Meet the University of the Greater Region.
Together for the Europe of tomorrow…
Sofia, 24th October 2011
Programme
11:00
Welcoming speech
by Prof. Dr. Ivan Ilchev, Rector of Sofia
University St. Kliment Ohridski”
11:10
Presentation of the “University of the Greater
Region” consortium
by Prof. Dr. Michael Jäckel, President of the
University of Trier and Prof. Dr. Helmut J.
Schmidt, President of the University of
Kaiserslautern
11:30
How to create a European consortium of
universities : best practices and governance
structures
by Prof. Dr. Volker Linneweber, President of
Saarland University
Best practices in double-degree Masters and
PhDs
by Prof. Dr. Rolf Tarrach, President of the
University of Luxembourg
How to create joint research projects with
Bulgarian partners through exchange of young
researchers and post-docs
by Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Finance, President of
the University Henri Poincaré (Nancy I)
Closing Speech
by Prof. Dr. Bernard Rentier, Rector of the
University of Liège
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The University of the Greater Region
Presentation of the consortium
Sofia, 24th October 2011
The Greater Region:
A cross-border region in the heart of Europe
3 languages, 4 countries

Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate in
Germany
 the Belgian Walloon region with its
French and German speaking
communities
 the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
 the French region of Lorraine
 A historical and cosmopolitan area
 A European crossroad of economic,
political and cultural life
4
The University of the Greater Region:
Members of the University Consortium
Germany
 Saarland University
 University of Trier
 University of Kaiserslautern
Belgium
 University of Liège
Luxembourg
 University of Luxembourg
France
 Universities of Metz and Nancy
(= University of Lorraine)
5
The University of the Greater Region:
A single higher education area for the future
University of the Greater Region




7 universities
115 000 students
6 000 academic and research staff
Teaching and research languages:
French, German, English
6
The University of the Greater Region:
Profile
The consortium promotes the higher education, research and
innovation area of the Greater Region by
 improving mobility among students, researchers and administrative staff
 inter-connecting and creating joint study programmes
 close cooperation and joint efforts in doctoral education and crossborder research
 sharing information with other higher education institutes of the Greater
Region for cooperation and best practice
 maintaining widespread international relations
7
doctoral
studies
cooperation
in research
researchers
international
appeal
UniGR
common higher education
& research area
EDUCATION
non-academic staff
OPENING
students
GOVERNANCE
RESEARCH
partnerships
cross-border
studies
MOBILITY
libraries
recognition
transports
8
The University of the Greater Region:
What are the students’ benefits?
 coverage of a wide range of fields
of study
 good support, small study groups
and modern technical equipment
 high level of internationality and
mobility: cross-border studies,
numerous double degrees with
international partner universities,
European and international
research programmes
 intercultural experience
 historical consciousness
 openness
9
The University of the Greater Region:
Areas of Study
Saarland
Univ.
Univ. of
Liège
Univ. of
Luxembourg
University
of Lorraine
Univ. of
Kaiserslautern
Univ. of
Trier
Education (Teacher
training etc.)
X
X
X
X
X
X
Humanities & Arts
X
X
X
X
Social Sciences,
Business & Law
X
X
X
X
X
X
Science (Life,
Physical,
Computing,
Mathematics)
X
X
X
X
X
X
Engineering,
Manufacturing &
Construction
X
X
X
X
X
Agriculture,
Veterinary
Health & Welfare
(Medicine etc.)
X
X
X
X
X
X
10
The University of the Greater Region:
Possibilities for cooperation with the UGR Consortium
“How to create a European consortium of universities:
best practices and governance structures”
Prof. Dr. Volker Linneweber
“Best practices in double-degree Masters and PhDs”
Prof. Dr. Rolf Tarrach
“How to create joint research projects with Bulgarian
partners through exchange of young researchers and
post-docs”
Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Finance
Closing speech
Prof. Dr. Bernard Rentier
11
How to create a European consortium of universities:
best practices and governance structures
Prof. Dr. Volker Linneweber, President of Saarland University
University of the Greater Region
How to create a European, cross-border
higher education and research area
Key questions for a governance strategy:
• What do we decide to share?
• Who has to be involved and how?
