The EPICUR alliance of European universities, led by the University of Strasbourg, welcomes a new university: the University of Southern Denmark (SDU).
This brings to nine the number of members of the EPICUR alliance, which already includes Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznań, Poland), the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), the University of Freiburg (Germany), the University of Haute-Alsace (France), the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (Germany), the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna (Austria) and the University of Strasbourg (France).
The University of Southern Denmark, with 27,000 students and 3,800 employees, joins the EPICUR alliance by integrating the different bodies and steering committees until October 2022, the end of the 1st phase of the project's funding by the European Commission. The university will be fully integrated into EPICUR during the deployment phase of the alliances 2022-2028. This enlargement comes at a time when the European Commission has launched on 30 November 2021, the new call for proposals in the framework of Erasmus+, to support the further deployment of the European University Initiative. This new call for proposals aims in particular to enable institutions to join existing alliances and to provide operating funding for a period of six years instead of the current three.
We are delighted to welcome the University of Southern Denmark to the EPICUR alliance. It is an important asset to strengthen its presence in Northern Europe and particularly to have among its members a university that is very advanced in the development of professional and continuing education programs. The University of Southern Denmark has also integrated the objectives of sustainable development in all its strategic axes. In addition, the University of Southern Denmark has many associated partners due to the fact that the campus is located in six cities in Denmark. This is an important aspect for the alliance to increase its relations with public and private partners at regional, national and European level.”
Jean-Marc Planeix, vice President of Academic Partnerships and Governance of the University of Strasbourg and strategic director of EPICUR
For Jens Ringsmose, rector of the University of Southern Denmark, “joining the EPICUR alliance means playing a leading role in the future of European education and research".He is convinced that "the nine universities will be able to derive substantial benefits from their mutual commitment to the ongoing development of the project".
To be part of this alliance of "such great and competent universities to co-develop innovative education and research for the Europe of the future is a real honour".
EPICUR belongs to the first generation of European University Alliances, co-funded by the European Commission in November 2019. It now consists of nine higher education institutions from seven different European countries. EPICUR enables students, teachers, staff and researchers to gain a broad, unlimited and interdisciplinary academic perspective through a network of European universities, by promoting mobility (virtual and physical), developing innovative didactic approaches, regardless of their nationality, mother tongue, cultural or socio-economic background... The EPICUR alliance combines the four core competencies of a "European university": teaching, research, scientific innovation and interaction with society - these are the four key areas covered by the European Knowledge Square.
For more information on EPICUR: https://epicur.education/fr/