Information of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) of July 10th, 2020:
Six Austrian higher education institutions are taking part in the 24 new European university alliances (European Universities) that the European Commission will promote as of the autumn of 2020.
The selection results were published yesterday by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) in Brussels. Together with 17 alliances selected last year, the number of European Universities is now 41.
According to the Federal Minister of Education, Science and Research, Heinz Faßmann, this participation of the six Austrian higher education institutions, namely the University of Innsbruck, the University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten, the Vienna University of Economics and Business, the University of Mining Leoben, the University of Applied Sciences Vorarlberg, and the Management Center Innsbruck, is a great success. "Austria is thus represented in a quarter of all projects. Together with the successful projects of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna and the University of Graz from the first call for proposals, a total of eight Austrian higher education institutions are taking part in this forward-looking initiative", says Faßmann, "I wish to congratulate them on these outstanding results, which show that Austrian higher education institutions are prepared to actively participate in shaping the European knowledge and research area".
Jakob Calice, Managing Director of the OeAD, which as national agency is responsible for the implementation of Erasmus+ Education in Austria, also congratulates: "Austria’s higher education institutions are taking part in one of the outstanding EU initiatives of the last few years. This not only further strengthens international networking of Austria but the selection is also a visible recognition of the quality of the work done by these higher education institutions to date".
European Universities are excellent European higher education networks that pursue joint long-term strategies of cooperation and further development in different academic and social areas. The alliances build on the strengths of the participating institutions in order to achieve objectives that go far beyond previous forms of cooperation. With financial support from the Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020 programmes they make a valuable contribution to enhancing the attractiveness, quality, inclusion and digitisation of European higher education.