In June 2019, EUTOPIA was one of the first 17 alliances selected for the European Universities Initiative by a committee of experts put together by the European Commission.

The EUTOPIA universities are geared towards students and are committed to social solidarity. They strive for excellence and inclusion, transcend national borders and educational boundaries, develop innovative pedagogic models and promote the mobility of people and ideas. EUTOPIA also forms dedicated communities from the regions and locations of its partner universities, where the idea of a united Europe is translated into tangible collaborative structures. 

Guided by common values such as integrity, academic freedom, and responsibility towards the international community and our planet, EUTOPIA views itself as an alliance based in Europe with a global perspective. Both within the alliance and in collaboration with non-European partners – such as Université Internationale de Rabat (Morocco), Kyungpook National University (South Korea), Monash University (Australia) and Stellenbosch University (South Africa) – EUTOPIA establishes an inter-university, transnational campus that is actively involved in implementing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“With our commitment to the EUTOPIA European Universities Initiative, we are expanding our opportunities for creating a European educational sphere, carrying out joint European and cross-institutional teaching projects and advancing the Europeanization of our teaching. This will also greatly facilitate the Europe-wide mobility of students, lecturers, researchers and academic staff as well as the expansion of funding programs for postdocs. Last, but not least, joint applications with our EUTOPIA partners offer advantages in the competition for European research funds. We at EUTOPIA want to use the innovative power of science to overcome the greatest challenges of the 21^st century, such as the climate crisis.”

Prof. Ursula M. Staudinger at the induction ceremony on September 16, 2021, at the Italian ambassador’s residence in the Kingdom of Belgium.

The EUTOPIA education model promotes a bottom-up approach in which students are actively included in joint teaching, allowing them to work together in the alliance and with global partners to find innovative solutions to the complex challenges of the 21^st century.

With the Connected Learning Communities method (CoLeCo), EUTOPIA has developed an ambitious new model for university education that takes the leap from learning units to interconnected learning communities. This methodology doesn’t just promote educational leadership from the bottom up, it also involves the locations and regions in the creation of teaching and learning units. Plus, numerous opportunities for continuing education and peer mentoring activities are available to teaching staff. 

Connected learning communities bring together staff, students and stakeholders also from outside the universities, involving them in cross-campus learning and teaching activities in the Research Priority Areas of the EUTOPIA partner universities. The learning communities address global topics and are oriented towards the goals and priorities of global organizations like the United Nations and the European Union/ European Community.

Students can take part in EUTOPIA in a number of ways:

• EUTOPIA Student Think Tank (EUSTT)
• Student Career Ambassadors
• BeEUTOPIAn Conference
• EUTOPIA Undergraduate Research Support Scheme (EURSS)
• EUTOPIA Certificate of Internationalization (EUCI)
• Open Innovation Challenge

EUTOPIA offers researchers and staff of the member universities a wide assortment of opportunities for joint research, teaching and networking. These opportunities range from mobility programs and grants to manifold networking activities.

• Mobility programs
• PhD Co-tutelle Program
• EUTOPIA TRAIN
• EUTOPIA SIF – post-doctoral fellowships
• Science Fairs

Currently, an application for the EUTOPIA Cotutelle PhD programme can be submitted until May 9, 2023. The program supports high-quality PhD projects in all research areas, which are jointly supervised by scientists from EUTOPIA member universities. See the news about the call for proposals for more information.