UGR
Cross-border
higher education
& research area
Module 3: EDUCATION
(Metz/Saarbrücken)
Module 2: MOBILITY
(Luxembourg/ Metz)
(Liège/Nancy)
(Nancy/Luxembourg)
Module 5 : OPENING
Module 4: RESEARCH
(Saarbrücken/Liège)
Module 1: GOVERNANCE
Activities – covering all university key areas
Advisory Students Council
Students representatives of each university
Governance structure
UGR Council
University presidents + political stakeholders
UGR Steering Committee
Vice-presidents / university representatives in charge of the project
UGR operational level
Project officers at each university
Experts
committees
Working groups
Pilot
Activities
Governance structure – involving all university levels
(administrative and academic)
• Council: University presidents and political
stakeholders
• Steering Committee: vice presidents
• Students Council: Students
• Experts Committees: University Administration
• Pilot activities: Scientists, professors, lecturers
MODULE 1 – GOVERNANCE
Main results and best practices
• Common strategies
• Networking
• Bottom-up cooperation
• Visibility and communication
MODULE 1 – GOVERNANCE
Main results and best practices
• Strategic level: Developing common strategies
• Operational level:
Setting up networks between the partner
universities by creating experts committees
and working groups.
Supporting bottom-up cooperation: 19
pilot activities in teaching and research.
Main results and best practices:
Studying
• UGR student status (complete realization until beginning of 2012):
 Access to the courses of the partner universities
 Access to the libraries, cafeterias and other university
organizations and student services
• UGR mobility fund (complete realization until beginning of 2012):
 Financial support for students attending courses,
conferences, etc. at the partner universities
 Student council initiative
Main results and best practices:
Research
• Scientific cooperation:
 Thematic workshops  networking
(e.g. biotechnology, virology)
 Database “research equipment”
• Cross-border doctorate training:
 Workshops for PhD students (e.g. European Doctoriales)
Main results and best practices:
Communication & visibility
• Internet portal www.uni-gr.eu:
 Database containing all the courses on offer
(to be published by the end of 2011)
 Information on partner universities
• UGR as part of communication strategy of each partner
university
• Common marketing strategy and material
MODULE 1 – GOVERNANCE
Perspectives:
From a project to a university network
• EUA evaluation
• Reflection on future UGR network structure,
possible creation of an EGTC
(European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation)
Timing
2008
UGR Interreg
Project
+ Extension
UGR NETWORK
-
2012 2013
…
2020 …
The University of the Greater Region:
Possibilities for cooperation with the UGR
Consortium
“How to create a European consortium of universities:
best practices and governance structures”
Prof. Dr. Volker Linneweber
“Best practices in double-degree Masters and PhDs”
Prof. Dr. Rolf Tarrach
“How to create joint research projects with Bulgarian
partners through exchange of young researchers and
post-docs”
Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Finance
Closing speech
Prof. Dr. Bernard Rentier
24
Best practices in double-degree Masters and PhDs
Prof. Dr. Rolf Tarrach, President of the University of Luxembourg
“University of the Greater Region”
Sofia, October 24th 2011
Double / Joint degrees
• What are the advantages of double / joint degrees? Why are they that
desired?
• Are double degrees a current trend or an evolution of the higher
education offer?
• What are the challenges?
• What about a stepwise increase of integration?
>> our
objective : integrated higher education area
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Levels of educational cooperation
1.
Degrees with joint lectures/seminars
Level of
integration
>> informal cooperation
2.
Degrees with “mobility windows” / integrated mobility and/or
cooperation agreements
>> Erasmus, “UGR” agreement
3.
Integrated degrees
>> double or triple degrees, joint degrees, Erasmus Mundus, Cotutelles
>> our aim: support all levels and lead to high integration
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Deliverables to provide basis for cooperation in
education
• Joint online educational offer database (in progress – end 2011)
• Comparative academic calendar
• UGR student status to facilitate mobility
• Mobility handbook (in progress – delivery April 2012)
• Mobility funds
• Network of university libraries
• Charta for the doctoral education and European doctorate label
(in progress)
• Handbook for cooperation in education (in progress – delivery mid
2012)
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Way of working
• Involve administrative staff: create joint experts committees to analyse
issues, and develop and implement sustainable and shared structures
and procedures
• Support initiatives of academic staff: finance and advise pilot activities
to analyse barriers, develop solutions and to identify best practices
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Identified best practices 1/2
FLEXIBILITY
• Flexibility in curricula
• Flexibility in recognition
JOINT ADMINISTRATION
• Involvement of all stakeholders – from students to academic staff
to central administration
• Joint administrative procedures
• Pro-active support and networking of administrative staff and
academic staff
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Identified best practices 2/2
DISSEMINATION AND ONE-STOP-SHOP PRINCIPLE
• Visibility of education offer
• Global information source
• Pro-active internal promotion of added values related to
integrated study offer
• Pro-active support and promotion of mobility
>> our
statement: promote unity while respecting diversity
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Motivations, challenges & perspectives
• The UGR cooperation in education offers
>> infrastructure to support the development of integrated and broad
educational offer at all levels
>> best preparation for a global labour market
>> simple procedures for smooth running of mobility
• Our next challenges
>> enlarge curriculum offer
>> increase level of integration
>> open our collaborations to third countries
>> remain pro-active and maintain the current dynamism
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The University of the Greater Region:
Possibilities for cooperation with the UGR
Consortium
“How to create a European consortium of universities:
best practices and governance structures”
Prof. Dr. Volker Linneweber
“Best practices in double-degree Masters and PhDs”
Prof. Dr. Rolf Tarrach
“How to create joint research projects with Bulgarian
partners through exchange of young researchers and
post-docs”
Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Finance
Closing speech
Prof. Dr. Bernard Rentier
33
How to create joint research projects
with Bulgarian partners through
exchange of young researchers and post-docs
Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Finance
President of Henri Poincaré University, Nancy
Provisional President of Lorraine University
Seite/Page 34
UGR – Bulgarian universities :
Why to create join research projects?
