Arqus celebrates the Arqus Day launching the new phase of the Alliance with enthusiasm and new goals on the horizon

The Alliance “turns” 3 years old with significant advances, a well-planned roadmap and the experience needed to face the grand challenges of the future

On 18th October 2019, the Arqus Rectors’ Council was formally established in Granada. On that date, the Alliance was also publicly and officially presented for the first time following the announcement that it had been selected for funding in the first pilot call. Such an important event was later designated as the annual day to celebrate Arqus, the Arqus Day.

Three years later, there is much more to celebrate today. On the one hand, the Alliance has grown in number and wisdom with the incorporation of the Universities of Minho and Wroclaw back in January 2022. Besides, the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy has accepted the invitation to become an Arqus Associate partner, bringing new opportunities for the Alliance to support Ukrainians and Ukrainian higher education with direct collaboration with this outstanding research and autonomous university.

On the other hand, Arqus kick-starts the new phase of the Alliance, for which has received the maximum funding from the European Commission Erasmus + Programme (14,4M €) to develop its 2022-2026 work plan, with the vision of becoming a forward-looking, open, integrated, and research-driven European University that builds transformative excellence with and for all.

In the words of Dorothy Kelly, the Arqus Coordinator and Vice-Rector for Internationalization at the University of Granada, “on Arqus day, every 18th October, we celebrate the enormous motivation, ambition and effort of all Arqus communities to transform the European higher education and to build a sustainable future together through deep cooperation and common values. This date marks the anniversary of the first Arqus Rectors’ Council where the highest level institutional representatives of the Arqus universities presented publicly their commitment to boosting excellence of higher education with and for all, research and innovation by strengthening the cooperative ties that already existed between us. Our long-term commitment, established in the Mission Statement, and the conviction that our communities and institutions are stronger together, are the basis for sound identity building and ensuring our strong potential for lasting cooperation. Congratulations Arqus!”

Today is a date to celebrate the Alliance existence and our universities have chosen it to hold different activities: The University of Padua has organised a session on Arqus universities as part of its first Mobility Fair: Celebrating 35 years of future, held on the occasion of the Erasmus Days 2022 and the 35th anniversary of the Erasmus Programme. All Arqus students can register and participate in this activity. The University of Granada has planned a team building day with the Coordination and Communication teams, followed by a session with all local participants in the Alliance to present Arqus II and to thank their participation during these 3 first years. The Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 is running a social media campaign on Instagram with short videos by students.

In this framework, we are delighted to announce the new Arqus website, which is more navigable, intuitive and targeted to different audiences. This website will contain in the near future more quality content and new sections. Stay tuned!