Campus Europae Newsletter, April 2007

Campus Europae reaches as far as Russia and Turkey
Fast Facts

Bologna Meets Lisbon – the 1000 pieces puzzle is no more
Law Subject Comittee

Upcoming events

Campus Europae reaches as far as Russia and Turkey

On the 19th of March the European University Foundation - Campus Europae General Assembly convened in Luxembourg for one of its most eventful meetings ever. The Rectors and their representatives were honoured with the presence of the Minister of Culture, Higher Education and Research François Biltgen, of the Luxembourg Government.

The topics discussed ranged from the conclusion of the European University Foundation establishment under Luxembourg law to the long-term strategy of Campus Europae in the context of the Bologna Process and its articulation vis-à-vis the European Commission projects and programmes. Minister Biltgen took the opportunity to reaffirm to members of the consortium that the Luxembourg Government remains fully committed in its support of the project. Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker has been the EUF/CE, s patron since 2001 and in 2004 the Luxembourg Government has been financing the activities of EUF-CE very generously. Minister Biltgen noted that the aims of Campus Europae to bring about a quintessentially European education to all students of the member universities remains as bold and crucial as when the Rectors first convened in Luxembourg back in 2001, and even more when the European Union is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

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Picture 1: The participants in the Campus Europae General Assembly March 2007

Minister Biltgen continued announcing that the EUF/CE will be given degree awarding powers by the Luxembourg Government so that the Campus Europae Degree may be established. The decision will follow an evaluation by an international panel of experts which has endorsed the EUF proposal to establish an academic degree that validates the quintessentially European characteristics and academic excellence of its graduates. The Campus Europae Degree will be awarded to students who have studied abroad two years in two different countries and have acquired an excellent command of the languages of their host countries together with excellent academic performance. The idea of Europe’s “unity in diversity” is also intrinsic to the Campus Europae Degree which will be a joint degree between the universities in which the student studied and the EUF/CE issued under Luxembourg Law.

Picture 2: President of EUF-CE Prof Noel Whlean, Rector of Technical University of Lodz Prof. Dr. Andrzej Napieralski, Minister François Biltgen, University of Alcalá representative Prof. Dr. Teresa del Val and Vice-Rector of St Petersburg State University Prof. Dr Ilya Dementiev

During the General Assembly Campus Europae also welcomed its two newest members: St Petersburg State University and the University of Ankara. The addition of these very prestigious institutions firmly establishes Campus Europae as a truly unique network of high quality universities that offers its students an unrivalled diversity of destinations for their year abroad. Campus Europae encompasses sixteen cities, ranging from capitals to small and middle sized cities in sixteen different countries – seven of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Universities represented in the network come in all sizes: ranging from historical universities with a full spectrum of studies to some that are oriented to science and technology or humanities, with student bodies ranging from 3000 to 65000. Last but not least Campus Europae reaches now well beyond the European Union, embracing all of Europe and providing its students with the rare opportunity of spending a year abroad in Russia, Serbia or Turkey – or in the Byelorussian European Humanities University, now located in Vilnius after being expelled from Minsk by Lukashenka’s regime, and where a new generation of Byelorussian leaders are pursuing their studies.

External Links:

St Petersburg State University (here)

University of Ankara (here)

General Assembly Communiqué (here)

Fast Facts

Bologna Meets Lisbon – the 1000 pieces puzzle is no more

After the completion of the preparations for the implementation of the Bologna meets Lisbon system of study-related "Learning Employability Places" (LEPS) in Greifswald, Hamburg and Lodz during the last month (see the March CE newsletter for more information) a second group of partners joined the LEP-system: as of today it will be possible to offer in selected subjects internships for incoming students from 2007/2008 in Riga, Kaunas, St Petersburg, Vienna and Trento, too.

Also on the financial side there could be reached additional successes. Now a CE-Bursery for outgoing students can be offered for Latvian and for Lithuanian students. The CE bursaries will target students who would have no chance to participate in an exchange programme without additional financial help, because they need to earn a part of their living costs by combining working and studying. The CE bursary will be made available in a form of a low interest loan that, under special conditions, will be repaid by Campus Europae up to 50% of its value. Differently to other Universities no special financial preparations will be made for the outgoing students of the Universities of Vienna and Trento as both the Trento regional Government and the Austrian Government have excellent student support schemes in place that fit well the needs of the CE movers.

The implementation of this project has been also been extensively reviewed during the last General Assembly, where it was noted that in only six months ten out of seventeen members embraced the Bologna Meets Lisbon project with remarkable energy, which was the key for the success for the swift and widespread implementation. This becomes especially relevant in the context of the contacts that Campus Europae kept with the European Commission in 2006. The Commission reviewed the BML project very favourably but expressed deep doubts regarding the feasibility of its “ambitious objectives and implementation strategy”, which impeded an agreement for a jointly financed implementation pilot. At the light of the current results it has become obvious that the commitment of the Campus Europae universities in strengthening the quality and relevance of the education provided to their students, as well as their commitment towards improving accessibility and contributing towards the goals of the Lisbon Agenda and the Bologna Process have been underestimated.

The “Bologna meets Lisbon” project signals the debut of CE’s own student support financing systems and its determination in increasing and facilitating access to mobility, namely amongst working students and others who are structurally excluded from conventional exchanges programmes. Furthermore the “Bologna meets Lisbon” project is also meant as a vehicle for knowledge transfer and networking between universities and society at large. More information about the implementation of the Bologna Meets Lisbon across the Campus Europae network will be available in the May Newsletter.

Law Subject Committee convenes in Luxembourg

The Law Subject Committee convened in the University of Luxembourg on the past 29th of March under the presidency of its new Chair, Prof. Stefan Braum. The six participating Universities analysed exhaustively all obstacles that Law students face while studying abroad and agreed on an ambitious work plan for the times ahead. Information about the study plans across the network is currently being reviewed and updated to eliminate all possible problems with non-recognition of subjects. Moreover renewed efforts will be put into providing prospective students with more concise information and improved support during the exchange.

Fostering student mobility in Law remains a challenging subject, given the steep influence of national regulations in the organization of studies and exams – nevertheless several Universities in the network have expressed interest in joining this laborious subject committee who is also organizing a Summer School in June and who will convene again in the University of Alcalá in autumn 2007.

Upcoming events

Meeting of the Teacher Training Subject Committee

Örebro- 2nd of April

Meeting of the Natural Sciences Subject Committee

Alcalá - 13th of April

Meeting of the Campus Europae Student Council

Alcalá - 21st of April

The next Campus Europae newsletter is due for the 2nd of May. To unsubscribe please visit this link.