The expansion agreement was signed in the framework of EUNICE General Assembly, held at the University of Cantabria on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Spanish institution
Rectors, and Presidents of EUNICE, the European University for Customised Education, signed today the statutes of its own legal entity as an AISBL -a non-lucrative international association- and the expansion agreement that increases the alliance to ten members with three new universities: the University of Peloponnese (Greece), the Polytechnic Institute of Visseu (Portugal) and the University of Karlstad (Sweden). This means EUNICE alliance’s student community grows to reach 150,000 people.
The signing took place today during the General Assembly of the EUNICE consortium in Santander (Spain), as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the University of Cantabria.
“The synergy coming from the cooperation with the new members will strengthen the already existing ties between our institutions”, explains Rector Teofil Jesionowsky, from the coordinating institution of EUNICE, Poznań University of Technology (Poland). “The great geographical balance will be beneficial for the local societies and regional development as well as the students who will get a chance to travel all around Europe. Indeed, the extension ensures diversity in educational, research and mobility activities. Undoubtedly, it brings uncomparabable opportunities for the present and new members of EUNICE European University, in terms of wider recognition in Europe but also at a global scale”, he stated.
The Rectors, Presidents and other top representatives of EUNICE met to inform about the milestones achieved so far, such as the international internships portal, training on global skills, its first online language courses, the “EUNICE Weeks” cultural and sports activities that will start in October, or the online courses catalogue through EUNICE shared virtual campus.
International experience at home
These are initiatives that provide students with access to the educational offering – subjects taught in English from the member universities-, interactions with European students and teachers and to live a multicultural experience without the need of travelling.
In the same line of work, among other activities, EUNICE is in the process of creating completely new joint degrees -bachelors, masters and PhD courses- that will be part of the academic offer of the ten EUNICE universities: the Excellence Programmes.
During the opening ceremony, some volunteer students addressed the rectors in a question-and-answer session. This was also attended by representatives of the strategic partners of the European University EUNICE in Cantabria: Government of Cantabria, Santander City Council, Cantabria NGO Coordinator, Fundación Secretariado Gitano, Solvay, Menéndez Pelayo International University and Santander Bank.
About EUNICE
EUNICE, the European University for Customised Education, is funded by the European Commission (Eramus+ and Horizon 2020) that was born in 2020 with the ambitious objective of responding to global and local challenges, increasing the competitiveness of its institutions and offering joint services to its members. Since then, the lines of strategic cooperation of EUNICE international alliance, have focused on promoting the mobility and multilingualism, collaboration with the industry sector and with research groups, as well as the creation of new joint study programmes that will expand the range in English offered by the universities.
Currently, ten universities are part of EUNICE European University: Poznań University of Technology (Poland), Brandenburg University of Technology (Germany), University of Cantabria (Spain), University of Mons (Belgium), University of Catania (Italy), Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France (France), University of Vaasa (Finland), the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (Portugal), the University of Peloponnese (Greece) and the University of Karlstad (Sweden).
