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Alternating quantitative and qualitative data analysis, the Public Funding Observatory series has been monitoring the evolution of public funding and sector expectations for over a decade. In its latest editions, the Observatory detected widespread concerns over rising inflation levels and possible austerity measures in some European countries. European funding, such as NextGenerationEU, was outlined as a relevant scheme to support universities in becoming more digital, green and sustainable.
Explore EUA’s Public Funding Observatory
In a context of constraint and competition for public resources, funding efficiency and accountability of public spending are highly important. Linking public funding to institutional performance is an idea that often features in discussions on university funding policy at both the national and European level. Policy makers often see performance-based funding as a useful tool in connecting funding to measurable indicators.
The DEFINE project explored strategies for efficient funding of universities in Europe, and revealed that expectations towards performance-based funding are often too high and concluded that this funding mechanism should be used with caution and considered in the wider context.
In 2022, EUA updated this work, focusing on the main mechanisms used to determine block grants received by universities, including the types of indicators used by public authorities currently or in upcoming reforms.
Considering the constant activity around funding models in the past years, discussions focused on funding mechanisms and tools rather than objectives, and recurring questions around the “ideal” funding model, EUA found it necessary to lay out basic principles for the design of sound funding models.
The European funding landscape has become increasingly complex, driven by policy goals in different areas such as green and digital transformation. EUA strongly advocates for building synergies between European funding and promotes a holistic approach to the wider funding ecosystem, with greater alignment between EU and national funding programmes.
Universities need sustainable, simple and reliable public funding, delivered in the most efficient possible ways. EUA’s vision is one of meaningful simplification of funding rules based on a broader acceptance of national and institutional accounting practices, greater compatibility of national auditing practices and integration of audits by national funding agencies into EU reporting. The European Universities initiative also poses questions on their long-term financial sustainability.
EUA’s work has shown that actors interpret efficiency in different ways, but efficiency, effectiveness and value for money are intertwined and equally important for the complex mission of universities.
The USTREAM project concluded that efficiency is the collective responsibility of all higher education stakeholders. Efficient and effective universities and frameworks can only be achieved through continuous policy dialogue and the joint action of policy makers, universities and their networks.
Recent EUA studies have analysed the question of funding for greening university operations and have underlined the crucial role of leadership in steering institutional transformation, which include a strong financial dimension.
EUA has also helped a university funding community emerge at European level, including university leaders and senior managers, funders and partners, through the rolling out of different member-oriented activities such as its recurring Funding Forum. This biannual event is a unique platform where stakeholders can discuss trends in university funding at a strategic level.
As Europe enters a future marked by both unprecedented challenges and opportunities that extend beyond national boundaries, the next EU R&I Framework Programme (FP10) stands to become the continen ...
University R&I, and its synergies with education and service to society, is the premier gateway to the knowledge and skills needed for scientific progress and sustainable societal development. ...
The Erasmus+ programme is of key importance to the higher education sector, but despite its success, it requires further enhancement. ...
The turbulent economic context of the last decade has been conducive of reforms seeking to enhance efficiency and steering of universities’ use of public funds. In this publication, EUA revisits the ...
This report presents the expectations of national university associations across Europe in terms of funding and system governance in the medium term (2022-2024). ...
Given their education, research and societal missions, universities are important actors in the transition towards carbon neutrality, sustainable societies and economies. They are well placed to play ...
Universities have much to say and deliver in the policy areas set forth in NextGenerationEU. They have a role to play in facilitating the green and digital transitions, in contributing towards smart a ...
The Public Funding Observatory report 2020/2021, Part 2 is accompanied by individual country sheets with specific data on the 32 higher education systems covered in the study. The sheets off ...
This report provides a detailed analysis of long-term funding trends captured over the period from 2008 to 2019. It also offers an overview of the latest public funding developments in 2019 and 2020. ...
The process to renew the European Research Area (ERA) is gathering pace and is set to continue in the coming weeks, months and years. Building on previous policy positions, this policy input further e ...
This report provides a detailed picture of the immediate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on university funding and offers insights into the implications expected in the future. It concludes with 10 ke ...
As European leaders work towards an agreement on the European Union’s next seven-year budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework, and the related Next Generation EU recovery plan to help the EU’s ...
The European Commission’s new proposal for the next seven-year budget of the European Union together with the Next Generation EU recovery plan falls short of much needed investment in research, inno ...
