On October 9, 2023, the West University of Timișoara hosted the meeting of higher education institutions in Romania, members of some European university alliances, in the presence of the Minister of Education, Mrs. Ligia Deca, respectively of the representatives of the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, as well as of to all the relevant central institutions in Romanian higher education (National Agency for Community Programs in the Field of Education and Vocational Training - Erasmus, the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, the Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation, the National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas). The National Alliance of Student Organizations from Romania was also present at the event.
Through an ambitious approach aimed at increasing the attractiveness and competitiveness of the European higher education space, the European Commission supports 50 such alliances. Within them, the 17 universities in Romania are active: Bucharest Technical University of Construction, University of Bucharest, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi, "Iuliu Hațieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca, University of Petroşani, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Polytechnic University of Timisoara, Polytechnic University of Bucharest, West University of Timisoara, "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu, "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi, National School of Political and Administrative Studies, "Babeş-Bolyai" University ” from Cluj-Napoca, the University of Oradea, the National University of Music Bucharest, the “Ştefan cel Mare” University from Suceava, the Transilvania University from Braşov.
The idea launched three years ago by the rector of the Western University in Timisoara, prof. Dr. Marilen Gabriel Pirtea, to create a network of higher education institutions from Romania that are members of European university alliances, "RO European Universities", is a visionary and unique one in Europe from the point of view of its constitution and way of working. For almost three years, the network functioned with working groups dedicated to the common themes that concerned us, with experts appointed by each member university, as well as with experts from the central national institutions relevant for higher education.
The network has two main objectives: to collaborate in order to identify solutions to the common challenges to which Romanian universities that take part in the "European Universities" initiative respond and to contribute to the development of the national higher education system by developing the opportunities offered to participants in this initiative.
The members of "RO European Universities" assume, therefore, the goal of collaborating and contributing. The very essence of European university alliances is the international collaboration taken to a level never seen before. One where, for example, UVT students can go with the UNITA European student card, that is, the alliance we belong to, to the University of Turin, Italy, and use the library or any other educational facilities there, or they can enroll in a joint European diploma study program offered by UVT and the University of Zaragoza in Spain, in fields of the future such as the Circular Economy or Renewable Energies.
However, the relevance of collaboration within "RO European Universities" is even greater now. Why? At this moment, 59% of the students in our country are affiliated to such an alliance, because they study at a member Romanian university. This opens up a world of personal and professional development opportunities for them, regarding the academic course and career opportunities. In fact, we initiated this network together with ANOSR as the main partner and we are glad of their involvement. The mentioned percentage is also significant because it makes us responsible not only in relation to our communities, of each university located in Timişoara today, but in relation to the entire higher education system in Romania. Practically, we observe that almost 40% of public universities in Romania are involved in shaping the future of education in Europe. The fact that we can contribute to the necessary systemic changes not only in Europe, but also in the country, underlines our role as key actors in the transformation of the education space. The presence in Timisoara not only of all the universities that take part in these alliances, but also of all the actors interested in the field of higher education in Romania shows us that we were not wrong when we thought that such a network can add value to the entire education system.
Basically, as it has already been proven, "RO European Universities" is a network of universities that want to fulfill the role with which they were mandated by the European Commission, namely that of shaping the future of Education, both at the European level and at national level, for all, collaboratively, pointed out the rector of UVT, university prof. Dr. Marilen Gabriel Pirtea.
The event hosted by UVT brought together over 40 representatives of the participating institutions and consisted of a round table on the opportunities and challenges of the "European Universities" initiative for the Romanian education system and three workshops on specific topics. Within it, it was discussed, among other things, about deepening the collaboration between the 17 universities, but also between them and the relevant ministries or institutions for their activities, drawing up the work plan for the academic year that has just started. Also, the important themes aimed at innovation in the Romanian higher education system and in relation to which these universities are already working and will continue to work in the coming years with the support of the European Commission were addressed: funding, research policies, student mobility and of staff, European diploma, microcertifications.
