Following the call launched by the European Commission, four university alliances were selected for the pilot Institutionalized cooperation instruments in the EU (Institutionalized EU cooperation instruments) – the European legal status for alliances of higher education institutions. The Western University of Timisoara will implement this project as part of the UNITA alliance of European universities, within which it is a founding university, thus contributing directly to the future of European higher education.
The Rector of UVT, Marilen Pirtea: "From the very beginning, the UNITA alliance of European universities had as its objective the realization of common actions that lead to innovation in education and research, for students and for society, and the West University of Timisoara assumed an active role in all these actions . The basis of tomorrow's higher education at the European level will be university networks and their joint initiatives. Only in this way will Europe be able to be globally competitive in the fields of Education and Research. Also, UVT has always supported the transfer of good practices between higher education institutions that are members of European university alliances, but also from them to the entire system, especially at the national level, by initiating the RO European Universities network."
UVT will implement the project EGAI - "UNITA as a model for institutionalized university cooperation from the European Grouping of Economic Interest to the European Grouping of Academic Interest", which will explore an innovative model of cooperation in the university field, proposing a legal instrument adapted to the status of European alliances. In this context, the project aims to promote the use of the European Economic Interest Group (EEIG) as an institutionalized university cooperation tool, analyzing the possibility of adapting it to achieve academic goals. Developed and improved, the model will then be able to be transferred to other consortia of higher education institutions in Europe.
The launch event on April 19, 2023 was attended by representatives from the relevant directorates of the European Commission, representatives of relevant ministries from Romania, France and Spain, rectors of the partner universities of the Consortium, the international coordinator of the project, as well as members of the research teams from partner universities. The meeting allowed the general presentation of the project, its work packages, the activities to be carried out, as well as the ways of disseminating the research results. The pilot stage of the new legal form proposed for cooperation within university alliances will end in March 2024.
