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Across Europe, university governance models are diverse and changing, but how they approach inclusiveness, collaboration and competences increasingly informs institutional transformation and societal impact.
This report explores the evolving landscape of university governance in Europe, drawing on data from the latest edition of EUA’s Autonomy Scorecard and building on previous analyses. It offers a detailed picture of the development and current models of governance, their structures, legal provisions and levels of inclusiveness.
While differences between higher education systems persist – reflecting diverse traditions, political cultures and regulatory environments – EUA’s research identifies several common trends. These include the spread of the dual governance model and the greater role of university boards, as well as the inclusion of external stakeholders in university governance becoming more common.
Looking ahead, university governance needs to respond to an ever more complex environment. Major transformations – such as digitalisation, the green transition, artificial intelligence, knowledge security, shifting societal expectations and geopolitical uncertainty – are reshaping what is asked of institutional leadership and governance.
Universities must take action to strengthen their financial resilience. ...
Academic freedom is the lifeblood of meaningful scientific endeavour and a precondition for universities to play their societal roles. ...
The European University Association (EUA) calls on European and national policy makers to make a substantial leap forward in supporting transnational university cooperation including the alliances und ...
EUA's Autonomy Scorecard country profiles delve into in-depth system analyses, offering insights into recent developments and presenting the sector's perspective. ...
The wide-ranging ambitions of the European Green Deal provide a policy framework to integrate the scientific, educational, and institutional dimensions of universities’ contribution to the green tra ...
With this text, the European University Association (EUA) presents a set of guiding considerations to support universities in using global rankings responsibly. ...
The 2023 edition of the European University Association’s Autonomy Scorecard, the most comprehensive yet, provides a full comparative analysis of the state of play of university autonomy in 35 highe ...
This report presents the key findings and recommendations of the NEWLEAD project’s efforts to build the capacity of university leaders across Europe in steering change and addressing new prior ...
This NEWLEAD guide offers recommendations and reflections for university leaders, university sector representatives and policy makers interested in setting up a leadership development programme (LDP). ...
The Scorecard 2023 provides a full comparative analysis of the state of play of university autonomy in 35 higher education systems in Europe. ...
Developing a comprehensive approach to innovation for the benefit of universities is at the core of the European University Association’s vision for the future of European higher education and resea ...
This report presents the final outcomes of the EU-funded “Leadership and Organisation for Teaching and Learning at European universities” (LOTUS) project. ...
As the European Universities Initiative moves into a new phase, EUA has taken stock of its impact thus far, notably in how it may further policy reforms that benefit transnational university cooperati ...
Today, more than ever before, universities are expected to fulfil multiple and increasingly challenging roles. Invariably, university leaders are walking a tightrope, caught between long-term strategy ...
Based on data collected in 2021 by the International Association of Universities (IAU), Michael Gaebel and Henriette Stoeber reflect on the impact of the pandemic on European higher education. ...
This report outlines the conclusions of the Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group “Strategy and organisational culture”, which explored the role of strategy and organisational culture in pro ...
The report analyses major and recent national policies and initiatives aiming to support the enhancement of learning and teaching in 30 countries of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). ...
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 ...
Given the rapid and intense change taking place in our societies and, invariably, at our universities, institutional leadership has become a game-changer in the capacity to adapt. This is even more so ...
This is the first briefing in a new EUA series focused on evolving university governance. The present publication explores the governance set-up of the European University Alliances formed under the E ...
In Europe today, almost every higher education institution uses digitally enhanced learning and teaching. Since EUA began exploring this topic in 2013, digitally enhanced learning and teaching has bee ...
Digitally enhanced learning and teaching is widely used across the European Higher Education Area, with general acceptance growing over the years and institutions widely acknowledging the benefits it ...
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 ...
EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, during the European Research and Innovation Days in September 2020, stated that excellence and inclusiveness are two sides of the same coin in the new European Research ...
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 ...
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 ...
This report is a milestone of the EU-supported project “Transition to University Autonomy in Kazakhstan” (2017-2020) and focuses on the state of play of university governance and recommend ...
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 ...
Over the past three years, EUA has been working on a number of initiatives related to higher education learning and teaching. Activities include knowledge building and studies, institutional ...
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 ...
Based on the work of the EUA Learning & Teaching Initiative and the outcomes of the 1st European Learning & Teaching Forum, this paper underlines the importance of learning and teaching (L& ...
