TUD delegation visits Cluj-Napoca and also meets with student refugees from Ukraine
The Rector, the Vice-Rector University Culture and the Director of the International Office formed the TU Dresden delegation visiting Babeș-Bolyai University (BBU) in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. BBU is one of the four newest EUTOPIA alliance universities, which recently played host to the other EUTOPIA partner universities (having sent three representatives each) at a two-day gathering.
An introduction of the EU grant proposal recently compiled and submitted with the help of all EUTOPIA universities served to kick off the event. A decision is expected by the end of July, with the planned projects set to begin in December 2022. These focus, for example, on the development of new co-learning communities, joint measures for the promotion of early-career researchers and increased networking between European regions of innovation and research.

It was important to the EUTOPIA representatives that they also have the opportunity to meet with student refugees from Ukraine. The representatives from all universities expressed their solidarity with the refugees and introduced their home universities’ aid initiatives for anyone affected by the war in Ukraine. This topic was addressed repeatedly in the following meetings, with particular regard to the issue of how to concentrate the efforts of EUTOPIA alliance aid programs. All the available support programs are set to be featured together on the EUTOPIA website. Furthermore, the alliance members seek to quickly coordinate and define procedures for students to register at EUTOPIA universities to be able to continue their studies, depending on the requirements and curricula.

At the subsequent meetings, the presidents and rectors of the alliance’s universities discussed a suitable legal structure for the alliance, reviewed budgetary issues and signed a mobility agreement for students and employees of the ten EUTOPIA universities. In separate, concurrent workshops, the vice presidents, vice rectors and project managers agreed on joint course portfolios, success strategies for implementing EUTOPIA initiatives at the individual universities, and appropriate ways for sharing examples of best practice regarding the implementation of measures from the latest EU proposal.

Between workshops, the participants visited various facilities of Babeș-Bolyai University, such as the Research Institute on Bio-Nano-Sciences and the Cluj Innovation Park, where the university joins forces with the city’s creative minds to advance entrepreneurial spirit in the region. Both the city and the university are characterized by their linguistic and cultural diversity. At BBU – where students can study in Romanian, German and Hungarian – European diversity is everyday reality.

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Technische Universität Dresden
International Office
Peter Rosenbaum
Director, International Office
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