The UNWE and the Universities of the European Alliance ENGAGE.EU Received New Funding of 14.4 Million Euros from the European Commission

Today the European Commission announced that the ENGAGE.EU Alliance, of which the UNWE is also part, will be funded with an additional €14.4 million to further develop cooperation and mobility between the nine partner universities. In addition to the grant from the European Commission, each university will contribute to the total budget of €18 million planned for the next period /2023-2027/.

On this occasion the Rector of UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov, member of the Board of Rectors of the European University and Head of ENGAGE.EU for Bulgaria, said: "ENGAGE.EU is the biggest success in internationalization not only for the UNWE but also for the other partner universities. It is a strategically important initiative of the European Commission which enables all partners to participate in the construction of the European Education Area and the new European Research Area".

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mihail Musov, Vice Rector for Research and International Affairs and ENGAGE.EU Coordinator for UNWE, added: "The European University Alliances are drivers of the change in higher education and research in Europe. Being part of such an alliance is a privilege but also a great responsibility. Due to the support of the Ministry of Education and Science the efforts of our academic community and administrative structures the UNWE has been an equal strategic partner in ENGAGE.EU for already three years. The efforts are worth because the added value is for everyone - for the students, for the lecturers and employees, and for the society as a whole. Let's wish each other new success!"

Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov and Assoc. Prof. Mihail Musov

The European University ENGAGE.EU, launched in 2020, has an objective to bring together students, researchers and employees from nine leading European universities - University of Mannheim /Alliance Coordinator/, LUISS University /Rome/, NHH Norwegian School of Economics /Bergen/, Tilburg University, UNWE /Sofia/, Université Toulouse Capitole, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Ramon Llull University /Barcelona/ and Hanken School of Economics /Helsinki/.

The objective of the initiative is to develop new models to stimulate the mobility of students, lecturers and employees to contribute to the quality, integration and sustainability of European higher education, innovation and research. Within the alliance universities work at an interdisciplinary level towards sustainable solutions to social problems as each university offers a programme focused on the education, innovation and research. Students, researchers and employees can benefit from training, courses, expeditions, summer schools, labs and other initiatives both online and in person.

Over the last three years, in addition to developing ENGAGE.EU as an organization, agreements have been concluded that have streamlined work processes and enabled the implementation of many projects through which students and researchers have realized the immediate benefits of the Alliance. Among the key learning initiatives is the common university catalogue of over 500 courses for ENGAGE.EU students. For the past three years the Master's degree programme in Digital Transformation has also been a success with over 50 students participating in just one year. Over 200 students participated in the seven expeditions during which they worked as a team in an intercultural environment to find workable solutions to multiple social challenges under the mentorship of external stakeholders - NGOs, businesses and local institutions. In addition, a research community platform was developed and launched where nearly 250 researchers from the nine partner universities made useful connections and shared their research ideas and projects.

Cooperations across the Borders

ENGAGE.EU encourages the systematic European cooperation between its partner universities. The European Commission is therefore strongly committed to the further implementation of the European Universities Initiative. It is envisaged that more than 500 higher education institutions in Europe will become part of such an alliance by mid-2024. It represents approximately 10% of the total number of educational institutions.

By the additional funding provided by ENGAGE.EU, Ramon Llull University in Barcelona and the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki will officially join the Alliance. They have been participating in the collaboration since May 2022 but with the renewed funding they will become full members of the ENGAGE.EU Alliance.

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About the European Universities Initiative

European Universities is a major initiative under the European Union's Erasmus+ programme which has an objective to create sustainable standards of cooperation between the higher education institutions in Europe. It aims to serve as a model of good practice for the future enhancement of the quality, international competitiveness and practical relevance of the European higher education.