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On the Path to the First European University

From left: Prof. Dr. Alain Beretz, President of the University of Strasbourg; Prof. Dr. Andrea Schenker-Wicki, Rector of the University of Basel; Prof. Dr. Alexander Wanner, Vice President of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Dr. Christine Gangloff-Ziegler, President of the University of Upper Alsace; Prof. Dr. Hans-Jochen Schiewer, Rector of the University of Freiburg. (Image: Service communication, Université de Haute-Alsace)
From left: Prof. Dr. Alain Beretz, President of the University of Strasbourg; Prof. Dr. Andrea Schenker-Wicki, Rector of the University of Basel; Prof. Dr. Alexander Wanner, Vice President of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Dr. Christine Gangloff-Ziegler, President of the University of Upper Alsace; Prof. Dr. Hans-Jochen Schiewer, Rector of the University of Freiburg. (Image: Service communication, Université de Haute-Alsace)

On 9 December 2015, the Universities of Basel, Freiburg, Haute-Alsace, and Strasbourg and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology signed the founding documents for the trinational European Campus. The universities have thus broken new ground in cross-border cooperation in Europe: The alliance is the first “European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation” (EGTC) to be supported entirely by universities.

09 December 2015

From left: Prof. Dr. Alain Beretz, President of the University of Strasbourg; Prof. Dr. Andrea Schenker-Wicki, Rector of the University of Basel; Prof. Dr. Alexander Wanner, Vice President of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Dr. Christine Gangloff-Ziegler, President of the University of Upper Alsace; Prof. Dr. Hans-Jochen Schiewer, Rector of the University of Freiburg. (Image: Service communication, Université de Haute-Alsace)
From left: Prof. Dr. Alain Beretz, President of the University of Strasbourg; Prof. Dr. Andrea Schenker-Wicki, Rector of the University of Basel; Prof. Dr. Alexander Wanner, Vice President of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Dr. Christine Gangloff-Ziegler, President of the University of Upper Alsace; Prof. Dr. Hans-Jochen Schiewer, Rector of the University of Freiburg. (Image: Service communication, Université de Haute-Alsace)

On 9 December 2015, the Universities of Basel, Freiburg, Haute-Alsace, and Strasbourg and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology signed the founding documents for the trinational European Campus. The universities have thus broken new ground in cross-border cooperation in Europe: The alliance is the first “European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation” (EGTC) to be supported entirely by universities.

The goal is to enable the member universities to use the EGTC as a central instrument for European Campus projects. The European Campus concentrates the research and teaching potential of the Upper Rhine universities. A full 15,000 researchers profit from cross-border innovation and knowledge transfer, and 115,000 students can study in a trinational environment. As a university alliance with its own legal status, the universities can submit funding proposals as a single entity and draft a common plan for strategic development while retaining their autonomy. Also planned are joint professorships, joint administrative personnel, and joint service departments.

The European Campus was created against the backdrop of longstanding cooperation between the universities on the Upper Rhine. In 1989 they teamed up to form an international network called Eucor (European Confederation of Universities on the Upper Rhine). By establishing the European Campus, the five universities aim to take this cross-border cooperation in research and teaching to a new level in order to gain a key advantage in the international competition for the best minds and ideas.

The founding documents will now be submitted to the Freiburg Regional Administrative Authority. The EGTC can take up its work officially upon the ratification of the documents by the responsible authorities in Germany, French, and Switzerland. The universities plan to hold a central opening ceremony in spring 2016.

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