The results of the second call for European Universities Alliances came out this month. 24 new consortia were selected in the pilot phase of the initiative with an ambitious aim of reshaping European higher education is the next decade. They were selected among 62 applications and involve 165 higher education institutions from 26 EU member states and countries participating in the Erasmus+ programme.

The results of the second call responded to some of the criticism received for the first call. The new alliances now have greater diversity in type of institutions that includes universities of applied sciences, technical universities, media art schools and research-intensive universities. Geographical coverage was also taken into account and now includes universities from non-EU countries but who are part of the Erasmus+ programme.

This was the final call for the pilot phase and the initiative now involves around 280 higher education institutions throughout EU and beyond, from both capitals and remoted regions. Each alliance is composed on average of seven higher education institutions, some of them covering all disciplines, and others focusing on specific issues.

In total, a budget of up to EUR 287 million is available for these 41 European Universities. Each alliance receives up to EUR 5 million from the Erasmus+ programme and up to EUR 2 million from the Horizon 2020 programme for three years to start implementing their plans. Funding from both programmes is an important step in strengthening the interactions between the European Education Area and the European Research Area.

Under the next long-term EU budget for 2021-2027, the Commission proposed to roll out European Universities under the Erasmus programme, in synergy with Horizon Europe and other EU instruments.

European Commission.