There is a legitimate need for data on the performance of higher education institutions. It is important for the institutions themselves, as well as their stakeholders, including society. The use of i ...
In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, and its expected economic impact, this EUA briefing explores the possible implications for university funding in Europe in the short to medium term. ...
The European Universities Initiative has been at the centre of many discussions in European higher education and research for the past couple of years. Universities across the continent enthusiastical ...
In early 2020, EUA conducted a survey on international strategic institutional partnerships and the European Universities Initiative that gathered responses from 219 higher education institutions from ...
Building synergies between education, research and innovation across disciplines is crucial to tackling the major challenges our societies face. As the European Union projects ambitious policy goals, ...
The Public Funding Observatory report 2019/20 is accompanied by individual country sheets with specific data on the 34 higher education systems covered in the study. The sheets offer an over ...
The Public Funding Observatory Report 2019/20 offers the most up-to-date information on 34 higher education systems across Europe. ...
As negotiations continue on the future Horizon Europe programme, the discussion on the Model Grant Agreement is fundamental for effective and smooth implementation. Not only does the Model Grant Agree ...
This briefing outlines EUA’s proposals to national and EU funders on how to make the EU reporting and control environment more efficient and effective. This is a matter of strategic importance t ...
Fifteen university associations join together to call for an ambitious long-term EU budget for research, innovation and education to boost efforts to solve the manifold future challenges. ...
Over the last decade, policy makers and universities in Europe have been paying greater attention to efficiency and effectiveness in a more demanding higher education context. This study has been publ ...
University mergers are a widely spread phenomenon in Europe. This briefing analyses the features of close to 130 cases of university mergers and clusters (since 2000) recorded in the EUA University Me ...
The 2018 Public Funding Observatory report comes with individual country sheets. They offer an overview of the data collected for each system, including funding, inflation, student and staff numbers i ...
The Public Funding Observatory Report 2018 offers the most up-to-date information on 33 different higher education systems across Europe. ...
The three major European research-intensive universities, Università degli Studi di Milano (UniMi), Sorbonne Universite and University College London (UCL) all have ambitious strategies to deve ...
Due to a high demand of university pedagogical staff development courses in Finnish universities, the universities were faced with the problem of not being able to offer university pedagogy courses fo ...
A substantial share of public investment is spent on public procurement in the European Union and quality public services depend on well-managed and efficient modern procurement. Public higher educati ...
Many European universities are initiating strategic transformation programmes that either seek a step change in institutional efficiency, respond to drastic shifts in higher education policy and finan ...
This report provides examples of government-led initiatives implemented in response to national policy objectives and university-led collaborative initiatives and partnerships pursued by the Irish hig ...
As negotiations move forward in hammering out the design of Horizon Europe, this EUA briefing serves as a practical document for policy makers. It provides strategic and practical recommendations for ...
Ahead of the adoption of the European Commission’s proposal for Horizon Europe, university practitioners from 12 European countries provide solid data based on their direct experience managing n ...
EUA and more than a dozen other university associations have united to issue a common response to the European Commission’s proposal for Horizon Europe. The 14 signatory associations discussed ...
The European University Association (EUA) welcomes the European Commission’s proposal for the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (Horizon Europe). ...
On 30 May the European Commission released its proposal for the 2021-2027 Erasmus programme. The European University Association (EUA) welcomes the draft as a solid basis for discussion on t ...
In 2016, EUA launched the EUA Member Consultation on the Horizon 2020 Mid-Term Review, which addressed several aspects of Framework Programme simplification and revealed the need for further  ...
This report provides a summary of the input, discussions and findings from the first USTREAM peer learning seminar on policy frameworks for efficiency and effectiveness in the higher education co ...
In line with the campaign “EU funding for universities”, which gathers support from the bulk of the university sector across Europe, EUA is also partnering with other university networks ...
Addressing Europe’s key challenges and ensuring sustainable development requires the EU to have a well-functioning budget and to revisit its investment priorities. Cooperation in research ...
The Public Funding Observatory 2017 report captures the very latest funding trends in Europe and offers the most up-to-date information on 34 different higher education systems. For the ...
The Public Funding Observatory 2017 report captures the very latest funding trends in Europe and offers the most up-to-date information on 34 different higher education systems. ...
As the European Union prepares the next generation of EU funding programmes for the post-2020 period, budget discussions are increasingly geared towards performance, European added value, trust and ef ...
