EUTOPIA

EUTOPIA 2050

European Universities Transforming to an Open Inclusive Academy for 2050.

Challenge-led, student-centered, place-based & inclusive.

EUTOPIA and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic confronts all our universities with new challenges. It influences our work and our daily life, driving us to find new ways of working and learning remotely from separate locations while remaining together as one network. It certainly pushes us to invent new working flows. We are currently practising virtual communication across borders, which will form a part of EUTOPIA’s international and innovative identity.

We believe that our project of a future European University will grow more valuable from this adversity, because we will have worked with each other differently and because we all are, in EUTOPIA, adaptable inhabitants of a continent old, vigorous and diverse enough, to build the future out of our combined wisdom and connectedness.

We are confident in our ability to ensure by other means the teaching, the pursuit of research, and the administrative stability for our 165,000 students and 30,000 academics and administrators. 

Our six universities took due measures to protect our communities. You can find details in the websites of the members of the EUTOPIA Alliance: 

• Vrije Universiteit Brussel: https://www.vub.be/coronavirus#stand-van-zaken
• CY Cergy Paris Université: https://www.u-cergy.fr/fr/universite/actualites/recommandations-coronavirus.html
• University of Gothenburg: https://www.gu.se/english/about_the_university/news-calendar/coronavirus/switch-to-remote-studies-and-remote-work
• University of Ljubljana: https://www.uni-lj.si/ul_and_coronavirus/
• Universitat Pompeu Fabra : https://www.upf.edu/home/-/asset_publisher/YJZ7PeiKgUZV/content/id/233349640/maximized#.XnYyuy17TOQ
• University of Warwick: https://warwick.ac.uk/insite/coronavirus 

We will be posting regular updates about the impact of the COVID-19 on our project’s timelines.

Long-term vision

EUTOPIA’s vision is one of a fully federated inter-university campus alliance that is:

• Geared towards the challenges of the future
  The alliance will be challenge-drive to prepare students and staff as European citizens and lifelong learners who care and act for the future of the planet and humanity.
• Student-centred and student-empowering
  The alliance will provide transformative and open learning opportunities, and extended horizons of expectation and ability, both across Europe and throughout the world.
• Attentive to the plurality, potentiality and international pre-eminence of Europe’s regions
  The alliance will build on its place-making strengths, connecting cultures and contexts in order to enhance European capability and creativity, and support the international pre-eminence of European innovation and influence.
• Committed to the principles of openness and inclusion
  The alliance will foster and support knowledge co-creation, by building open resources and collaborative platforms, endorsing open science agendas, and sponsoring the access, mobility and inclusivity mechanisms that liberate our intellectual and social potential.

Mid-term mission

In order to establish the foundations of a federated university by 2025, EUTOPIA will focus on five core areas:

• Prepare students, staff and learners to be empowered European citizens in today’s disruptive World
• Adjust the university organisation and practices to lead the challenges of the 21st Century
• Increase and intensify the Europeanisation of programmes on offer
• Catalyse place-making by the universities in partnership with their regions, engaging with all agencies to embed and empower the transformative effect of universities
• Serve as an example for other universities, across Europe and in the wider international arena, in order to share and develop the focus on building transformative, challenge-driven and contemporary universities.

Short-term piloting plan

Geared towards its long-term vision and mid-term mission, the EUTOPIA alliance initiated its 3-year pilot plan in Ljubljana on December 2nd 2019.

The EUTOPIA 3-year plan is organised in seven Work Packages, each one with a specific goal. All of them include three different types of activity (strategy development; development and implementation of tools and instruments; implementation of pilot cases).

The Work Packages are as follows:

• Work Package 1
  A governance structure and strategy for managing a European University alliance
• Work Package 2
  A common Learning Community
• Work Package 3
  A common set of Knowledge Creation Communities
• Work Package 4
  A place-making capacity, policy and practice
• Work Package 5
  An inclusion and balanced societies policy and practice
• Work Package 6
  A grounded and global internationalisation
• Work Package 7
  A sustainability and dissemination policy and practice

Get involved!

