The University of Southern Denmark brings the number of members of the EPICUR alliance up to nine from seven European countries.
As a first step to joining the alliance, the University of Southern Denmark, with 27,000 students and 3,800 employees is participating into the different activities and the Steering Committee during the final year of the first phase of the project, which will end in October 2022. The university will be fully integrated into EPICUR during the deployment phase of the alliances 2022-2028.
This enlargement comes at a time when the European Commission has just launched the new call for proposals in the framework of Erasmus+, to support the further development of the European University Initiative on 30 November 2021. This new call for proposals aims in particular enabling institutions to join existing alliances and to provide operational funding for a period of six years following the three years of the pilot phase.
“We are delighted to welcome the University of Southern Denmark to the EPICUR alliance. It is an important asset to strengthen its presence in Northern Europe and particularly to have among its members a university that is very advanced in the development of professional and continuing education programs. The University of Southern Denmark has also integrated the objectives of sustainable development in all its strategic axes. In addition, the University of Southern Denmark has many associated partners due to the fact that the campus is located in six cities in Denmark. This is an important aspect for the alliance to increase its relations with public and private partners at regional, national and European level.” Jean-Marc Planeix, vice President of Academic Partnerships and Governance of the University of Strasbourg and strategic director of EPICUR
For Jens Ringsmose, rector of the University of Southern Denmark, “joining the EPICUR alliance means playing a leading role in the future of European education and research”. He is convinced that “the nine universities will be able to derive substantial benefits from their mutual commitment to the ongoing development of the project”. To be part of this alliance of “such great and competent universities to co-develop innovative education and research for the Europe of the future is a real honour”.
For more information on The University of Southern Denmark: https://www.sdu.dk/en