What is EC2U?

The European Campus of City-Universities (EC2U) is a multi-cultural and multi-lingual Alliance consisting of eight universities from diverse regions of the European Union: the University of Coimbra, the University of Iași, the University of Jena, the University of Linz, the University of Pavia, the University of Poitiers (Coordinator),  the University of Salamanca and  the University of Turku.

The Alliance’s ambition is to develop an innovative space allowing seamless mobility between the seven universities and associated cities.

Members

Focused on the future and recognized as a major promoter of change, the University of Coimbra has more than 7 centuries of experience in the creation and dissemination of knowledge, culture, science and technology through study, teaching, cutting-edge research and innovation in the most diverse areas of knowledge.

UC is the oldest university in Portugal and one of the oldest in the world, and its history goes back to the century that followed the establishment of Portugal itself, as it was founded in 1290. The University spread throughout the city of Coimbra, while modifying its landscape and making of it a truly City-University, where you find a cosmopolitan academy.

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Alexandru Ioan Cuza of Iasi, the first modern university founded in Romania (in 1860), is constantly ranked 1-3 among Romanian universities in terms of research, education, and institutional transparency. With about 25000 students and 2000 full-time staff in its 15 faculties, our university’s academic offer includes 92 degrees at bachelor level (5 in English, 1 in French), 134 master level programmes (19 in English, 2 in French, 1 in German) and 27 fields of study at the doctoral level (all offered in English as well).

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Founded in 1558, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena is one of the oldest universities in Germany. Once the centre of German philosophical thought, it has become a broad-based, research-intensive institution with a global reach and a thriving international community of more than 18,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 110 countries worldwide.

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More than just a university: The Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU) inspires passion among its 24,000 enrolled students to pursue higher education in the areas of law, business and economics, social sciences, engineering, natural sciences, and medicine. Be it AI, medical technology, sustainable polymers, or digitalization, researchers and scholars at the JKU are not only mindful about social impact, but also the welfare of both mankind and the environment. The JKU doesn’t just dream about the future, we are engaging our students and conducting groundbreaking research in an effort to actively create the future, as well as pursuing an ambitious goal to be climate-neutral by 2030. Welcome to the JKU, where dreams can take flight and soar!

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The University of Pavia (UNIPV) is one of the world’s oldest  academic institutions : it was founded in 1361 and until the 20th century it was The only University in the Milan Area and the region of Lombardy.

Today it is a comprehensive university, which covers all subject areas – Science and Technology, Science Engineering, Life Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences – and is composed of 18 Departments offering study programmes at all levels, from Bachelor’s degrees to Doctorate programmes. The academic staff counts more than 900 professors and researchers. 21,000 students, from both Italy and overseas, study at the University of Pavia.

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Founded in 1431, the University of Poitiers is a multidisciplinary university which enrols 29 000 students, 4200 of which are international students from 120 different countries, supervised by 2700 staff members (administrative, teaching staff and researchers). Poitiers ranks 2nd in the overall ranking of major student cities in France in 2018-2019 and  is above the national average with 16% of foreign students.

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The University of Salamanca was founded in 1218 and is one of the three oldest universities in Europe, boasting a wide range of Faculties and Research Institutes in Sciences and Arts. In 2011, it was awarded the Campus of International Excellence status. It is the university of reference in its region and beyond (Castile and León) and the “Alma Mater” of nearly all historical Latin American universities.

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The University of Turku (UTU) is an international research university and an active academic community of 25,000 students and staff members from over 100 different countries.  The University’s main campus is located in the historical city centre of Turku – close to the unique nature and archipelago of Southwest Finland. As one of the leading universities in Finland, the University of Turku offers study and research opportunities in seven faculties and seven special units.

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EC2U in numbers

  • 200 000

    Students

  • 25 000

    Administrative staff, teachers & researchers

  • 57

    Associates

  • 1 730 000

    Citizens in direct reach

Governance

Coordination Team

  • Ludovic Thilly, EC2U Coordinator
  • Emilie Lama, Administrative Coordinator
  • Emma Nau, Administrative Assistant
  • Heather Hunt, Coordination Assistant
  • Marie Bonnenfant, Administrative Assistant
  • Lucile Birot, Communication Coordinator
  • Axelle Huré, Communication Assistant

University of Coimbra

  • João Nuno Calvão da Silva, Institutional representative
  • Daniel Aragão, Student representative
  • Filipe Rocha, Administration representative

University of Iasi

  • Nicoleta Laura Popa, Institutional representative
  • Ana-Maria Pora, Student representative
  • Ioana Serafinceanu, Administration representative

University of Jena

  • Claudia Hillinger, Institutional representative
  • Maja Reinhardt, Student representative
  • Sophia-Marie Meyer, Administration representative

University of Linz

  • Alberta Bonanni, Institutional representative
  • Paul Hamminger, Student representative
  • Christine Hinterleitner, Administration representative

University of Pavia

  • Antonella Forlino, Institutional representative
  • Lisa Schivalocchi, Student representative
  • Alberto Forte, Administration representative

University of Poitiers

  • Christine Fernandez, Institutional representative
  • Manon Colombo, Student representative
  • Caroline Bélan-Ménagier, Administration representative

University of Salamanca

  • Raúl Sánchez Prieto, Institutional representative
  • Lucía Ayuso Marcos, Student representative
  • Miriam López, Administration representative

University of Turku

  • Tapio Salakoski, Institutional representative
  • Shashika Harshani, Student representative
  • Liisa Jarvinen, Administration representative

