The EMERGE University Alliance: Empowering the Margins of Europe through Regional and Global Engagement

Logo der EMERGE-Hochschulallianz

What is EMERGE?

"European Universities" are university alliances that aim to combine the strengths and diversity of European education and research in new structures in order to address the challenges that Europe is facing. The aim is to create an outstanding European educational area, as well as to strengthen the international competitiveness and improve the attractiveness of European universities in the fields of education, research and innovation. In this context, the Europa-Universität Flensburg joined forces with eight strategic partner universities from Ireland, France, Spain, Norway, Greece, Cyprus and Slovakia to found the EMERGE University Alliance in 2019. From 01/01/2025, EMERGE will receive official status as a "European University" and EU funding of 14.3 million euro.

The EMERGE vision and mission

Despite being far from the European center or the national centers respectively, the EMERGE partner universities hold European ideals and values as central. The goal is to extend the collaboration with our peripheral regions and their respective organizations and communities, in particular marginalized groups, and to create a model of excellence in the fields of higher education and lifelong learning, research and transfer, languages and cultures, campus development as well as sustainable governance that engages students, staff, and the local organizations and communities.

Our vision and mission is presented in our short EMERGE film.

Activities

Current and planned activities include, for example, the integration of European Academic Pathways with elements of physical, blended and virtual mobility in existing study programs, applications for collaborative project funding within Erasmus+ Key Action 2 with our EMERGE partner universities, and the establishment of so-called EMERGE Third Places. A Third Place is a regionally anchored and internationally oriented platform for research and networking activities, joint third-party funding applications, publications and events as well as research- and project-based learning. There is also a regular exchange between staff (Staff Weeks) and a forum for student representatives from the participating universities.

What are the cooperation universities?

Contact persons

If you have questions about EMERGE or would like to get involved with an existing or planned (research, teaching, mobility etc.) project or format, please contact the EMERGE Office team consisting of Marlene Langholz-Kaiser and Leonie Hensel, or the respective topic-related coordinators via our functional e-mail address emerge-PleaseRemoveIncludingDashes-@uni-flensburg.de:

  • For general questions about the EMERGE project and EMERGE alliance: Marlene Langholz-Kaiser, Local Project Coordinator & Leonie Hensel, Project Administrator & Dr. Thomas Duttle, Institutional EMERGE Coordinator
  • Educational programmes for students: Merle Struve, Coordinator for Educational and Mobility Programmes
  • Mobility and exchange opportunities: Merle Struve, Coordinator for Educational and Mobility Programmes
  • Research opportunities: Dr. Isabella Tegethoff, EMERGE Research Coordinator
  • Language and cultural offerings: Eleonora Zheleznikova, Coordinator for Languages, Cultures and Lifelong Learning
  • Campus life: Lucila Morales de Mittag, Coordinator for Campus Development
  • Regional engagement and cooperation: Ute Boesche-Seefeldt, Coordinator for Community Engagement
  • Educational programmes for adult learners in the region: Eleonora Zheleznikova, Coordinator for Languages, Cultures and Lifelong Learning
  • Quality assurance: Carlotta Kühnemund, EMERGE Quality Assurance Officer
  • Financial administration: Dorothea Kollmus (EU funding) & Anika Fahrenkrug-Matthiesen (DAAD funding)
  • EMERGE Student Representation: Bianca Broja (B.A. EUCS) & Luisa Struck (B.A. IM)

You will gradually find more information on our alliance-wide EMERGE website https://euemerge.eu, which will be developed step by step from now on.