In September 2021, NOVA University Lisbon, a member of YERUN, joined EUTOPIA, a European Alliance of Universities funded by the European Commission as part of the European Universities Initiative.
EUTOPIA is a European University that brings together 10 like-minded universities, committed to creating a connected and inclusive community, addressing global and local challenges. All member institutions value democracy, academic freedom, inclusiveness, connectivity and planetary wellbeing. EUTOPIA wants its students, academic communities, and professional staff to feel at home in every university of in every university of EUTOPIA.
EUTOPIA’s long-term vision seeks to make a global impact on real-world challenges by empowering the new generations with academic knowledge.
The connected communities are the core concept of the alliance. As part of this vision, EUTOPIA European University will become an open, multicultural, confederation of connected campuses with free movement for all its members, whether staff or students and with cooperation and vigorous participation for the citizens of its associated communities.
EUTOPIA is geared towards the challenges of the future, with a strong focus on Research and Innovation. EUTOPIA promotes the co-creation of projects involving civil society, public and private stakeholders with academia, to prepare students and staff as European citizens and lifelong learners who care and act for the planet and humanity’s future. The EUTOPIA alliance has been investing in developing joint research initiatives and opportunities:
- The EUTOPIA PhD co-tutelle programme supports high-quality PhD projects in all research areas.
- EUTOPIA-SIF (Science & Innovation post-doctoral Fellowships), that aims to enhance the research potential and the career perspectives of outstanding young researchers from around the world.
- EUTOPIA-TRAIN (Transforming Research and Innovation) that aims to define a shared vision for the universities in several topics related with Research and Innovation.
- FLECSLAB (Flexible LEarning Communities Supporting Lifelong Learning Across Borders), focusing on expanding the learning communities towards international connectedness of best practices in active learning.
EUTOPIA is a student-centred and student-empowering alliance, with several initiatives developed by students and for students:
- The student forum, a place of exchange and discussion that promotes the debate between students of the alliance on key societal subjects, or on themes and challenges that concern EUTOPIA like Sustainable Development, Inclusion and Higher Education.
- The Eutopia Student Think Tank (EUSTT), a platform giving voice to European students’ shared knowledge in policy-making processes.
- The student commission on sustainable development,created by the students to contribute to making EUTOPIA campuses more sustainable.
- The Be EUTOPIAn Conference, an annual international conference organised by students, for students.
- The Open Innovation Challenge and Be EUTOPIAn PRIZE, which is the embodiment of EUTOPIA’s ambition to transform universities into actors of societal change, fostering international and regional collaboration with public and private partners. The objective of this European student competition is to find tangible solutions to real-world challenges.
- The EUTOPIA Undergraduate International Scholarship Scheme, which is a programme that offers mobility grants to undergraduate students to carry out research abroad.
- The Young Leaders Academy (YLA), aimed at training a new generation of creative, challenge driven and innovative researchers to become academic leaders of tomorrow.
EUTOPIA also acts as an international gateway for the exchange of knowledge and culture to better address global challenges. EUTOPIA, with its network of global partners, is a more robust alliance, with a greater impact on society, opening the prospect of a more diverse and attractive inter-university campus.
(Adapted from the EUTOPIA official website)