University of Coimbra

  • Amílcar Falcão, Rector

University of Iasi

  • Liviu-George Maha, Rector

University of Jena

  • Georg Pohnert, President

University of Linz

  • Stefan Koch, President

University of Pavia

  • Francesco Svelto, Rector

University of Poitiers

  • Virginie Laval, President

University of Salamanca

  • Juan Manuel Corchado Rodríguez, Rector

University of Turku

  • Marjo Kaartinen, Rector

University of Coimbra and Associated Partners

  • Amílcar Falcão, Rector
  • Joana Loureiro, CMC – Câmara Municipal de Coimbra
  • Eduardo Anselmo – Alexandra Rodrigues, CCDRC – Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Centro
  • Pedro Almeida, ESN Coimbra
  • Renato Daniel, AAC – Associação Académica de Coimbra
  • Pedro Lopes, CHUC – Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra
  • João Gabriel Silva, IPN – Instituto Pedro Nunes
  • António Lucas Nunes, Bluepharma

University of Iasi and Associated Partners

  • Liviu-George Maha, Rector
  • Elena Farca, Municipiul Iasi
  • Ioana-Agatha Filimon, North-East Regional Development Agency of Romania (ADR North-East)
  • Georgiana Doroftei, ESN Iasi
  • Gabriel Dimofte, Institul Regional de Oncologie Iasi (IRO)
  • Valentin Navrapescu, Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS)
  • Sebastian Costea, Antibiotice SA Iasi  

University of Jena and Associated Partners

  • Georg Pohnert, President
  • Thomas Nitzsche, City of Jena
  • Andreas Spieß, European Information Centre (EIZ)
  • ESN Jena
  • Tobias Neumann, Jena University Hospital
  • Dana Strauß, JenaVersum
  • Eike Dazert, Medways

University of Linz and Associated Partners

  • Stefan Koch, President
  • Ana Zuljevic, Stadt Linz
  • Land Oberösterreich
  • Layla Baraka, ESN Linz
  • Michelle Wolfgang, ÖH
  • Karl-Heinz Stadlbauer, Kepler Universitätsklinikum
  • Wirtschaftskammer Oberösterreich
  • Johann Hoffelner, Linz Center of Mechatronics

University of Pavia and Associated Partners

  • Francesco Svelto, Rector
  • Maria Spitti, Municipality of Pavia
  • Luca Lantero – Chiara Finocchietti, Information Centre on Academic Mobility and Equivalence (CIMEA)
  • Gianluca Cucurachi, S.T.E.P. ESN Pavia
  • Yasmina Saffar Andaloussi, AIESEC Italy (Local committee of Pavia) (AIESEC Pavia)
  • Catherine Klersy, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia
  • C.U.S. Pavia (Pavia University Sports Centre)
  • Tommaso Mazzocchi, Polo Tecnologico di Pavia
  • Davide Ballabio, Lombard Industrial Association of the Territories of Milan Lodimonza and Brianza Pavia (Assolombarda)

University of Poitiers and Associated Partners

  • Virginie Laval, President
  • Zoé Lorioux-Chevalier, Grand Poitiers
  • Dominique Quéré, IH2EF
  • Louis Cavaillé, ESN Poitiers
  • Lilian Afonso – Léopold Chateau, EC2U Students Poitiers
  • Arnaud Bernet – Emmanuelle Da Lavalette Ferguson – Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Poitiers
  • Sylvie Plumet, BBRAUN

University of Salamanca and Associated Partners

  • Juan Manuel Corchado Rodríguez, Rector
  • Carmen Seguín, Municipality of Salamanca 
  • Consejeria Educacion de la Junta de Castilla y Leon
  • Lucía Ayuso Marcos, ESN Salamanca
  • Cristina Marcos Atxutegi, Salamanca University Hospital and IBSAL
  • Sandra Lage López, Camaza Oficial de Comercio de Salamanca
  • Teresa Jiménez, USAL Science Park
  • Cristina de Inza Pujadas, IBERDROLA

University of Turku and Associated Partners

  • Marjo Kaartinen, Rector
  • Tuija Alihaanperä, City of Turku
  • Tarja Nuotio, Regional Council of Southwest Finland
  • Wilma Olenius, ESN Turku
  • Ville Kytö, Turku University Hospital
  • Tapani Mylly, Business Turku
  • Pasi Pajula, Wartsila Finland Oy

Other Associated Partners

  • Cédric Pasquier, SIEMENS Healthineers 
  • Serhiy Riznyk, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv
  • Emmanuelle Gardan, Coimbra Group

EC2U Ecosystem

Associated Partners

Complementary project

The “Research & Innovation For Cities & Citizens – RI4C2” project, submitted by the EC2U Alliance, has been awarded a 2 million euros grant in the Horizon 2020 “Science with & for Society” (SwafS) call for European Universities. The RI4C2 project is rooted in several important recent initiatives supported or developed by the European Commission in the areas of the Knowledge square, composed of Education, Research, Innovation and Service to society. These components are also the core missions shared by the participating universities. In this project, the seven partners have the joint overall objective to create a shared Pan-European Knowledge Ecosystem (PEKE). The project will develop a process that involves a gradual and adaptative transformation of all aspects of the Research & Innovation (R&I) missions at the participant universities. Globally, the RI4C2 project activities and deliverables will feed the “consolidation phase” of the EC2U Alliance. The project is based on eight work packages that act as “mini-engines” producing all components of the future PEKE and strengthening the local Knowledge ecosystems led by the participating universities.

Shared documents

Deliverables

EC2U co-funders