Today, the Commission has announced the results of the 2022 call for the European Universities initiative: with a record budget of €272 million from Erasmus+, 16 existing European Universities will continue to receive support, and 4 new alliances will be able to start their cooperation. Together with the 24 alliances selected in 2020, a total of 44 European Universities now involve 340 higher education institutions in capital cities and remote regions of 31 countries, including all EU Member States and Iceland, Norway, Serbia, and Turkey.

European Universities are alliances of higher education institutions from across Europe that cooperate on education, research and innovation for the benefit of students, educators and society. 

Each alliance receives a budget of up to €14.4 million from the Erasmus+ programme for 4 years. This represents a strong increase compared to the maximum of €5 million for three years under previous Erasmus+ calls.

The 2022 Erasmus+ European Universities call was structured around two topics: on one side, it offered to provide sustainable funding for already existing successful alliances of higher education institutions to pursue their long-term vision. The successful 16 alliances have expanded to about 30 new higher education institutions. On the other side, the call supported the creation of new European Universities across Europe, gathering diverse higher education institutions around common strategic visions.

A novelty under the 2022 Erasmus+ call is that the alliances can now accept associated partners from Bologna Process countries, including for example from Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. By furthermore partnering with around 1300 associated partners ranging from NGO's, enterprises, cities and local or regional authorities, the European Universities are able to substantially increase the quality and scope of tertiary education.

In the fall 2022, the Commission will launch the next Erasmus+ call for proposals, with the aim to offer funding for existing alliances and to create new ones.

Image © European Commission