The European University Association (EUA) and its Energy and Environment Platform (EUA-EPUE) are at the helm of an extensive Europe-wide effort to address the Energy Transition by focusing o ...
On 24 October the work programme of the European Commission for 2018 was adopted. It contains a restricted, yet ambitious set of priorities for the year to come. Europe’s universities bene ...
The European University Association (EUA) welcomes the report released earlier this week by the High Level Group on maximising the impact of EU research and innovation programmes. The report ...
This position paper reiterates the strategic importance of fostering a united and prosperous knowledge-based society in Europe, which needs to remain a high priority despite the uncertain political an ...
The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) was created in 2015 in order "to strengthen the attractiveness of investing in Europe and in the infrastructure of a modern knowledge economy [...] b ...
As the European Commission undertakes its mid-term review of the current Framework Programme for Research and Innovation and prepares discussions on its post-2020 successor, EUA invited its members to ...
Ahead of the mid-term review of the Erasmus+ Programme, EUA conducted a consultation of its membership. The survey was open for responses from January to March 2016. In total, 218 higher e ...
Adopted by the EUA Council on 28 October 2016, this vision paper provides an early perspective on the main challenges ahead and outlines key areas, from the point of view of Europe’s universities, t ...
The Public Funding Observatory 2016 data reveals that capital funding and investment in infrastructure for universities are decreasing. Student aid is declining and costs are being passed on to studen ...
On 23 June 2016, 51.9% of the British electorate voting in the referendum chose to leave the European Union (EU) after the United Kingdom (UK) had joined in 1973. EUA shares the disappointment over th ...
In June 2015, the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) came into force. It is part of the Investment Plan for Europe, the major instrument to address the first key priority of the Juncker Co ...
With this statement, EUA responds to the public consultation launched by the European Commission in the spring of 2016 ahead of the review of the EU’s Financial Regulation. The Financial Regula ...
The 2015 edition records worrying signals from Northern Europe, a region that has so far kept up investments in higher education and research. Concerns particularly relate to Denmark and Finland, wher ...
With the series “Leaders’ Perspectives”, EUA gives the floor to the executive heads of its member universities on the essential issues connected to governance and funding. Th ...
The report “Performance-based Funding of Universities in Europe” gives an overview of performance elements in public funding for universities in 28 systems across Europe and focuses in particular ...
The DEFINE project, the findings of which underpin the present analysis, has taken funding efficiency in higher education as the main focus of its research and activities. The project notably inc ...
This policy brief marks a new phase in EUA’s campaign and underlines that the sector is unlikely to benefit from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), given the loan-financing mec ...
Entitled ‘Funding for excellence’, it is the first in a series of three thematic reports that outline many of the key findings of the EUA-led DEFINE project, which analyses the impact of funding e ...
The observatory analyses both the evolution of funding over the last year (2013-2014) and longer-term developments in university funding since 2008, also taking into account the impact of inflation, c ...
In September, the Council of the European Union (EU member states) formally approved its position on the EU draft budget for 2015, which has been proposed by the European Commission. The Council of th ...
As part of the “Designing strategies for efficient funding of higher education in Europe (DEFINE)” project, the European University Association (EUA) has been collecting information and data from ...
The report provides a new analysis of the pressures that many countries face in terms of funding for higher education institutions, in particular by taking account of the impact of inflation and chang ...
Growing expectations placed on teaching and research, along with squeezed public budgets are increasingly endangering the financial sustainability of Europe’s universities. EUA’s monitoring o ...
The report confirms that while the impact of the crisis on national systems varies widely across Europe, no national higher education system has been left completely unaffected. The report groups coun ...
Despite the tremendous diversity that exists in Europe, all universities face the challenge of sustainable funding more acutely than ever. Unprecedented massification has enormously benefited European ...
This report follows EUA’s first study on financially sustainable universities, which looked at the development of full costing in European universities and the ways to improve their capacity to ...
The results of the continuous EUA monitoring of the crisis clearly show that European higher education systems have been affected very differently, which reflects to some extent the impact that&n ...
European higher education systems have been affected very differently, to some extent reflecting the general impact on their respective national economies. They have also been affected at different st ...
To ensure the financial sustainability of Europe’s 5,000 plus universities, EUA is calling on governments (as underlined in its Prague Declaration) to commit to increasing investment in higher e ...
Since 2005, EUA had been examining the issues of funding, autonomy and accountability through engaging its members, some 800 European universities in 46 countries and 35 national r ...
