Success in “European Universities” Competition: Alliance Including University of Freiburg Reaches Next Phase

Together with the university alliance EPICUR, the University of Freiburg has been selected in the European Commission’s call for proposals. Freiburg will receive around two million euros in the “European Universities” initiative (total funding for the alliance: 14.4 million euros). That makes it possible to continue the successful pilot phase under the project name EPICUR SHAPE-IT.

Shaping a changing European society

The EPICUR alliance, including nine universities from seven European countries, supports young adults in facing the challenges of an increasingly complex world as a new generation of European citizens and shaping a changing European society in a constructive and sustainable way. The combined strength of the nine member universities as well as the experience and creative potential of their regions will enable EPICUR to strategically address these challenges. To this end, the University of Freiburg will continue to place emphasis on innovative teaching formats, cross-border learning, and extended opportunities for student and teacher mobility.

First milestone of overall strategy achieved

The continuation of EPICUR represents an important step for the University of Freiburg toward “University of Freiburg 2030” and is therefore an initial successful milestone in the overall strategic development the university has been working on since 2021,” stresses Prof. Dr. Kerstin Krieglstein, Rector of the University of Freiburg.

Eucor and EPICUR: A common vision

As an associated partner in the full funding phase, Eucor can now contribute its experience from 30 years of regional cooperation on the Upper Rhine: “It’s a win–win situation for the two alliances,” says Dr. Verena Kremling, project director of EPICUR and Eucor at the University of Freiburg. “Eucor and EPICUR follow the common vision of developing the universities in a sustainable and European direction, a task that can only be accomplished together.”

Background information on EPICUR

EPICUR is a European university alliance that unites nine partner institutions from seven European Union countries. In addition to developing innovative teaching and learning opportunities for students and employees, it focuses among other things on addressing global problems of societal relevance in collaborative inter- and transdisciplinary research programs, promoting the digital transformation via the multilingual interuniversity EPICUR campus, and supporting mobility without borders. The University of Freiburg has been a member of the European university alliance since the first round of funding in 2019. EPICUR is pleased to have the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) as a new partner for the full roll-out phase. EPICUR therefore now includes the following member institutions:

• University of Freiburg
• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
• University of Strasbourg/France
• University of Upper Alsace/France
• University of Amsterdam/Netherlands
• Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań/Poland
• University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna/Austria
• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki/Greece
• University of Southern Denmark, Odense/Denmark

EPICUR

Press release from Baden-Württemberg’s Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts on the “European Universities” selection round