Evropean Universities: opportunity for new alliances

European Commission opened the 5th Call, aiming at expansion to at least 60 alliances and establishing a Community of Practice.

There are currently 50 European Universities with over 430 higher education institutions involved, including 9 Czech universities. On top of that, around 1,700 stakeholders from various fields and countries cooperate with these alliances as associated partners. The aim of the European Commission is to achieve by mid-2024 at least 60 alliances bringing together over 500 institutions, which represents 10 % of the European higher education sector. This number is to be reached by the Erasmus+ European Universities Call, that was just published.

European Universities are a key initiative for achieving the European Education Area and for the transformation of higher education in Europe. The fifth Call was allocated a total budget of over 189 million euros. Given that the maximum grant amount per project, up to 14.4 million euros, more than 10 consortia might have a chance to be funded. The Call will be open until 6 February 2024 and will support establishing new alliances and also a Community of Practice, which is a novelty this year.

Call 2024 will support at least 10 new alliances 

The main purpose of the fifth Call is to support the establishment of new alliances of European Universities. Therefore, a budget of 187.7 million euros is reserved for Topic 1, focusing on the development of deep international interinstitutional cooperation. Consortia can apply for a grant between 3.4 to 14.4 million euros, depending on the number of partners. As in the previous year, institutions from the Western Balkans can also participate as full partners, just like institutions from the programme countries. The applications must be submitted by a consortium of at least 3 HE institutions from 3 different eligible countries and the duration of the projects is 4 years (with the possibility of extension).

Introducing a Community of Practice

A smaller part of the budget, 1.5 million euros, is allocated to the novelty of this year's Call: establishment of the so-called Community of Practice for European Universities (Topic 2). The main purpose of the community will be to connect existing alliances (including those successful in the fifth Call) and support them in closer cooperation, mutual support and sharing of good practices. At the same time, the Community should strive for cooperation and dissemination of outputs with other higher education institutions that are not involved in alliances, as well as other relevant networks and stakeholders. This should help multiply the impact of alliances and allow the entire European higher education sector and society to benefit from the initiative. The Community is further expected to identify common challenges and seek solutions in cooperation with the European Commission.

The applications must be submitted by a consortium of at least 3 HE institutions from 3 different eligible countries and the duration of the projects is 4 years (with the possibility of extension). Only one Community will be supported.

There is no call foreseen in 2025. In 2026 and 2027, calls targeting primarily already existing deep institutional transnational cooperation alliances is expected. Both of them should ensure a sustainable funding for 2 additional years, meaning up to 2028 and 2029.

You can find more information on the European Commission website and in the Call itself. Also, save the date for the information webinar that the European Commission is preparing for 10 November afternoon.