EUTOPIA Student Governance

The EUTOPIA alliance highly values student participation. Contact the VUB student council for an update on EUTOPIA student governance through STUDENTCOUNCIL@VUB.AC.BE , and keep an eye on this page for opportunities to get actively involved!

SIEM Social inclusion survey

Social inclusion is a priority for the current and next Erasmus programme, but very little hard data is available on the accessibility of the current programme and what measures could be put in place to improve access and participation. Only 7% of Erasmus students are coming from a disadvantaged or underrepresented group.

SIEM (Social Inclusion and Engagement in Mobility), an Erasmus+ project of which VUB is a partner, designed a survey for students and a survey for university staff responding to the need of gathering more evidence from across Europe of what is currently working and where increased efforts can be made to improve inclusion in mobility.  Both surveys are now online on the project website.

Given the relevance of the topic for Higher Educations Institutions across Europe, and especially for EUTOPIA as a European University striving for optimal inclusion, we would like to ask you if you could support SIEM in filling out the surveys, or perhaps even help disseminating these.

Summer schools 2020

University of Gothenburg Summer School for Sustainability

Launching in Summer 2020, the Summer School for Sustainability will offer students an inspiring and challenging academic environment to further develop their understanding of Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. During four weeks in July, students from all over the world will get the chance to undertake a 7,5 credit (ECTS) course and take part in social activities focusing on taking action and contributing to a better world for everyone. In its first year, the Summer School for Sustainability will be open for students from all EUTOPIA partner universities, as well as Swedish students. 

More information here.

University of Ljubljana's Summer School for Bachelor and Master Students

From the 6th to the 24th of July 2020, the University of Ljubljana organizes a Summer School within its campus. All EUTOPIA students, ungraduated or graduated, are invited to the Slovenian capital in order to participate to this Summer School. They will be able to choose courses among 29 different courses. It will be the occasion for EUTOPIA students to obtain at the end of this international 3-week programme two certificates, including one with credits and grades (up to 14 ECTS). Please note, that you have until the 8th of Juneto applicate, or until the 6th of May for the early deadline. 

More information here. 

Barcelona International Summer School

EUTOPIA students are invited to take part in the new edition of the Barcelona International Summer School.  It takes place in Barcelona from June 25th to July 24th, one month of classes and cultural and social activities. Conceived as a cross-disciplinary programme, the catalogue for 2020 comprises 33 courses taught in English or Spanish. They are all designed to be innovative both in content and methodology, having an applied component with workshops, on-site activities, visits or lab work, which enables learning beyond the classroom.

Please do notice, that the deadline for registration is on the 30th of May, and also that EUTOPIA' students benefit from the same conditions as UPF students regarding the registration fee.

More information here.

Paris Summer School in Social Work

In July, the EPSS (School for Social Work), composing institution of CY Cergy Paris Université, organizes its Paris Summer School in Social Work.
This 3 weeks summer program includes events, a streamlined academic schedule, on-line digital courses, professional visits, French language exchange classes and always innovative social impact projects. Cultural activities and one extra week free in Paris are also included!
If you are interested, please find through the link below more information on the Summer School, its program and fees. All EUTOPIA partners' students will benefit from the Academic partnership's fee. Please do notice, that the deadline for registration is on the 30th of April.

More information here.

VUB Biotech Summer School: Where biology meets technology

• Are you a bachelor student with a background in biology, chemistry, biotechnology or biomedical sciences?
• Do you want to learn how biotechnology is used in applications?
• Do you want to learn more on themes related to cancer research, synthetic biology, structural biology, plant genetics, and research valorisation?

If so, then sign up and come to Brussels for a two week summer school: 3-14 August 2020.

More information here.