The Scorecard 2017 provides a full comparative analysis of the state of play of university autonomy in 29 higher education systems in Europe. The report complements the presentation of the main outc ...
The EUA Autonomy Scorecard offers a methodology to collect, compare and weight data on university autonomy. A core set of autonomy indicators was developed to offer an institutional perspective on ins ...
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 ...
“University mergers in Europe” is the second thematic report published by EUA as part of the DEFINE project. DEFINE explores strategies for efficient funding of universities in Europe, lookin ...
This publication intends to provide observations on and recommendations for enhancing the complementarity between higher education mobility policies at the institutional, national and Europe ...
At the end of first decade of the Bologna Process, there was an acute awareness that academic mobility in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) had probably not improved as anticipated, but also t ...
Le projet de Tableau de bord sur l’autonomie dresse un bilan détaillé et précis du degré d’autonomie institutionnelle dans 26 pays européens. Ce projet se concentre sur les cadres législatif ...
The Autonomy Scorecard project provides a detailed and accurate picture of the status of institutional autonomy in 26 different European countries. The project focuses on the legislativ ...
Institutional diversity is becoming more central to higher education policy as higher education institutions are moving to the centre stage of political and public attention, with ...
Changing expectations of universities’ contributions to a knowledge-based economy and society over the last decade have transformed the relationship between the state and higher educa ...
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 ...
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 ...
Rather than analysing European academic cooperation and mobility for their own sake, the following pages try to set interuniversity developments in their historical context, as higher educat ...
The EUA-CDE Annual Meeting in 2018 included perspectives from outside Europe. Speakers from Asia, Africa and North America presented our European community with the global dimension of doctoral educat ...
20 January 2016 The European University Association (EUA) would like to express its concern for the academics in Turkey being investigated for expressing their views, under the petition “We Will no ...
The European University Association regrets the passing of a new Turkish law on 1 July that consolidates the president of the country’s prerogative to appoint rectors of both public and foundation u ...
The Board of the European University Association (EUA) expresses grave concern about the current challenges faced by higher education institutions in Serbia. ...
On 9 April 2025, the first cohort of the European University Association’s pilot Leadership Development Programme gathered in Riga, Latvia. ...
In February 2025, the European Commission published an assessment of the state of play for European cooperation in higher education. ...
On 30 January, the European Higher Education Sector Observatory was officially launched. ...
A dynamic group of senior professionals from universities across Europe are set to embark on the European University Association’s pilot programme to empower and equip the sector’s leaders. ...
Starting in April 2025, the European University Association will bring together up to 20 senior university leaders for a pilot Leadership Development Programme that fosters exceptional leadership skil ...
Following a recent court decision, the European University Association (EUA) calls on Turkish authorities to seize the opportunity to thoroughly reconsider how university rectors are appointed. ...
The European University Association and Civil Society Europe, a network of EU-level stakeholder organisations, have today published a joint letter addressing worrying and potentially counterproductive ...
The European University Association condemns the recent decision by the Swedish government to shorten the mandate of external members of university boards from three years to 17 months. ...
The NEWLEAD project consortium published a new workbook focused on Leading change in diversity and cross-cutting challenges. ...
In accordance with a December 2022 Council of the European Union decision to protect “the Union budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary”, the European Commission ha ...
EUA members Coventry University and Aarhus University, and the Council of Europe are launching a fully funded cotutelle doctoral research programme focusing on the role of universities in creating a d ...
International Women’s Day provides an opportunity to reflect on the gender disparities in university leadership. This article, presenting the latest data and trends in female leadership in EUA membe ...
The European University Association (EUA), the European Students’ Union (ESU) and Scholars at Risk (SAR) join together to condemn the criminalisation of students and academics in Belarus. They call ...
Scholars at Risk – Ireland and ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, organise the online conference “Academic freedom and intellectual dissent” on 8 June, from ...
International Women’s Day, celebrated on 8 March, is an opportunity that EUA has been seizing every year to further raise awareness on gender disparities in universities. In 2021, again, the Associa ...
On 14 February, Frédérique Vidal, French Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation, announced plans to order the French research agency (CNRS) to conduct an enquiry into French universi ...
In Turkey, the practice of appointments of university rectors by the President of the Republic is generating a new wave of criticism. The recent nomination of a new rector at Bogaziçi University in I ...
