We are proud to share that our Alliance will receive an additional €2 million funding to develop the research and innovation (R&I) dimension of YUFE. The newly funded YUFERING project (YUFE Transforming Research and Innovation through Europe-wide KNowledGe Transfer) is supported by the dedicated Horizon 2020 Science with and for Society (SwafS) call for European University alliances. The University of Cyprus will coordinate the YUFERING project in close cooperation with Maastricht University, Coordinator of the YUFE Alliance.

The YUFE Alliance believes that higher education institutions play a vital role in providing the necessary knowledge to support social, environmental and economic transitions that can formulate responses to local, European and global challenges and trends such as e.g. the digitisation of society or the post COVID-19 recovery. The YUFERING project contributes to fulfilling this mission of universities by working towards a socially responsible and connected European Research and Innovation (R&I) landscape.

In 2018, the members of our Alliance joined forces to create the leading model of a student-centred, non-elitist, open and inclusive European University based on the cooperation between higher education institutions, public and private sector, and citizens. The activities that are currently being developed in the field of education are expanded and complemented in the YUFERING project, and will further enhance the long-term vision and values of our Alliance.

By building on the established cooperation between the YUFE partners, YUFERING acts as enabler for R&I transformation fostering – amongst others

  • Promotion and implementation of Open Science as the new normal through the optimal circulation of, access to and transfer of scientific knowledge and brains;
  • The development of a common R&I agenda of the YUFE institutions, as well as wider transnational and international cooperation and competition;
  • A new recognition and reward system for human capital in R&I and an open labour market for researchers;
  • Strengthening of academic-business collaborations that benefit research and innovation ecosystems across Europe and beyond.

In YUFERING, the YUFE Alliance not only contributes to the necessary transformation required at many levels to build the R&I dimension of European Universities, but also creates – with all relevant stakeholders – a blueprint for the European Research Area of the future.

Concretely, the YUFERING project will set out actions and recommendations towards a model of R&I system, where excellence and inclusivity unite to transform and enhance European Universities and the R&I ecosystem they are part of through knowledge transfer, community engagement and exploitation across all sectors, stakeholder groups and countries. YUFERING also allows our Alliance to explore synergies with the other European Universities initiatives towards addressing shared challenges in R&I as well as formulating solutions that could enable a deep transformation of all missions of universities. The progress achieved and models developed will benefit of all higher education institutions and have a tangible impact on society and economies across Europe.

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