VUB IES Summer School on EU Policy Making: Analysing human security in today’s EU

Explore both the old and the new centre of Diplomacy in Europe with this summer school. The intensive two-week programme is held one week in Brussels and one week in Vienna from Monday 6 to Friday 17 July 2020. The Institute for European Studies joins forces with the Diplomatische Akademie Wien — Vienna School of International Studies and the University of Vienna to bring you this ‘crash course’ in European Union Policy Making.

More information here.

VUB International Summer School on Analytical Science, Metrology and Accreditation

This school is not just about you listening to some lectures. We try to keep lectures to a minimum, with some of the teaching even via a MOOC prior to the school. It is about interactive and problem-based learning. You will be engaged in an analytical challenge, where you will be part of a team carrying out real analysis for a customer who wants to know whether their product is compliant. A laboratory is set up for this at the venue.

This school teaches you the basics of the international standard ISO/IEC 17025, as well as the role of metrology and accreditation. How to interpret the requirements of the standard is not that straightforward for chemical and bio-analytical measurements. This is exactly the focus of this school which lasts two weeks.

Location: Kielce, Poland. 

More information here.

VUB Circular Economy Bootcamp

The European bootcamp offers a unique experience of dialogue between academic expertise and experience in the field of circular economy in Brussels and Paris during the 3rd week of April 2020. The complimentarity between experts and lecturers from VUB, ULB and MINES ParisTech and the variety of themes will add a unique dimension to the bootcamp. Site visits, peer-to-peer exchanges and joint work on case studies will help to acquire a broad picture of this complex subject. 

Circular economy requires an interdisciplinary approach and appeals to a wide range of potential participants from various sectors. Company managers, employees, project managers, consultants, officials, public servants, anyone conforted with circular economy challenges, but also recent graduates and current PhD students with a specific interest are welcome. 

Location: the VUB Humanities, Sciences and Engineering Campus, Brussels, Belgium + MINES ParisTech campus in the centre of Paris, France.

More information here.

VUB FLAMES (Flanders Training Network for Methodology and Statistics) Summer School 2020

FLAMES (Flanders Training Network for Methodology and Statistics) organizes a two-week Summer School aimed at providing practical methodological and statistical training for young researchers (particularly PhD students) from all disciplines.
Given the success of the annual FLAMES Summer Schools since 2013 organized alternately at the five Flemish universities (University of Antwerp, University of Ghent, University of Hasselt, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Vrije Universiteit Brussel), the FLAMES network is offering a variety of courses in 2020 on qualitative and quantitative methodology and statistics in different fields of expertise.

Whether you are a complete dummy, a starter with a limited knowledge, or a more experienced researcher with a broad basic knowledge in the world of methodology and statistics, the FLAMES summer school offers courses at your level, which emphasizes everyday research practice.

The programme consists of about 20 modules (courses in either qualitative or quantitative methodologies) from which participants can choose. Each module seamlessly connects theory with hands-on exercises or lab sessions, focusing on various disciplines and software packages whenever possible. The basic courses are combined in 2 recommended tracks, that directly connect to the prior knowledge of the participant. Additionally, there will be an “Essential Tools for R” course in the last week of August.

More information here.

Erasmus exchange

Check if your programme has Erasmus exchange opportunities on the Exchange pages!

SIEM Social inclusion survey

Social inclusion is a priority for the current and next Erasmus programme, but very little hard data is available on the accessibility of the current programme and what measures could be put in place to improve access and participation. Only 7% of Erasmus students are coming from a disadvantaged or underrepresented group.

SIEM (Social Inclusion and Engagement in Mobility), an Erasmus+ project of which VUB is a partner, designed a survey for students and a survey for university staff responding to the need of gathering more evidence from across Europe of what is currently working and where increased efforts can be made to improve inclusion in mobility.  Both surveys are now online on the project website.

Given the relevance of the topic for Higher Educations Institutions across Europe, and especially for EUTOPIA as a European University striving for optimal inclusion, we would like to ask you if you could support SIEM in filling out the surveys, or perhaps even help disseminating these.

