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Jul20254 Coimbra Group universities designated ESCI Champions 2025-2027
We are proud to announce that four Coimbra Group members have been recognized as the new Champions of the European Student Card Initiative (ESCI). Congratulations to our colleagues at the Universities of Barcelona, Galway, Pavia and Tartu! This year, the European Commission received 123 nominations from across Europe. Among the five institutions selected Champions of […]
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Jul2025Equality, Innovation, Integration: How Poland’s EU Presidency Engaged with Science and Academia
Piotr Jedynak, Rector, Jagiellonian University in Kraków Poland’s six-month Presidency of the Council of the European Union concluded a month ago. Expectations, both within Poland and beyond, were high. Accordingly, a summary and preliminary assessment of its outcomes appears not only appropriate but necessary. While the full impact of the presidency will only become apparent […]
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Jul2025Preparing graduates and lifelong learners to an ever-changing job market
Coimbra Group’s input to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence for an EU Quality Jobs Roadmap The Coimbra Group (CG) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the development of the upcoming EU Quality Jobs Roadmap, for which the European Commission recently published a call for evidence, in order to receive specific proposals on how to […]
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Jul2025AI and Digital Competence through Higher Education
Coimbra Group’s Employability Working Group position paper The Coimbra Group, through its Employability Working Group, has published a new position paper titled “AI and Digital Competence through Higher Education.” This publication comes as the European Union intensifies efforts to address skills shortages and equip its workforce for the digital and green transitions. The paper outlines […]
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Jul2025MFF Proposal: A Promising Signal
Coimbra Group’s initial reaction to the proposal for the Multi-Annual Financial Framework 2028-2034 The Coimbra Group (CG) welcomes the European Commission’s proposal for the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF). The increase in the combined budget share for Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe, from about 9% in the final MFF 2021-2027 to almost 11% in the proposed […]
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Jul2025Call to anchor early-stage collaborative research at the heart of FP10
Coimbra Group, together with other 11 leading European research and innovation stakeholders, is calling on EU institutions to secure a strong role for early-stage collaborative R&I within the forthcoming Framework Programme (FP10). As the European Commission is due to publish, on 16 July, its much-awaited proposal for the next multi-annual financial framework (MFF) post-2027 and […]
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Jun2025Leveraging collaboration: the power of inter-institutional partnerships
Giovanni Molari, Rector, University of Bologna In celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Annual Conference and General Assembly of the Coimbra Group just held in Bologna (10-13 June 2025) constituted a great opportunity to highlight the relevance the network has for each institution involved, and jointly reflect on its mission, future and priorities. Over the past […]
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Jun2025Reinventing Campus Democracy: Bridging Divides and Advancing Solutions
Organising entities: Coimbra Group, Utrecht University, with support from the European Students’ Union (ESU) The Coimbra Group together with Utrecht University are launching the 40th anniversary of the Coimbra Group closing event, 21 November (8h30 – 17h00), at the University Foundation, Rue d´Egmont 11, Brussels. The topic is: “Reinventing Campus Democracy: Bridging Divides and Advancing […]
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Jun2025Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions: No to Directionality!
Coimbra Group, together with EU-LIFE and YERUN, is launching a joint statement urging the European Commission to preserve the bottom-up and non-prescriptive structure of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). The statement is currently supported by 17 leading research and innovation organisations. The call responds to a recent proposal, in discussion with the member states, to […]
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Jun2025Forty Years of Impact: Universities and Cities Shaping a Sustainable Future
Coimbra Group Annual Conference and General Assembly 2025Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna The University of Bologna hosted the Coimbra Group Annual Conference and General Assembly, 10-13 June 2025. This year’s event held special significance, marking the 40th anniversary of Europe’s oldest university network. Under the theme “Forty Years of Impact: Universities and Cities […]
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Jun2025Coimbra Group extends membership to three more distinguished European universities
The Coimbra Group is thrilled to announce that its membership has been expanded to 42 universities of high international standard after its General Assembly approved, on Friday 13 June 2025, the applications from the University of Leeds (United Kingdom), Newcastle University (United Kingdom), and the University of Wrocław (Poland). The three new distinguished institutions will […]
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Jun2025Anniversary annual meeting in Bologna
This week, the Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna hosts the 2025 Coimbra Group Annual Conference and General Assembly, celebrating 40 years of the Coimbra Group. With the theme “Forty Years of Impact: Universities and Cities Shaping a Sustainable Future”, the event brings together almost 300 representatives from all our member universities, to reflect […]
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May2025Honouring the Past, Shaping What’s Next: a Strategic Crossroads for Europe’s Universities
Luc Sels, Rector, KU LeuvenFrançoise Smets, Rector, UCLouvain On the occasion of our shared 600th anniversary, UCLouvain and KU Leuven welcomed European rectors and political leaders to Brussels for a milestone conference: “Unlocking Innovation: Research-Intensive Universities as Drivers of Competitiveness and Societal Impact”. The timing could not be more fitting. At a time when Europe […]
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May2025Resetting opportunities for EU and British students: finding the balance between ambition and realism
Coimbra Group Statement ahead of the EU-UK Summit of 19th May 2025 Today, 19th May, the first post-Brexit EU-UK Summit is taking place in London. In the lead-up to this Summit, both parties have expressed their desire to “reset” the EU-UK relations, and work towards a closer relationship in a series of policy areas. Amongst […]
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May2025Coimbra Group 3MT Competition 2025 shortlisted finalists unveiled
Coimbra Group is delighted to announce the names of the three finalists for the ninth edition of its annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition: Congratulations to all participants and special applause to our 2025 finalists! Almudena, Bianca and Uffe have been shortlisted among 28 talented presenters from 19 countries, following an online vote among all […]
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May2025For bold, value-driven investments in Education, Research and Innovation
Input from the Coimbra Group on the EU’s next MFF 2028-2034 The Coimbra Group (CG) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the European Union’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) during this development phase. We highly appreciate the chance, in these challenging times, to engage in this important process and contribute to shaping the EU’s […]
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Apr2025Commitment in action: taking the Durham Declaration on Climate and Sustainability to the EU level
Emmanuelle Gardan, Coimbra Group Office Director As a network of universities which recently committed to enhancing their collaboration on climate change and sustainability, there is a lot that the Coimbra Group can do to facilitate the work of the European Commission related to climate and environmental policy. This is the message that echoed on 30 […]
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Apr2025International Coimbra Group Summer School on European Multilingualism
Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Coimbra, 23 – 27 June 2025 The Coimbra Group and the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra (Portugal) are delighted to invite you to take part at the International Summer School on European Multilingualism that will take place at the University of Coimbra (Portugal) from 23 to 27 June 2025. […]
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Apr2025Registrations open for the Coimbra Group Annual Conference & General Assembly 2025 in Bologna
The Coimbra Group is proud to announce that registrations are now open for its Annual Conference and General Assembly 2025, hosted by the University of Bologna from 10 to 13 June. This year marks a special milestone as the network celebrates its 40th anniversary, under the overarching theme: “Forty Years of Impact: Universities and Cities […]
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Mar2025Climate change: a message of unity and commitment from Coimbra Group Universities
Karen O’Brien, Vice-Chancellor and Warden, Durham University Durham University was proud to host the Coimbra Group’s inaugural Climate and Sustainability Symposium and to act as the convenor for the Coimbra Group’s Durham Declaration on Climate and Sustainability, which affirms our shared commitment to tackling climate change and placing sustainability at the heart of what we […]