Following the recent news of further infringements on university autonomy and academic freedom reflected in two decrees (675 and 676) published in the Turkish Official Journal on 29 October 2016, the ...
13 June 2025, 09.30-12.00 CEST Application closed What is the role of universities within the new European policy paradigm of competitiveness, security and sustainable prosperity? And how can u ...
Applications closed Capacity building for higher education institutions Attention to learning and teaching (L&T) has increased in recent years, both at European higher education institutions (HE ...
Capacity building for higher education institutions Attention to learning and teaching (L&T) has increased in recent years, both at European higher education institutions (HEIs) and in European p ...
Click below to see more photos of the event! What will be financed tomorrow, and how, depends largely on what expectations society and policy makers have of universities. What competing visions of ...
What is the state of university finances in Europe, and what does the future hold? Enora Bennetot Pruvot previews EUA’s latest funding research in University World News. ...
In University World News, Thomas Estermann and Maria Blanco outline why EUA is launching a pioneering Leadership Development Programme to equip university leaders with the tools they need to thrive. ...
After decades of transformative reforms, universities appear more streamlined and effective. However, Bjørn Stensaker argues that it should not be taken for granted that internal restructuring and im ...
How can we foster the capacity of university leaders to effectively steer change and address new transformational priorities? Josep M. Garrell and Thomas Estermann reflect on the results of the NEWLEA ...
Digital transitions pervade every aspect of our lives, but some university teachers still appear reluctant to develop their digital competences. For Barbara Bruschi and Manuela Repetto, it is urgent t ...
Despite a proliferation of initiatives to promote Open Science, many obstacles persist. Here, Jean-Pierre Finance examines the progress that this movement has made and looks to the next steps, includi ...
Beyond getting the technology in place, digitally enhanced learning and teaching (DELT) in higher education requires considerable resources and engagement, strategy and leadership. In this article for ...
If we want universities to make a leap in transnational cooperation, policymakers must take their own leap in implementing reforms that work towards creating the necessary framework conditions. In Res ...
The growing participation of women in higher education is not yet reflected in university leadership. Here, Kerstin Mey examines barriers to reaching a critical mass of female leaders in higher educat ...
Leaders must respond to the unprecedented challenges facing the higher education system. In these times of uncertainty, hope is the fundamental leadership driver that will help our institutions to rem ...
National, system-level initiatives can support and enhance learning and teaching, as highlighted in the study National Developments in Learning and Teaching in Europe. While higher education instituti ...
All universities need more autonomy to be innovative, not only those engaged in the European Universities Initiative. EUA expert Anna-Lena Claeys-Kulik writes that limiting flexible collaboration opti ...
As universities face increased pressures and rapid change, leadership development opportunities are in short supply. EUA’s Thomas Estermann and Luisa Bunescu offer their expertise from the NEWLEAD p ...
The concept of leadership in teaching is not easy to pin down. Drawing from the LOTUS project, EUA expert Thérèse Zhang explores two definitions and highlights the roles that leaders in teaching cou ...
What does NextGenerationEU mean for the university sector? Funding expert Enora Bennetot Pruvot outlines investment and reform opportunities, highlighting that the national recovery and resilience pla ...
This piece by Oliver Vettori of the Vienna University of Economics and Business analyses the tightrope walk of university leadership. It points out the importance of getting experts to agree on a way ...
With the rapid growth of the student body, the need to refurbish university real estate and the changing balance between block grants and project-based funding, an in-depth discussion is needed about ...
With billions of euros on the table, Next Generation EU could be a game changer for research and education – especially in countries like Italy where underfunding is already a cause for concern. The ...
The Academic Freedom Index provides a robust assessment of academic freedom levels worldwide that can inform and guide advocacy and policy efforts. Co-developers Janika Spannagel and Ilyas Saliba from ...
On the occasion of EUA’s 20th anniversary, President Michael Murphy and long-time senior expert and Director Michael Gaebel look back at two decades of global university collaboration. Offering a br ...
As the mid-term evaluation of the first European University Alliances comes up, stakeholders must keep a balanced approach and look at the future of the initiative in a holistic way. As EUA expert Ann ...
As the European University Initiative nears its mid-term review, it is time to think seriously about how the alliances are governed. Complex setups must retain their fitness for purpose and benefit th ...
While the fundamental principles of academic freedom and institutional autonomy have not changed in the last 30 years, their context has. EUA’s Monika Steinel analyses the panorama and reflects on w ...