Ljubljana doctoral programs

The University of Ljubljana has launched its call for enrollment into 21 doctoral degree programs for the academic year 2020/2021. The call and more information about application deadlines and application documentation can be found through this link.

If you need more information, please contact Tomažin, Jelena (Jelena.Tomazin@uni-lj.si).

Call for Proposals: Project-led PhD at CY Cergy Paris Université

The Humanities, Creation, Heritage University Research School (EUR, PSGS HCH), carried by CY Cergy Paris University, will welcome students at the start of the 2020 academic year wishing to embark on a doctoral project led thesis programme. This call for applications is intended to recruit these future doctoral students.
The EUR Humanities, Creation, Heritage, winner of the third "Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir” (PIA3), brings together the human and social sciences components of CY Cergy Paris University and four schools working in the field of innovation and heritage: the National Higher School of Architecture of Versailles (ENSAV), the National Higher School of Landscape of Versailles (ENSP) and the National Heritage Institute (INP), members of the Foundation of Heritage Sciences, and the National Higher School of Arts Paris-Cergy (ENSAPC).
The originality of the project is to propose, in addition to matching the training in the human and social sciences of the University Paris Seine, that is now CY Cergy Paris University, the establishment of training focused on research by the project, at master and doctoral levels. The members of the university research school, schools or university, share the same concern: develop research on their respective objects, by emphasizing research practices aligned with the activity of the trained professionals. In this perspective, the emphasis placed on the project-led research constitutes a strong marker and feature of the scientific project of the EUR.
Opening of the call: Monday 23 March 2020 at noon. Closing Date: Thursday 30 April 2020 at noon
The candidacies have to be submitted on the platform of the call at this address.

Request for enrolment in practice-led doctoral studies

Rules and conditions of submission
 

EUTOPIA-SIF COFUND

We are pleased to announce that the EUTOPIA’s Science & Innovation Postdoctoral Fellowships Programme (EUTOPIA-SIF) was selected under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie COFUND Action from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme. With a total of 10.2 Million Euros (5.6 M€ of EU contribution and 4.6 M€ of co-funding by the alliance's members), EUTOPIA-SIF is an ambitious initiative to train 76 young researchers. 

The project is coordinated by CY Cergy Paris Université for the EUTOPIA alliance. The first call for applications will be published in the fall of 2020. Fellows will be offered full freedom to pursue their research project while benefiting 
from expert supervision and state-of-the-art research infrastructure.

Summer Schools 2020

University of Ljubljana's Doctoral Summer School 

PhD students, postdocs, academics and professionals from different areas are invited in Ljubljana in July at the occasion of the Doctoral Summer School. It is organized from the 13th to the 17th and from the 20th to the 24th at the University of Ljubljana. Participants can choose among 13 specialized courses, led by renowned international academics, in order to obtain 4 ECTS. You have until the 15 of June to applicate, or until the 20 of April for the early deadline. 

More information here.

Invitation Electrical Engineering International week

From 27th to 30th of April, the Electrical Engineering department of CY Cergy Paris Université – Cergy Paris Institute of Technology - organizes an International week. 

Within the Cergy-Pontoise Institute of Technology (North-West of Paris), the Electrical Engineering department trains undergraduate students in the fields of electronics, industrial data, networks, automation, and applied physics. These students are intended to quickly enter the professional world, or to continue their studies to become engineers.

Aiming at scientific, technical and human openness, the department is organizing an international week from April 27 to 30, 2020. This will be an opportunity for local teachers to offer their lessons in English, but above all to invite foreign colleagues to speak in front of the students. 

This can be considered in two forms:

• you are interested in intervening in the subjects present in the students' curriculum (mathematics, applied physics, electronics, industrial data, automation, network, English, etc.) : you can teach a group of students, in agreement with the subject’s referent teacher.
• you prefer to present your research, an innovative educational approach developed in your university, or explain your international experience and what it has brought you professionally.

