Honouring the Past, Shaping What’s Next: a Strategic Crossroads for Europe’s Universities
30 May 2025
Luc Sels, Rector, KU Leuven
Françoise 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 is at a strategic crossroads, the role of universities in shaping its future has never been more critical.
Our ambition is clear: to place research-intensive European universities at the heart of societal transformation. This involves aligning excellent science with innovation, sustainable development, and social progress – across disciplines, sectors, and borders.
This conference, which brought together, for the first time, the 47 members of the LERU and The Guild networks (many of them being also members of the Coimbra Group), offered a powerful reminder that universities are more than just centers of knowledge production. They are also stewards of values. In times of crisis, we are not only resilient, but also essential. Our institutions have withstood wars, censorship and destruction, only to emerge stronger and more united.
And this moment demands such unity. From the erosion of academic freedom to the pressures on open science and critical thinking, universities must speak out and take action. Hope is not passive. It is an active force that should guide us through difficult times.
We were deeply inspired by the global perspective offered by our colleagues from both sides of the Atlantic. Their message was consistent: universities must be razor-focused on their missions yet never retreat from their responsibility to society. Our role is not only to produce knowledge, but also to defend the conditions that allow it to thrive.
As Europe charts its future, its universities must be at the table — not as stakeholders, but as strategic partners. The European institutions are drafting plans to implement recommendations from several high-level reports, such as the Draghi and Letta reports. Research-intensive universities will play a pivotal role in shaping and implementing these plans.
We are grateful to everyone who joined us in Brussels, and we are looking ahead with a shared sense of purpose as we work with all our partners, including our fellow members of the Coimbra Group. The time to act is now, driven by the belief that the more challenging the international context becomes, the more collaboration we need among ourselves and with our stakeholders.