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the European University Association, Andrée Sursock analyses two decades of transformation and renewal in Europe’s higher education landscape, and charts ...
In Europe, there is little provision of leadership development schemes in higher education. Given the pace and intensity of transformations in our societies and invariably in our universities, institu ...
The important upsurge in statements of support for academic freedom at the intergovernmental level in Europe points to the urgent need for meaningful implementation. Civil society and higher education ...
Creating European research and education areas requires a transparent and inclusive dialogue, says EUA senior policy coordinator Thomas Jørgensen.The European Commission’s release of communications ...
In the coming academic year, virtual mobility might be the only reliable option for some institutions in the fallout of the Covid-19 crisis. EUA expert Michael Gaebel gives a vision for the future of ...
As universities across Europe move to online learning and teaching amid the coronavirus crisis, questions might arise about what steps may be needed to ensure quality. EUA expert Tia Loukkola explains ...
EUA President Michael Murphy assesses the challenges and opportunities brought by the coronavirus pandemic to Europe’s universities, in particular in relation to funding, digital tools, Open Science ...
As the coronavirus pandemic impacts the global economy, funding for universities is bound to take a hit. EUA’s Thomas Estermann explains what the crisis means for the higher education sector in Euro ...
Research assessment practices are becoming more accurate, transparent and responsible. This is partly due to the sharp increase in external evaluations of universities that lead to internal evaluation ...
Numerous cases of positive change in higher education systems can be attributed to EUA’s Institutional Evaluation Programme (IEP). As IEP celebrates its 25th anniversary, Andrée Sursock looks back ...
University autonomy and academic freedom should be more than topics of proclamation and celebration. Sijbolt Noorda, President of the Magna Charta Observatory, discusses why they should be lived in th ...
The new European Commission must make research, education and innovation a priority as it sets out the roadmap for the next five years. In Science Business, EUA President Michael Murphy presents a sim ...
Doctoral education has a major role to play in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. EUA-CDE Head Alexander Hasgall explores this, as well as how the goals, in turn, can benefit doctor ...
As the results of the EU elections become clearer, EUA’s Thomas Jorgensen discusses the major changes in store and how universities could be impacted.The dust is still settling after the European Pa ...
Universities are changing. Strategy expert Claudia Nuss reflects on what it takes to successfully lead the transformation process. ...
To remain world leaders in research and innovation, Europe’s universities need more supportive policies and funding frameworks, write EUA President Rolf Tarrach and President-elect Michael Murphy fo ...
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 continuous development of teaching competences needs commitment at all levels. It is a systematic process that requires a framework for teaching performance, a professionalisation body, preferably ...
In uncertain times with anti-EU movements and Brexit negotiations, the EU institutions must make an effort to reach an agreement on Horizon Europe. EUA’s Lidia Borrell-Damian talks about the key ame ...
Thomas Estermann from the European University Association examines the university efficiency debate, explaining that behind the push to save money there is actually much more, including a silver linin ...
Lidia Borrell-Damián from the European University Association argues the European Commission’s Horizon Europe initiative holds great promise for the future of research and innovation in Europe. Thi ...
Academic freedom is the latest of the many victims on Hungary’s path towards an illiberal state, argues Lesley Wilson. This editorial was first published on The Parliament Magazine on 7 September 20 ...
The Hungarian government’s clampdown on gender studies and research into migration sets a dangerous precedent. This editorial was first published on The Guardian on 6 September 2018. Universities i ...
The European Commission’s proposal for the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (Horizon Europe) shares broad similarities with Horizon 2020, but there are some significant differenc ...
The proposal for the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, also known as Horizon Europe, has been published by the European Commission. Universities and research centres across Europe ...
As the Rector of the University of Groningen, and an economist, I am often asked why universities receive so much public funding for academic research. What is the use for society? A simple first resp ...
It is at the apex of higher education, research and innovation, but issues around integrity and employability must be addressed for doctoral education to continue to thrive, says Luke Georghiou. Ambi ...
As Europe decides how to best invest in the future of research and innovation, it is clear that Horizon 2020’s successor will need more funding. It is also quite certain that its design must be more ...
Director of Research and Innovation, European University Association, Lidia Borrell-Damián shares her thoughts on what lies ahead after Horizon 2020, in which she envisions a new kind of impact by li ...
Investment in research and education not only brings the highest European added value, it is also the most effective long-term, future-oriented commitment that the EU can make towards its citizens, wr ...
