BUT welcomed European partners at General Assembly of EULiST Alliance

Brno University of Technology hosted the General Assembly of representatives of ten mainly technically oriented universities affiliated in the European University Alliance EULiST from 22 to 24 May. The agenda included task groups and discussion panels focusing on the strategic goals and activities of the Alliance. The EULiST Governing Board also elected a new chairman, with Ladislav Janíček, the Rector of BUT, being elected to the position. The meeting was part of the celebration of the 125th anniversary of BUT.

General Assembly of the EULiST University Alliance at BUT, Brno 2024. | Author: Václav Koníček

The EULiST Alliance connects ten European countries, has 20,000 employees and 200,000 students. The Alliance, whose credo is "linking society and technology", provides, among other things, an opportunity to share expertise, best practices or to achieve synergies in inter-university cooperation.

The Brno meeting was a thematic follow-up to last year's General Assembly in Athens, which steered the Alliance from visions to concrete steps that should contribute to further addressing societal challenges. The General Assembly was also influenced by the significant success of EULiST's application for European University status last year, which received financial support from the European Commission for further development.

Members of the working groups discussed partial issues of EULiST functioning from different perspectives. | Author: Václav Koníček

The agenda of the meeting, which was held at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication of BUT after an initial welcome at the Rector's Office, was divided into specialized working groups and panels, whose members discussed partial issues of EULiST functioning from different perspectives - from the perspective of university management, students, alliance management, multi-level alliance coordination, learning and teaching, research or external advisory bodies. Topics ranged from fostering interest in technical education, to the theme of improving university services, to mapping and sharing of expertise across the alliance or creating conditions for easier mobility of students and staff.

Election of Chairs of Governing Board and Management Board

Three important changes were made during the General Assembly. The first was the Governing Board, which is made up of the rectors and presidents of the member universities and is thus the supreme body of the Alliance. After more than four years there was a change in its leadership when Volker Epping, who greatly contributed to the creation of the alliance, was succeeded by Ladislav Janíček.

Volker Epping (right), who is credited with the creation of the alliance, was succeeded by Ladislav Janicek as head of the alliance. | Author: Václav Koníček

"It is a great honour to be elected Chairman of the Board of our Alliance for another two-year term after Volker Epping, President of Leibniz Universität Hannover. Thank you all very much for your trust. I am humbled by the responsibility this position entails," said the new EULiST President.

There has also been a change within the EULiST Management Board, which serves as a supporting body to the Governing Board. Pablo Tomás Salvadores Alonso of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos became its new chair.

For the first time, the General Assembly also brought together an Advisory Council composed of practitioners and companies that have long-standing relationships with member universities.

Students want to participate in development of EULiST

A panel discussion entitled Students Involvement in European University Alliances discussed the role and importance of student participation in alliances. During the discussion session, student representatives exchanged experiences, insights, informed each other about their functioning within EULiST and discussed possibilities for cooperation. They agreed on the importance of student involvement in the discussions at all levels of the Alliance. They also reflected on the competences of the student units and the possibilities to reach more students to participate in the activities of the Alliance. "We don't want to be just recipients of the opportunities offered, but we want to be the ones who actually co-create these opportunities within the Alliance", said Konstantina-Maria Giannakopoulou, one of the members of the official student representation within the Alliance - the EULiST Student Board and a PhD student from the National Technical University of Athens.

Closing remarks on the future direction of the Alliance

During the Friday session of the General Assembly, the spokespersons of the individual work packages then recapitulated the previous meetings and decisions into understandable conclusions with a view to 2027, when the European Commission's evaluation of the Alliance's achievements will take place.

On behalf of the EULiST Governing Board, the newly elected chairman Ladislav Janíček summarised the results of the meeting. | Author: Václav Koníček

On behalf of the EULiST Governing Board, the newly elected chairman Ladislav Janíček summarised the results of the meeting. He appreciated the efforts of all universities, their staff and students in supporting the project and expressed his confidence in the positive role of EULiST in enhancing university services to local communities. He highlighted the role of the Leibniz Universität Hannover and its President Volker Epping in leading and coordinating the alliance and the key role in EULiST obtaining the status of European University. He also recalled that the Alliance's vision needs to be further refined and that it especially needs to work on its implementation in the internal environment of the member universities. It is important that the programme priorities reflect the needs of the main target groups of the Alliance - students, young researchers and academic staff of the universities. Alliance members are also interested in creating and sharing a database of expertise, best practices and strengths of individual universities.

Discussion during the General Assembly session. | Author: Václav Koníček

"Each of our universities has its own cutting-edge expertise and strengths. We agreed to map this excellence to create a set of activities, educational products and research opportunities that can be leveraged or offered for further development," described Ladislav Janíček.

The next EULiST General Assembly in 2025 will be hosted by the Università degli Studi dell'Aquila, Italy.

Panel on the benefits of European alliances for Czech universities

The programme also offered an interesting exchange of experiences from five different European Universities involving Czech universities. The panel Unveiling the Potential: European University Alliances in the Czech Republic and beyond, moderated by Lenka Procházková from the Czech Liaison Office for Education and Research in Brussels (CZELO), was attended by representatives of the VSB - Technical University of Ostrava (active in the U!REKA alliance), University of Hradec Králové (EURESTRA), Mendel University (HEROES), Charles University (4EU+) and Palacký University Olomouc (Aurora). The panelists discussed the implementation of the European Joint Degree or what they consider to be the biggest challenges and positives of membership in the alliances.