In 2023, Umeå University applied for EU funding to form a European Universities alliance, AcrossEU, together with eight other European universities. Our application was not accepted despite having been awarded a Seal of Excellence this time too, which is awarded applications of high quality.
Cathrine Norberg, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Umeå University.
Photo: Mattias Pettersson
Although this year's application did not yield funding, we intend to continue on the same path and make a thorough analysis of the application and results. The vice-chancellors in the alliance have agreed to submit a renewed application in 2024, when the EU budget will be remarkably higher. Careful work has already been undertaken and several activities have begun. Last spring, heads of education from each university met in Umeå, AI researchers met in Pardubice, Czech Republic, and a group of students met in Rovaniemi, Finland, to build collaborative formats. To strengthen this work, Umeå University will employ a project coordinator and, to involve more people in the project, the plan is to appoint a more expansive university-wide working committee than what we have at present.
Why is Umeå University investing time and energy in international partnerships of this kind? The short answer is that internationalisation is a question of quality and competition. The University's vision statement emphasises the importance of attracting a diverse range of students who enrich academia. Internationalisation is an element in the Higher Education Act, and is one of the perspectives addressed and followed up in our quality work. From a wider perspective, internationalisation adds value for all parties, and helps us contribute to international teaching and education, and to academic values being upheld.
The ambition behind the EU's European Universities initiative is to enable students to combine studies in multiple countries and to contribute to European universities' international competitive edge. AcrossEU aims to increase student mobility and employees' international experience, but also to strengthen education and research at each university in collaboration with the rest of society. The EU has expressed an aim to support 60 European Universities by 2024. There are currently 50 awarded European Universities, which means that an additional ten should be accepted in the next application round.
Umeå University has always focused on internationalisation, both at home and away through physical international experiences. However, when it comes to international students, Umeå University has a relatively low number compared to other Swedish universities. We see a huge potential to recruit more students, particularly from Europe, which would also contribute to reaching our funding cap. Regretfully, long processing times for residence permits have impeded internationalisation from outside the EU. This is something the I and the rest of the University Management raise in many of our meetings, not least with the Swedish Migration Agency through the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions.
An important element of internationalisation is to offer good and responsible internationalisation. This is something we already work hard on. And an important part is to take care of our international students including keeping in touch with them before and after their studies. Satisfied students are valuable ambassadors and many of them are potential future doctoral students or researchers.
I greeted a group of international students welcome last week in a crowded Aula Nordica. Their expectations on and curiosity about our university and the town of Umeå were noticeable. We must maintain contact with them, and I promised them that we will make our utmost to optimise their studies and stay in Umeå.
Many international students inquire about the chance to chat with existing students. To enable this, Umeå University launched the app Goin' this spring. This app gives newly admitted international students the opportunity to communicate not only with each other but also the University's student ambassadors before they arrive in Umeå. This autumn semester, Umeå University will launch the communication platform Unibuddy, which is a chat service that 650 universities across 45 countries have already signed up on. The idea of that is to increase interest among international students to apply to Umeå University and provide a more multifaceted image of what we have to offer. Students will be able to access the chat from Umeå University's web page Study at Umeå University.
Internationalisation is placed high on Umeå University's list of priorities. The EU application is one part of that work, but internationalisation in broad terms will also be a priority to meet the demands for competitiveness that globalisation brings. We have a shared responsibility to make as good an effort as possible.