The lack of funding needed to achieve Europe’s widely advertised ambitions for global excellence in research and innovation should be addressed in discussing Horizon 2020’s successor. Understandin ...
In the run up to the European University Association’s first pan-European Learning and Teaching Forum in Paris 28-29 September, we speak to Professor Jean Chambaz, a European University Association ...
Europe needs more ambitious research funding, or risks losing precious knowledge, writes Rolf TarrachThe European Union is currently defining its priorities for the next decade. The scientific communi ...
The implications of the political, economic and societal landscape in Europe are becoming ever more complex for Europe’s universities. The Old Continent faces prolonged financial and economic crises ...
Michael Gaebel, Director of Higher Education Policy at the European University Association, highlights the upcoming European Commission Erasmus+ review. This article was first published on Open Access ...
In the top 50 performing participants in Horizon 2020, 4.2 billion euros went to 37 universities, 11 research agencies and two research institutes. These are all from 12 countries in Europe: the UK, G ...
The current state of the European Union demands new political thinking and action – not just “business as usual”. Europe faces a series of interlinked economic, political, societal and cultural ...
Horizon 2020 plays a significant part in developing the research and innovation capacity of the European community, as well as of the individual member states. We have already witnessed the 7th Framew ...
For the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), participation in Horizon 2020 is a number one priority. The framework programme gives us the opportunity to collaborate with excellent re ...
Erasmus+ as the successor of the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) brings a major contribution to universities like the Deggendorf Institute of Technology and has improved the implementation of activi ...
There is no doubt that Erasmus+ offers an excellent range of opportunities for students and staff to broaden their international experience. Key Action 1, in particular, provides a fantastic variety o ...
The University of Granada was very active in many of the Erasmus+ predecessor programmes and in bilateral mobility with partners all around the world. When the current Erasmus+ Programme took off in 2 ...
For Ghent University, Erasmus+ is a vital instrument in the attainment of its strategic ambition to see 25% of its students study abroad by 2020. Erasmus+ Key Action 1a on student mobility accounts fo ...
As EUA launches the call for participation for its pilot Leadership Development Programme, President Josep M. Garrell presents the initiative and encourages leaders from EUA member universities to app ...
Today, higher education institutions are tasked with multiple and challenging roles. They accommodate evolving student expectations, address changing labour market needs and sustainability pressures, ...
The EUA Autonomy Scorecard is a comprehensive tool that gathers, monitors, and compares system-level data regarding university autonomy across Europe since 2011. ...
EUA is currently piloting a Leadership Development Programme for senior leaders in European higher education institutions. ...
The STAND project aims to improve the processes and mechanisms of university autonomy by increasing the management capacities, accountability and transparency of universities in the Western Balkans in ...
Today, higher education institutions are tasked with multiple and challenging roles. ...
The LOTUS project aims to contribute to capacity building and strategic change management for learning and teaching at higher education institutions across Europe. ...
The DIGI-HE project explored different ways higher education institutions can boost their strategic approaches to digitally enhanced learning and teaching and enhance their capacity. ...
The TRUNAK project seeks to enhance university autonomy in Kazakhstan. It seeks to develop both the management and governance of Kazakh universities, as well as the capacities of national authorities ...
The EUA Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Groups gather a selected group of EUA member universities each year to discuss and explore practices and lessons learnt in organising and implementing lea ...
The EFFECT project aimed to facilitate the exchange of experience and effective methods in terms of university teachers’ development at the European level. ...
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 ...
The ATHENA project contributed to the development, reform and modernisation of higher education systems in the Eastern Neighbouring partner countries Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine. ...
European universities advance sustainability in numerous ways, and have done so for many decades. The European University Association’s vision for 2030 – Universities without walls – states tha ...
The European Universities Initiative aims to strengthen strategic and in-depth transnational collaboration through the development of alliances involving universities from several European countries. ...
There is increasing momentum to address academic careers and assessment, both in the academic sector and among policy makers. ...
Leading a university has never been more demanding. University leaders must juggle multiple roles, balancing the needs and expectations of a diverse array of stakeholders. They are accountable for a w ...
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 ...
A call for applications for a European University Association task-and-finish group on sustainability is now open. ...
The call for participation in the European University Association’s pilot Leadership Development Programme is now closed. Applicants will be informed about the results by December 2024 at the latest ...
