On 21 and 22 October 2025, the European higher education community gathered for the conference “Putting it into practice: Spreading innovative results from European Universities alliances to other higher education institutions.” Organised by NA DAAD in cooperation with the National Agencies of Austria (OeAD), Hungary (Tempus Public Foundation), and Norway (HK-dir), the event brought together around 180 participants from across Europe. It provided a vibrant platform for exchange, inspiration, and collaboration between universities involved in the European Universities Initiative (EUI) and those not part of an alliance. 

A central highlight of the event was the presentation of the newly published Europe-wide survey “European Universities Alliances as Role Models,” released on the same day. The survey explored the needs and expectations of higher education institutions not involved in an alliance, offering valuable insights to guide future support measures and cooperation within the European higher education community. 

Speakers and participants discussed how the innovative results of the European Universities alliances can be shared more widely and how these alliances can act as role models for the 88% of higher education institutions across Europe not currently part of an alliance. Serving as role models is both a core task and a challenging mission, requiring effective mechanisms to transfer experience and innovation across the sector. 

The conference marked an important milestone in the “SPREAD EUI” Long-Term Activity (LTA) — a joint project of the four National Agencies mentioned above, launched in 2024 and continuing until 2027. The initiative aims to support the alliances in their role-model function and to facilitate the transfer of their experiences and innovative approaches to benefit all higher education institutions in Europe. Both the survey findings and the conference outcomes will feed into the project’s goals.