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Jan2024Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU 2023: Many achievements but concerns about unresolved issues
The Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) concluded a month ago, prompting the need to assess its achievements and shortcomings in the university sector. While there were commendable successes, some aspects raised concerns within the European academic community.
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Dec2023Achieving Excellence at Universities: What does it mean in times of multiple crises?
As our world is facing multiple simultaneous and interconnected crises and transitions which affect the social fabric of our societies and democracies, universities cannot pretend as if nothing has happened and continue to function as before. Increased threats to academic freedom and to frontier research. Accelerated geopolitical developments and crises. Structural lack of resources in the university sector – human resources, funding, political support. Unfolding reform of research assessment. Global move towards open science and open bibliometric data.
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20
Dec2023Science Diplomacy gains political attention in Europe
Coimbra Group, represented by its Office Director Emmanuelle Gardan, participated in the first European Science Diplomacy Conference, organised in Madrid on 18-19 December in the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU. The event gathered several hundreds of participants from across the science and diplomacy spheres, among them science counsellors to […]
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Dec2023Coimbra Group Cooperation with the Global South
The Survey on Cooperation with the Global South, targeting Coimbra Group (CG) member universities, was initiated within the Latin America Working Group and conducted in cooperation with the Development Cooperation Working Group (the Development Cooperation Working Group changed name to Global Partnerships Working Group in December 2023). The primary objective of this survey was to […]
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Dec2023Coimbra Group introduces Working Group on Global Partnerships
The social responsibility of universities requires their active engagement with global cooperation issues and challenges. Universities have a unique duty to face the poly-crises in the world in an effective and sustainable way. We cannot do this in isolation, we must connect: to each other as universities, and to the world outside of our university. […]
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Dec2023Coimbra Group’s Recommendations for the Erasmus+ Programme 2021-2027 Interim Evaluation
The EU’s Erasmus+ programme plays a pivotal role in European Higher Education. The vast majority of the European Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) rely on it as the primary financial support for international mobility and collaboration in education. The Erasmus programme has always been a key element and emblem of the most successful idea of “Europe” […]
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Nov2023UK association to Horizon Europe – a win for global research
The announcement, on 7 September 2023, that the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Commission had reached an agreement on UK association to Horizon Europe has rightly been met with a sigh of relief and the warmest of welcomes across the research-intensive university sector. We are delighted that we finally have the breakthrough that we have all been working so hard to achieve.
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Nov2023Coimbra Group at EP conference on Academic Freedom
Emmanuelle Gardan, CG Office Director, and Ludovic Thilly, Chair of the CG Executive Board were invited to attend the high-level conference “Academic Freedom – The state of a fundamental value for Europe” organised on 29 November 2023 at the European Parliament in Brussels by the Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) Panel for the Future […]
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Nov2023Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Universities
Workshop and Conference organized by the Research Support Officers Working Group The conference on the “Responsible Use of AI in Universities”, held at Charles University on 23 November, attracted 110 registered participants from 29 universities, ministries (6), the Czech Academy of Sciences, and 3 private companies. The event provided a comprehensive exploration of the responsible […]
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Nov2023Coimbra Group actively engaged in the EU Conference on Research Careers 2023
Coimbra Group attended on 21-22 November in Brussels the first European Conference on Research Careers at the invitation of DG RTD. The plenary session on the first day shed light on recent developments at EU level to advance the agenda of more attractive and sustainable research careers, such as the Commission’s proposal for a Council […]
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Nov2023ERA Action 11.3 “ERA Forum online workshop on “Twin Transitions and vulnerable groups; R&I actions, gaps and challenges” – 24 October 2023
On 24th October 2023, the Coimbra Group, represented by members of the Employability Working Group, Chair Orla Bannon (Trinity College Dublin) and Vice-Chair Annette Retsch (University of Würzburg), participated in the third workshop of the ERA4FutureWork subgroup that was initiated by the European Commission.
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02
Nov2023Further steps are needed to attract and retain research talents in Europe
As EU Member States are expected to conclude negotiations on the European Commission proposal for a Council Recommendation on a European framework to attract and retain research, innovation and entrepreneurial talents in Europe, the Coimbra Group joins other leading university associations – AURORA, EUA, The Guild and YERUN – in welcoming the attention given by […]
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Oct2023Current university rankings are not consistent with Open Science
You may have heard: Utrecht University (UU) is not included in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking 2024. THE ranks universities worldwide on academic performance and reputation. Last year, UU came in 66th position in the ranking. Why is Utrecht University not included this year?
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Sep20232023-2024: Coimbra Group priorities in a year of changes and high expectations
Coimbra Group Executive Board In the lead up to the new academic year, the members of the Executive Board met in Turku where EU and worldwide experts debated the future of Europe at the city’s renowned annual “Europe Forum”. The board reflected on new initiatives and strategic priorities for the Coimbra Group (CG) in 2023-2024. […]
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Sep2023CG takes active role at the II Forum of European Universities Alliances
From 14 to 15 September 2023 in Barcelona, the Spanish Ministry of Universities organized the second Forum of European Universities Alliances as part of the official programme of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council. The objective was to contribute to the development of the European Universities Initiative (EUI). This outstanding event gathered more than […]
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Sep2023Research Support Officers Working Group tackles Artificial Intelligence
The Coimbra Group Research Support Officers Working Group (RSO WG) is organising, in partnership with our member Charles University Prague, two different events with focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI), on 22-23 November 2023. On the 23 November, Charles University Prague will host the Conference “Responsible Use of AI in Universities”. The full-day event will cover […]
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Sep2023“New Narratives for a Damaged Planet: Humanities and Social Sciences Perspectives on the Climate Crisis”
Coimbra Group Social Sciences and Humanities Working Group’s seminarJagiellonian University, Krakow 16-17.11.2023 Global warming and climate change are one of the most important topics of contemporary debates and activities. They bring together international institutions, national governments and local activists. Although climate change appeared as a political issue only in the 1970s the phenomenon has been […]
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Sep2023Coimbra Group welcomes announcement of UK association to Horizon Europe
The Coimbra Group welcomes the announcement of a long-awaited political agreement between the European Commission (EC) and the United Kingdom (UK) government paving the way for UK’s association to Horizon Europe as well as to Copernicus Earth Observation programme. We are delighted that UK researchers will be able to fully participate in the Horizon Europe […]
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Aug2023What does Nicolaus Copernicus teach us?
Rector Jacek Popiel, Jagiellonian University in Krakow The current year has been declared the Year of Nicolaus Copernicus in Poland. This decision was made to honour the 550th anniversary of birth of a figure thoroughly deserving recognition for science, whose achievements undoubtedly transcended the horizons of his own era. A special place in the calendar […]
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Jul2023The Swedish presidency and academic freedom
Vice-Chancellor Anders Hagfeldt, Uppsala University The Swedish EU presidency can probably be best described as efficient and unglamorous. Run on a shoestring budget, with most meetings located at Arlanda airport, it focused on making progress on EU legislation (migration, data, AI, climate) – and quite successfully so. In the areas of research and education, where there […]