Ten Universities, One Mission: This is ENHANCE+
In our new project phase ENHANCE+ (November 2023 – October 2027), we continue our transformative journey. Equipped with an allocated budget of approximately €14.4 million, generously allocated by the EACEA, and augmented by an additional €3.6 million from member universities, ENHANCE+ promises robust collaboration and innovation within the European higher education landscape. This new chapter of the Alliance aims to orchestrate harmonious cooperation among our partner universities, and in the entire European Education Area.
As the curtain rises on this new phase, emerging alliances and strengthened bonds among existing ones signify a concerted effort toward academic excellence. With 50 European University Alliances currently in the spotlight, a forthcoming call beckons to expand the network to an overall 60. Furthermore, this network will come together as an inclusive and dynamic “Community of Practice” where alliances converge to share best practices and disseminate results. This new funding phase and the inspiring visions and workplans set by the European University Alliances reinforce the commitment of ENHANCE+ and its peers to elevate European higher education through strategic collaboration and innovation.
To work towards our mission in the ENHANCE+ project phase and beyond, ENHANCE+ establishes three transformation clusters, in which a number of Work Packages comes together and collectively maps out and utilises synergies to drive the ENHANCE mission forward:
Cluster 1: Innovative Organisation (WP1, WP2, WP10)
Cluster 2: Future Knowledge (WP3, WP4, WP5)
Cluster 3: One Campus (WP7, WP8, WP9)
Collectively, these three transformation clusters aspire to make ENHANCE an alliance that cooperates from a position of strength. A detailed description of the Cluster characteristics and joint frames can be found in the ENHANCE+ Grant Agreement.
The workplan in ENHANCE+ project phase has been designed in a co-creative process and has been endorsed by our senior governance bodies. Each member university coordinates one work package. Our 10 work packages work towards our three Key Goals:
Key Goal 1: European Education without Barriers
We are committed to breaking down barriers in European education, fostering a common identity, promoting mobility, and enhancing innovation, inclusion, creativity, and responsibility. Our goal is to create a model for high-quality higher education in Europe, attracting international researchers and learners.
Key Goal 2: The European University for the Future of Europe
By 2025, we aim to establish efficient structures for a sustainable European University, leveraging our combined strengths in higher education and research. Our central vision is to drive responsible societal transformation by empowering people to develop and use science and technology responsibly, turning global challenges into opportunities.
Key Goal 3: The European University for a Resilient Society
Guided by European values, we prioritize respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, and the rule of law. We operationalize these values in all our activities, recognizing them as the foundation for enhancing sustainability. The European values referred to in the Treaty of Lisbon form the basis for all activities within the ENHANCE Alliance to create common European education and research: respect for human dignity; freedom; democracy; equality; the rule of law; and respect for human rights, including those of minorities.
ENHANCE+ Work Plan
The ENHANCE+ work package structure is designed to efficiently implement our strategic goals. Each work package focuses on a specific area, enabling targeted actions and effective collaboration across our alliance. This structure ensures that all efforts are aligned with ENHANCE+’s mission, promoting innovation, sustainability, and digital advancement in education and research. By organizing our activities into distinct, interconnected work packages, we enhance operational efficiency, manage resources effectively, and deliver impactful outcomes that benefit our member universities and society as a whole. This approach fosters synergy and ensures that we collectively contribute to a more sustainable, digitally advanced, and inclusive future
ENHANCE+ Work Packages
WP1: Project Management and Governance
WP1 excercises results-oriented and participatory management and inclusive and democratic governance. We build a community that embraces our institutional stakeholders and societal stakeholders. We develop a long-term strategy for an inclusive, learning organisation based on sustainable structures and funding.
WP2: Human Dimension
The main goal of WP2 is to empower and encourage a diverse set of employees in ENHANCE member universities to drive and sustain institutional transformation in their respective institutions,
by enabling them to develop their professional skills in an intercultural, pan-European setting.
WP3: Future Learning
WP3 aims at exploring new educational formats, in particular the application of disruptive technologies, to meet the learning preferences of future learners to design a new HE educational model adapted to the different generations.
WP4: Future Skills for Eningeers and Scientists
WP4 works towards strengthening the ENHANCE educational offer by identifying and delivering the future skills and experience our STEM graduates will need to thrive and remain competitive in a resilient, global and European society.
WP5: Sustainable Entrepeneurship and Innovation
WP5 commits to develop a training framework and infrastructure for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation activities that are adaptable to each University of Technology context,but building on common validated principles.
WP Contact
Kristina Hejdenberg Sedström
Chalmers University
kristina.hejdenberg.sedstrom@chalmers.se
WP6: Transdisciplinary Lab for Societal Transformation
WP6 aims to leverage ENHANCE universities for societal transformation, fostering science-society collaborations. Utilizing new developments and ENHANCERIA outcomes, it builds on transdisciplinary practices across four phases, creating sustainable methods for organizations to address research challenges.
WP Contact
Emmy Karimali
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
emmy.karimali@ntnu.no
WP7: European Education Pathways
WP7 is shaping a shared and integrated curricular offer, enriched by a wide range of easily accessible courses and learning formats, which provide students with multiple opportunities to customise their academic journey and to experience the ENHANCE European Campus through seamless physical and virtual mobility.
WP Contact
Barbara del Sole
Politecnico di Milano
barbara.delsole@enhanceuniversity.eu
WP8: New Formats and Frameworks
WP8 builds strongly on the results of the ENHANCE Pilot Project and continues to develop and enrich One Campus with a diversified portfolio of joint short-term education offers.
WP9: IT Infrastructure and Services
WP9 will provide IT solutions for the educational offers of the ENHANCE Alliance, in particular for the European Education Pathways (WP7) and the micro-credentials (WP8). We will capitalise on our strong expertise as technical universities and link with ongoing European initiatives to collectively drive the digital transformation of the European Education Area.
WP10: Diversity, Impact and Dissemination
WP10 develops a culture of impact awareness and effective internal and external communication. WP10 is an open, engaging organisation that widely promotes European values, participates actively in HE policy development, and disseminates our project outputs. Our results-oriented approach motivates us to act as a role model within the region and support other innovative organisations in their transformations. We do this as a diverse and bias-aware organisation that drives the engagement of underrepresented groups and embeds inclusive practices across all aspects of our work.
WP Contact
Melih Özkardes
RWTH Aachen
diversity@enhanceuniversity.eu
Hannah Worringer
RWTH Aachen
Project Funding
ENHANCE is part of the European University Initiative, a flagship initiative of the European strategy for universities, which is funded by the European Commission. The ENHANCE+ project receives a funding sum of approximately €14.4 million, generously allocated by the EACEA, and an additional €3.6 million from member universities.
Furthermore, ENHANCE+ is generously supported by a number of national funding agencies:
DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Germany)
Movetia National Agency for Exchange and Mobility (Switzerland)
