SDU joins the EPICUR alliance

SDU has joined the European EPICUR alliance together with eight other universities.

The alliance constitutes a so-called European University, whose goal is to create a common superstructure with joint educational and research activities as part of the realisation of the EU’s vision of an integrated European Education Area.

- SDU has been looking for an alliance that would bring value to our entire university, and I truly believe we have found this in EPICUR. I am utterly impressed with the scale of activities and goals that EPICUR has completed in such a short time. I firmly believe that all nine universities will be able to benefit substantially through mutual commitment and engagement in the ongoing development of the project, says Jens Ringsmose, Rector of SDU.

In the Central Administration, Stefan Knudsen and Ida Thøstesen have been transferred from Student Services to the Rector’s Office, where they will be working with strategic international tasks and initially integrate SDU into the EPICUR alliance. To contact Ida and Stefan, please write to epicur@sdu.dk.

The alliance offers unique collaboration opportunities

EPICUR belongs to the first generation of European University Alliances, co-funded by the European Commission in November 2019. It now consists of nine higher education institutions from seven different European countries.

EPICUR enables students, teachers, staff and researchers to gain a broad, unlimited and interdisciplinary academic perspective through a network of European universities, by promoting virtual, hybrid and physical mobility, developing innovative didactic approaches, regardless of their nationality, mother tongue, cultural or socio-economic background.

The EPICUR alliance combines the four core competences of a ‘European university’: teaching, research, scientific innovation and interaction with society – these are the four key areas covered by the European Knowledge Square.

Common values and ambitions

At EPICUR, we are pleased to have SDU on the team. So says Jean-Marc Planeix, Vice President of Academic Partnerships and Governance of the University of Strasbourg and Strategic Director of EPICUR.

- We are delighted to welcome SDU to the EPICUR alliance. It is an important asset to strengthen its presence in Northern Europe and particularly to have among its members a university that is very advanced in the development of professional and continuing education programmes. SDU has also integrated the objectives of sustainable development in all its strategic axes.

He is complemented by Jens Ringsmose, who is honoured that the University of Southern Denmark has joined such a distinguished association.

- We have identified many shared values and ambitions, and it is an honour for us to be working with such great and competent universities to co-develop innovative education and research for the Europe of the future. I look forward with excitement to bringing our knowledge and resources into productive play with our new partners

An alliance across seven countries

The addition of SDU brings the number of members of the EPICUR alliance to nine, including Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznań, Poland), the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), the University of Freiburg (Germany), the University of Haute-Alsace (France), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna (Austria) and the University of Strasbourg (France).

For more information on EPICUR: https://epicur.education