Sound governance, competent and accountable management, transparent and coherent institutional quality processes are rising to the top of the work agenda of European university leaders today. The ...
EUA commissioned this study entitled The Rise of Knowledge Regions: Emerging Opportunities and Challenges for Universities with the aim of understanding the current role of universities and futur ...
Research Strategy Development in European Universities grew out of EUA’s study Trends IV: European Universities Implementing Bologna (2005) which, in the course of analysing how universities ar ...
Universities are aware of the need to overcome their fragmentation and to develop institutional strategies underpinning their action. EUA has formulated a set of principles on which strategies and pol ...
Following the Management Seminar organised in Istanbul in 2000 for its members, EUA invited the two seminar facilitators to turn their presentations into articles. In addition to t ...
On 26 June 2024, the European Research and Innovation Area Committee (ERAC) adopted an Opinion on ‘Guidance for the next Framework Programme for R&I’. ...
The European University Association, Science Europe and the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations (EARTO) have jointly addressed an open letter to Iliana Ivanova, European Comm ...
Universities will be one of the beneficiaries of the European Innovation Council (EIC) 2024 work programme, adopted on 12 December. ...
The Western Balkans Alumni Association (WBAA) study aims to gather alumni relevant perceptions, opinions, experiences, knowledge, memories, pathways & ideas to contribute to the academic landscape ...
As part of its efforts to support Open Access Diamond and institutional publishing, the DIAMAS project is launching a campaign to gather resources such as guidelines, best practices, training material ...
What do you know and think about the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and the Bologna Process? ...
The German Rectors' Conference (HRK) has opened a call for contributions ahead of the conference "Recognition Culture in Higher Education. International Perspectives on Lifelong Learning and Student M ...
The European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA) has published a revised edition of the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. ...
Alongside fellow European higher education and research stakeholders, the European University Association has reacted to a recent statement from the Board of the European Innovation Council (EIC) on t ...
The Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) is currently conducting an impact study on Erasmus Mundus programme’s impact on European higher education institutions and in partner countries. ...
European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) has launched new online courses for professional development in digital teaching and learning. ...
For the EU Mobility Programme for Myanmar (EMPM), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Campus France and the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education (Nuffic) are inviting univ ...
Nominations are now open for the Höffmann Academic Award for Intercultural Competence, conferred annually by the University of Vechta. ...
The Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi) has launched its International Call to Action 2023-2026 (GUNi-ICA). ...
The Rovira i Virgili University (URV) has announced a call for applications for 56 doctoral contracts. This call is addressed to Master graduates who would like to start a doctorate at ...
The European Commission has launched complementary calls for proposals under the European Regional Development Fund (Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument) and the European Innovation E ...
The project “Universities and lifelong learning”, run by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and Shanghai Open University, released two reports as final outcomes on 5 June 2023 during an in ...
On 31 May, the second meeting of the European University Association task and finish group on the EU Research and Innovation Framework Programme took place in Brussels. ...
The European University Association (EUA) fully supports the environmental objectives outlined in the EU’s sustainable finance taxonomy regulation. However, broadening the application of the Do No S ...
Europavox is a cultural European project, co-funded by the Europe Creative programme of the European union, aiming to help European music talents to travel and spread their songs all over the continen ...
As part of a recent public consultation conducted by the European Commission on the past, present and future of the European research and innovation framework programmes, the European University Assoc ...
Twenty selected postdoctoral researchers from all over the world will benefit from a 3-day workshop with experts in project writing and evaluation, support in project preparation, and a grant. ...
The First Edition of the World Congress for the Comparative Study of Civilizations, entitled The New Enlightenment between Traditions and Challenges - Crossroads of Civilizations, will be held in Buch ...
In a new statement, the European University Association and CESAER, an association of universities of science and technology in Europe, have expressed their shared concern about the unbalanced share o ...
The European Commission has launched a new Erasmus+ call for proposals to pilot a joint European degree label and test institutionalised EU cooperation instruments, such as a possible European legal s ...
The current standstill in the association of Switzerland to the Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ programmes is disadvantageous for both Switzerland and the European Union in terms of lost opportunities. ...
Students and higher education institutions in several countries are reporting problems with the allocation of mobility grants under the new generation of the Erasmus+ programme (2021-2027). ...
EUA, CESAER and EARTO have released a joint statement following the publication of the European Commission’s Assessment of the Lump Sum Pilot 2018 - 2020: Analysis of qualitative and quantitative fe ...
