Leiden university is a member of Una Europa: ‘We’re much stronger when we work together’
Many Leiden University staff members have already benefited from Una Europa, the alliance of eleven leading European universities: they have received funding to bring an idea to life or participated in an exchange with European colleagues. On 22 October there will be a meet-up for everyone at Leiden University who is involved in Una Europa and for all those who’d like to know more about it.
Maggy Ovaa is the leader of Leiden University’s Una Europa team and Koen Caminada is a member of the Board of Directors on the university’s behalf.
Hello, Maggy and Koen! Please explain: what is Una Europa and why is Leiden University a member?
Maggy: Una Europa is a European alliance of higher education institutions. The members of this alliance work in close collaboration in the areas of research, education and innovation. Leiden University has been involved for around eighteen months now.
Koen: We work in partnership with ten leading universities, and these are partners who are simply very good. Whatever the topic might be, there’s invariably a Una Europa partner with more knowledge or experience than us. We can always rely on another university that started on a certain innovation just a little earlier.
How does this collaboration take shape in practice?
Maggy: As a researcher, for example, you can participate in the interdisciplinary research in six focus areas. Another aspect is the development of innovative educational programmes and experiments with joint degrees, for example. And for professional services staff, there are opportunities to share knowledge and take part in exchange programmes.
Koen: There are also some highly ambitious visions for the future, such as working together towards a European degree. Una Europa is one of the pioneers in the area of developing joint educational programmes or joint degrees.
Why is it important for our university to be a member of this alliance?
Maggy: It offers us many opportunities to innovate and to improve the quality of education and research. The alliance also aims to strengthen European values and the European identity – issues on which you can’t really make enough impact as an individual institution or even at the national level. Take the digitisation of education, for example: universities are becoming increasingly dependent on big tech companies, and are therefore losing some of their autonomy. When we work together, it’s easier to make those companies listen to our point of view, and to do more in terms of establishing conditions.
Koen: You could also think of major issues that are currently important, such as educational migration. This isn’t only a Dutch problem; it’s an issue across all of Europe and I think we’re in a much stronger position in European collaborations than as Leiden University alone.
If colleagues would like to know more about Una Europa, or perhaps even become actively involved in the programme, what’s the first step they should take?
Maggy: On 22 October we’re organising a Community Meet-up for the entire Leiden University community, where colleagues who are already involved in Una Europa will share their experiences. So if you’d like some practical examples of what Una Europa can offer you, please come along – you’ll be very welcome!
Koen: There are certainly plenty of opportunities for you. Start by taking a look at the university’s Una Europa website. That will give you a first impression of what the alliance involves. You should also be aware that you won’t have to work with all eleven of the universities: a collaboration with just a few partners is possible as well. The most important point to consider is: ‘What am I working on now that could also benefit other people?’ You can achieve so much more when others join in. Think about how Una can help you to realise your ambitions. Simply doing that is a good start.
One last question: what’s your biggest wish for Una Europa?
Koen: My wish is that alliances like Una Europa will continue to grow and become an essential element of the European higher education landscape. There’s so much potential. Alliances create opportunities for our scholars to collaborate and to apply for funding for joint international research projects, or for students who want to study in more than one country – to name just a couple of examples. In order to achieve this, we will all need to adopt a ‘pay it forward’ mindset. The knowledge that we’ve amassed in the Netherlands should be generously shared with our European colleagues, so that new opportunities are created. We’re much stronger when we work together.
Get involved in Una Europa!
Would you like to become actively involved in Una Europa? Are you interested in seed funding, an exchange or the other activities and opportunities that are regularly offered? Then sign up for the newsletter to stay up-to-date, and come to the Una Europa in Leiden Community Meet-up on 22 October.