The idea of European universities as we know them today originated with Emmanuel Macron’s speech at the Sorbonne in autumn 2017, where he presented a vision for a stronger European educational community featuring university networks that enable students to study abroad and attend courses in multiple languages.
The following year, the European Commission launched the European Universities Initiative, and since then the number of alliances has grown to over 60, involving more than 500 universities. Although these universities also aim to promote research collaboration, they are primarily educational alliances. The goal is to allow students to earn a degree by combining courses from several renowned European universities. At the same time, participating universities have the possibility to strengthen their competitiveness by offering a broader range of educational offerings than any single institution could provide alone.
An increasingly diverse student body demands new ways of thinking about mobility programs. In addition to traditional exchange, short-term mobility, collaborative online learning, faculty exchange, and various forms of “internationalization at home” should be part of the menu of offerings for students. University alliances present a unique platform for developing and exploring different forms of mobility and international exposure.
The Circle U. university alliance, that UiO coordinates, is a unique collaboration of top universities – several based in large European cities such as London, Berlin, Paris, Brussels, and Vienna. How we would have loved to see such opportunities when we were students ourselves!
A distinctive feature of Circle U. is our Open Campus, a portal where students from all alliance universities easily access offerings developed jointly by Circle U. partners. Through the Circle U. Open Campus, UiO students can, for instance, attend a climate summer school in Berlin, learn about sustainable wine production in Tuscany, take part in a pedagogical simulation of the UN system in Brussels to explore diplomacy and international relations, or collaborate with students from various countries to develop a sustainable business idea. The possibilities are numerous and continue to grow.
Read more about Open Campus here
Collaboration within Circle U. does not solely benefit students. We, as staff, also have exciting opportunities to develop innovative teaching formats alongside colleagues from other European universities, travel abroad to teach at partner institutions, or work with specialists in areas such as study administration, communications, or IT to find new solutions. For academic communities at UiO, there is also great potential in recruiting more students to existing courses, which can increase revenue and further expand the academic breadth and diversity in our study offerings.
So, let’s look ahead, roll up our sleeves, and seize these opportunities!