In order to optimize the organization of this international week, the idea is for you to spend two days in our department (April 27-28, or April 29-30). Of course, your travel expenses (flight / train / two hotel nights) will be covered by the department, unless supported by Erasmus+. 

Depending on your choice, you could complete your visit by enjoying the city of Paris the weekend before or after (Friday, May 1 is a holiday).

For more information, please contact prof. Nicolas Wilkie-Chancellier, Head of the Electrical Engineering Department via mail nicolas.wilkie-chancellier@u-cergy.fr .

Call editorial board 'Exchanges: the Interdisciplinary Research Journal'

The University of Warwick is seeking early career researchers from EUTOPIA to join the editorial board of Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal. It is a scholar-led, peer-reviewed, open access, interdisciplinary, online-only journal dedicated to the publication of high-quality work by researchers in all disciplines. 

This is a career development opportunity for early career researchers 
(defined broadly in this case to include those coming to the end of their PhDs as well as postdocs) to join the editorial team of an international, interdisciplinary journal. The editors would be supported by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief Gareth Johnson and would act as ambassadors for Exchanges within their institution, aiming to drive more submissions to the journal. 

For more information, please contact Gareth.Johnson@warwick.ac.uk 
and we kindly ask you to register your interest before Friday 28th February. 

Underneath some relevant links. 

About the title: https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/about 

Author guidelines: https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/guidance 

Editors blog: https://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/exchangesias/     

SIEM Social inclusion survey

Social inclusion is a priority for the current and next Erasmus programme, but very little hard data is available on the accessibility of the current programme and what measures could be put in place to improve access and participation. Only 7% of Erasmus students are coming from a disadvantaged or underrepresented group.

SIEM (Social Inclusion and Engagement in Mobility), an Erasmus+ project of which VUB is a partner, designed a survey for students and a survey for university staff responding to the need of gathering more evidence from across Europe of what is currently working and where increased efforts can be made to improve inclusion in mobility.  Both surveys are now online on the project website.

Given the relevance of the topic for Higher Educations Institutions across Europe, and especially for EUTOPIA as a European University striving for optimal inclusion, we would like to ask you if you could support SIEM in filling out the surveys, or perhaps even help disseminating these.

Fellowships

• The Paris Seine Institute of Advanced Studies has launched a new scheme, the EUTOPIA Visiting Fellowships, to facilitate the hosting of EUTOPIA researchers wishing to collaborate with Paris Seine faculty. Applications are open and welcome! More information.
• The VUB is actively recruiting experienced researchers for the prestigious Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action – Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF) which is part of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 funding scheme. The MSCA-IF funding scheme is geared to promising experienced researchers (ER). Please note: an ER denotes a researcher with a PhD degree, or at least 4 years of full-time equivalent research experience (unrelated to PhD studies). A repository of topics to inspire potential applicants, and to ensure a two-way knowledge transfer between applicant and host institution (a requirement for the proposal) has been created. The topics of the repository are thought to be seen as grounds for discussion and further evolution into a project idea together with the respective VUB supervisor. The applicant will have to write a proposal to further expound his or her idea regarding e.g. innovation, training and stakeholders. More information.

For PhD scholarships, check the page for PhD students!

Summer Schools 2020

University of Ljubljana's Doctoral Summer School 

PhD students, postdocs, academics and professionals from different areas are invited in Ljubljana in July at the occasion of the Doctoral Summer School. It is organized from the 13th to the 17th and from the 20th to the 24th at the University of Ljubljana. Participants can choose among 13 specialized courses, led by renowned international academics, in order to obtain 4 ECTS. You have until the 15 of June to applicate, or until the 20 of April for the early deadline.

More information here.

For more information, inquiries, or comments, please contact us through eutopia@vub.be , visit www.eutopia-university.eu , or follow us on Twitter or Instagram