University Alliance
Linking society and technology to shape sustainable futures
The University Alliance “Linking society and technology to shape sustainable futures” is a transnational network of nine higher education institutions working together to develop a joint long-term strategy for education, research, outreach and public engagement to provide innovative responses to existing and emerging societal challenges. Our shared vision is to develop a world class, transnational European University with unique, multi- and transdisciplinary, and transcultural education programmes, research initiatives, and support functions, helping to educate and train the next generation of European innovators and leaders. At the heart of this vision is a clear commitment to uphold and promote European values and identity in all activities and missions of the alliance.
The following partners have joined forces to work towards achieving this ambition:
- National Technical University of Athens
- Brno University of Technology
- Slovak University of Technology Bratislava
- Leibniz University Hannover
- Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT
- Jönköping University
- Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid
- Università degli studi Roma Tre
- Technische Universität Wien
To tackle the global societal challenges of today and tomorrow, the alliance recognises that social and technical education and research need to be closely aligned. As such, a major focus, and a key element in realising the vision, will be the integration and interlinking of both STEM and social science/humanities disciplines in education and research initiatives. A strong emphasis will be placed on transdisciplinarity, involving students, researchers, regional stakeholders, and civil society actors working together to develop innovative, sustainable solutions and achieve wide-reaching impact across the universities and their respective regions.
Within the alliance, the partners will cooperate to:
- Educate multilingual, socially responsible European citizens who can strengthen bridges between science, technology, and society
- Establish an inclusive and accessible European inter-university campus with embedded mobility at all levels
- Create innovative teaching formats of interaction and exchange within shared, flexible curricula informed by cutting-edge research
- Bring together transdisciplinary knowledge-creating teams of students, researchers and regional stakeholders to address real-world societal challenges and strengthen collaborative interaction and integration between science, society, policy and industry
- Foster and support links between the participating cities, regions and their citizens in an integrated network, providing a shared knowledge hub for research, innovation and policy-making.
To realise these objectives, the partners agree to formulate an annual work plan outlining joint priorities and activities for the alliance and to coordinate its implementation.
The Presidents and Rectors of the alliance pledge their full support for the above objectives and, subject to their institutional capacities, hereby confirm the commitment of their institutions and the requisite resources to the implementation of the shared vision.