As part of this initiative, universities and colleges can form transnational alliances with the aim of enabling students to study at universities in several EU countries. The mobility of researchers and teachers should also be promoted within an alliance.
The first pilot projects were launched in 2019. There are now 41 such alliances across the EU, in which 280 universities and colleges are involved.
Last Tuesday, the EU Commission announced that it wanted to increase the number of alliances to 60 by mid-2024, “with the participation of more than 500 higher education institutions”. A provisional budget of 1.1 billion euros (2021-2027) is available for this purpose. The introduction of a European degree should also be examined.
Until recently, however, an association with “Erasmus Plus” was a basic requirement if a university from a third country wanted to participate in the EU higher education initiative – a requirement that Switzerland does not meet due to the failed framework agreement.
But at the end of November 2021, the EU Commission opened a door so that Swiss higher education institutions can now also participate: In addition to individual other exceptions, third countries involved in the “Bologna Process” should now also be able to participate – and Switzerland fulfills this condition.
In future, Swiss universities and colleges will be able to participate in both existing and new alliances. On the other hand, they cannot “launch or coordinate any projects”, as the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) told the Keystone-SDA news agency.
In addition, they receive no money from the EU, so they have to finance themselves. The federal government is therefore making funds available in the amount of six million francs for the next four years (2022-2025).
According to SERI, various universities have already shown “interest in participating”. Since the call for tenders is still ongoing, the SERI cannot yet provide any numbers or names. The EU Commission has set its submission deadline for March 22nd.