Five years with Circle U.: “We’ve put down roots. Now it’s time to blossom”
The Circle U. university alliance is celebrating its fifth anniversary. It has already achieved a great deal, ac-cording to pro-rector Berit Eika, but still holds enormous potential, especially given its increasing geopolitical relevance.
When a couple has been married for five years, they can celebrate their wood anniversary. The wood signifies that the relationship has put down roots and can now enjoy stability and growth. The same can be said for the Circle U. alliance.
The alliance has become well established among its members and is increasingly translating this stability into concrete collaborations and greater mobility. These are important steps towards achieving the alliance’s fundamental goal:
“Our ambition is to create strong and enduing collaborative relationships,” explains pro-rector Berit Eika, who has been a driving force in Circle U.’s first five years. She continues:
“The alliance enriches our own university, because it offers our staff and students opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. In the long term, I hope that staff and students starting at AU will receive a strong European network as a welcome gift. We’re not quite there yet. But there are many dedicated researchers who are developing new activities and projects in close collaboration with international colleagues – and this collaboration has been aided by the fact that the administrative systems have learned to communicate with each other, which has generated momentum.”
A driving force for European innovation
Morten Foss, senior researcher at iNANO, echoes this view. He has been involved in Circle U. since the very beginning and has been a major driving force in turning the alliance’s ambition into action.
Working at the intersection of education and innovation, Morten Foss highlights the Entrepreneurial Change-making course as one of the alliance's major accomplishments. As part of this course, Master’s and PhD students from the nine Circle U. universities met in person and online to research sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship.
In 2024, the course was converted into a Blended Intensive Programme worth 5 ECTS points, and it has been offered again this year. Morten Foss and five AU students will soon travel to Louvain, Belgium, to participate in an event to conclude this year’s programme:
“It has been very exciting to work with dedicated researchers from the partner universities and to create a completely new course from scratch. The five AU students are from three different faculties, so we’ve succeeded in creating a course that is interdisciplinary,” says Morten Foss, who also has several new projects in mind:
“I am currently working on establishing courses that introduce Nat-Tech students to sustainable innovation. One is a collaborative learning module within nanoscience, and the other is a Blended Intensive Programme that focuses on green technology.”
Examples of Circle U. opportunities for AU employees
- Guide: How to create a Circle U. offer
- Circle U. Seed Funding: Funds for setting up interdisciplinary projects
- Community of Practice: For early career researchers
- Community of Practice: For technical/administrative staff
Mobility and collaboration can take many forms
Berit Eika views Morten Foss’ efforts as a great example of something she hopes more AU staff and students will embrace. She explains:
“People often think that mobility means spending a semester abroad. But it doesn’t have to. Many students prefer to go abroad for a shorter, more intense period – perhaps as part of an online or blended course with students from other countries. Or on a field trip, like the ones organised by Arts to Berlin or Oslo. For our administrative staff, mobility could mean joining workshops or going on week-long exchanges to Vienna or Pisa. The important thing is that we broaden our professional horizons and engage with knowledge, people and working methods from other European countries.”
Berit Eika also points out that Circle U. intends to create more opportunities for early career researchers and help them expand their network within Europe. Morten Foss agrees that this is important:
“All researchers see the value of internationalisation, but finding the right research partners and formats for collaboration requires a lot of effort. It can be difficult to find the time in our busy working lives, but we are working on making it easier.”
A moment for Europe
The idea of a European university alliance was born in 2017, when President Emmanuel Macron of France held a speech on the future of the EU at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
He focused on the need to increase cooperation within university education to make it easier for students to internationalise their degree programmes and thereby improve their language skills and international awareness.
Yet research and innovation have also been regarded as increasingly central to international collaboration since 2017, says Berit Eika. She points out that the COVID pandemic, major geopolitical developments both east and west of Europe, and Mario Draghi’s report on European competitiveness have all underlined the importance of a strong, united Europe. She explains:
“I think most people have noticed the increased focus on European cooperation in recent years. The university sector plays an important part in trying to solve major global challenges, and allying yourself with other researchers aligns completely with the scientific mantra of knowledge sharing and collaboration. Circle U. and other alliances offer a valuable framework to accomplish these ambitions. In this way, our timing has been excellent – now we are up and running, and we have plenty of momentum to convert knowledge into action. The alliance has every opportunity to continue to blossom and thrive.”