop joint degrees and activities.

It is in this context that Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica is joining forces with 6 other higher education institutions to create eMERGE.

 

eMERGE member institutions

• Université Rennes 2 – Alliance Coordinator

• Europa-Universität Flensburg

• Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

• University of Limerick /Ollscoil Luimnigh

• Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici

• Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

• Université Bretagne Sud

 

 

Combined, our seven institutions have over 105,000 students. While we each have varying cultures, languages and educational programs, our aim is to build a new long-term joint strategy with a bottom-up approach which will impact and support all of our areas of activities, from teaching and learning to research and innovation, whilst encouraging new forms of student and staff mobility.  In short, we aim to create systemic changes in how we cooperate and operate to the benefit of our communities and local stakeholders.

Objectives of European Universities

The aim of the EUI is to revitalize the European university system, specifically strengthening mobility opportunities for students and staff, while boosting the level of quality, performance and attractiveness of the system through unprecedented levels of cross-border and transdisciplinary cooperation. More information on the objectives of European Universities is available here.

What’s next for eMERGE?

The European Commission will announce this summer the list of selected European Alliance Universities. In the meantime, we are continuing to collaborate on building our Alliance and are organizing a dedicated Staff Week at the end of March. More information will be coming soon.

 

Contact:

Katarína Chovancová, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation and Lifelong Learning