On 15 November, the European Parliament and Council of the EU reached an agreement on the size and allocation of next year’s budget. Striking the deal was important, as failure to do so would have r ...
In the context of the European Parliament plenary vote on the EU budget for 2022, EUA calls on the Council to revert the proposed cuts and support the full implementation of a future-oriented Horizon ...
Update: the new draft annotated grant agreement was published on 30 November 2021, with changes to articles 1 to 6 and article 20. ...
On 16 June 2021, the European Commission adopted the long-awaited main work programme of Horizon Europe for 2021-2022. It sets out funding opportunities with the total amount of €14.7 billion, most ...
The university sector must use the window of opportunity provided by the EU recovery plan (Next Generation EU), to present sustainable solutions for campus development and innovation, proposing green ...
EUA has launched the latest edition of its Public Funding Observatory, which offers information on 33 different higher education systems across Europe. The data is presented in a report and an online ...
For Silvia Lenaerts, FP10 must build on Horizon Europe by improving clarity, alignment and synergy in everything it does to foster innovation. This can be achieved through a single European Innovation ...
With an eye on FP10, Karin Sipido examines the trend towards strategic funding in previous EU programmes. With lessons learnt from the field of health research, she asks how EU R&I funding can bes ...
EUA’s newly published Innovation Agenda will help to mobilise and boost the university sector’s innovation capacity for greater strategic engagement to tackle societal challenges, writes Sergiu-Ma ...
Challenges presented by the contemporary world require researchers to acquire entrepreneurial skills and build bridges between academia and business. Startup co-founder Paweł Gora shares his experien ...
An unparalleled survey looks at innovation at universities across Europe. EUA expert Stephane Berghmans breaks down the findings, explaining what must be done to boost capacity and build vibrant innov ...
In a rapidly-changing labour market, how can students be prepared to be citizens of the world, as well as the future job creators and workers? Wyn Morgan and Catherine O’Mahony look at the definitio ...
Providing students with the skills for multidisciplinary collaboration and entrepreneurship supports social impact. The Tampere Universities community promotes this endeavour through multidisciplinary ...
Europe must boost its investment in research and innovation, argue the European University Association’s Rolf Tarrach and Michael Murphy in the Parliament Magazine. The outcome of the recent Europ ...
Jean Chambaz, president of Sorbonne University, talks with EUA about the importance of innovation capacity, funding and ecosystems.You have presided over an important merger of University Pierre and M ...
Alexandros Papaderos of the Technical University of Munich talks with EUA about the importance of co-creation, the two types of research and university missions.Co-creation between universities, stude ...
Innovation is increasingly important for universities – as it is for society. Universities are one of the strands of the so-called “triple helix”, providing impactful research to sustain competi ...
The increased focus on innovation as a key driver for our societies is influencing every single university mission. As project-based learning and co-creation in research move into the mainstream of un ...
A stronger EU industrial policy is in the cards, including more investments in innovation, writes EUA Rolf Tarrach for The Parliament Magazine.A stronger EU industrial policy is in the cards, includin ...
In the Upper Rhine region, the universities of Basel, Freiburg, Haute-Alsace and Strasbourg together with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology are breaking new ground in cross-border cooperation. The ...
USTREAM sought to examine the measures that are in place in universities across Europe to enhance efficiency at operational level, and also analyse policies at system level that support universities i ...
EUA’s Public Funding Observatory captures the very latest trends impacting Europe’s universities and offers the most up-to-date information on dozens of different higher education systems across t ...
Higher education institutions across Europe face today a demanding and complex financial context in which traditional modes of funding have been transformed and continue to evolve. ...
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The European University Association (EUA) welcomes the conclusions drawn by the EU Competitiveness Council on 1 December 2017. The Association is pleased with its forceful commitment to the next Frame ...
Investing in research and innovation is investing in a sustainable and inclusive future. ...
The European Research Area (ERA) reflects the European Commission and EU member states’ ambition to create a single, borderless market for research, innovation and technology across the EU. It was f ...
The regulatory, financial and societal environments in which universities operate are changing at an increasingly fast pace. EUA is dedicated to supporting universities in their efforts to make succes ...
Innovation is a key strategic priority for universities. It draws on their research and education missions as well as their role as an honest broker at the nexus of different sectors and communities. ...
As one of Europe’s most successful initiatives, Erasmus+ is of high importance for the European higher education community. It enables higher education institutional cooperation and provides opportu ...