• International research projects interests:
– To share knowledge
– To add complementary skills
– To mix the thinking and culture
 an good way to quickly produce new knowledge and to
obtain excellent results.
Seite/Page 35
What are the difficulties to implement such
cooperation ?
• Integration in the scientific strategy of each partner
• Trust between partners
• Lot of travels
• Long or medium term stays in the partner’s institution.
•  corresponding costs
•  high availability of researchers
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Success conditions?
• Choice of topics of common interest
• Trust between partners  of long-term partnerships
and well negotiated (intellectual property,…)
• Financial capacity to support costs
• Human resources : motivated and high available
researchers
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Qualities of young researchers?
• Availability (few family constrainsts)
• Openness to other cultures
• Motivation for a research experience abroad
– that will enrich their resumes
– that will improve their chances of obtaining sustainable and
high-level employment in an university or in a large
international company
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Involving young researchers in join projects
• In existing collaborative projects
• To create new joint projects :
– In prospective projects by providing a missing knowledge
– By join response to calls for proposals from various
European programs
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UGR offer
• Broad spectrum of research topics
• Possibility of integrating collaborative projects between UGR
universities
• Access to high performance scientific equipments in all UGR
universities
• No need to speak neither German nor French, researchers
often work in English
• Various proposed positions with or without teaching activity :
post-docs, visiting researcher-lecturer
• Installation assistance – Euraxess centers
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Exchange procedure
• Dissemination of research topics proposed in the
partner
• Dissemination of information on the intentions of
response to calls for proposals in European programs
• Dissemination of the available positions
• Selection of candidates by the home university
• Final selection by the host university
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Conclusion
• UGR universities are open to exchange young
researchers
• Bulgarian universities have been selected as preferred
partner
• UGR universities are ready to discuss a procedure for
the exchange to be integrated into a partnership
agreement
Seite/Page 42
The University of the Greater Region:
Possibilities for cooperation with the UGR
Consortium
“How to create a European consortium of universities:
best practices and governance structures”
Prof. Dr. Volker Linneweber
“Best practices in double-degree Masters and PhDs”
Prof. Dr. Rolf Tarrach
“How to create joint research projects with Bulgarian
partners through exchange of young researchers and
post-docs”
Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Finance
Closing speech
Prof. Dr. Bernard Rentier
43
As a conclusion…
We are…
• 7 universities
•
115.000 students
•
4 countries, 5 regions, 2 languages (+ English)
We share …
• A common history and similar development challenges
• A European higher education and research area
• An ability to build cross border activities
We decided to…
• Take advantage of our location to work on our similarities and
differences
• Strenghten our universities in common teaching and research
• Search innovation in multilateral collaboration (based on
bottom-up proposals)
• Contribute to the European knowledge area : be a European
lab for university networks; be attractive as a European region;
be a strong link with stakeholders
We would like to…
• Make the UGR consortium visible and attractive
• Explain that our best practices possess added-value : your
university, your exchange students, your researchers
• Convince that the UGR facilitates collaboration and is a very
good tool for long term relationships
– Students’ profile
– Collaboration between universities
– Study structures
We offer…
• A shared experience in university networking
• Mobility within the consortium:
– Erasmus studies + internships
– doctoral education and multicultural experiences
• Experience in research and joint degree development
• Multicultural and European experience: languages, soft
skills, partnerships within European consortia
For further information please visit our website www.unigr.eu
Thank you for your attention!
Project supported by the European
Regional Development Fund
(ERDF), « INTERREG IVA Grande
Région » Programme
L’Union européenne investit dans votre avenir
Die Europäische Union investiert in Ihre Zukunft
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