Let's Unite! – Get to know Anshika Suri

The Unite! community introduces itself

2023/04/06

Unite! is a living and constantly growing alliance. Many people at the seven (soon to be nine) partner universities are working on different projects to make a European University a reality. Who they are and what exactly they do is what we show in the series “Let's Unite! – Get to know…”. This time, Anshika Suri from the TU Darmstadt introduces herself.

, is the Policy and Funding Advisor for the Unite! alliance. Her responsibilities under the Unite! Alliance Management and Governance include implementation and management of the seed fund, coordination of Student Liaison officers (along with Grenoble INP-UGA), coordination of thematic communities such as integration of Energy, AI, Industry 4.0 and, further funding and project development at Unite! In her free time, she likes travelling and exploring new places, she is an avid reader, ardent enthusiast of plays and musicals, indulgent baker and a trained Indian Classical Kathak Dancer. She is also passionate about intersectional research and currently co-editing a book by Springer on Inclusive urban development.

What future Unite! project are you particularly excited about and why do you think it is important for Unite!'s strategy?

I am excited about the implementation of the Unite! Seed Fund in 2023, which apart from being co-financed by Unite! partners and the Erasmus+ grant, is also aimed at providing an innovative and creative outlet for all teaching staff, researchers and students. The seed fund is envisioned as a step towards boosting collaborative and creative projects between three or more Unite! alliance partners, almost akin to angel investment in innovative ideas that are developed within our alliance. We want to give research and innovation a boost, and through the seed fund hope to also initiate potential future collaborations in diverse thematic areas, such as Energy, AI, amongst others.

What is happening in your Unite! expert community? Anything interesting to share with the Unite! community?

What has been an interesting development is the nomination of the Student Liaison Officer positions (SLOs) in our alliance. This is envisioned as a key role within Unite! 2.0. The SLOs are members who have extensive work experience and integral know-how on how to integrate students and their needs better within our alliance, through deeper inclusion with SURE!, within different communities of Unite! and to also boost visibility of all the attractive study offers such as blended intensive programmes and collaborative events such as the Unite! Student festival in 2023.

From your point of view, what is the advantage of working or studying at a Unite! university? What do you think is special about the Unite! alliance?

I believe Unite! offers unique advantages for staff and students alike. The sharing of innovative resources such as the establishment of IRIS (integrated research and innovation services), open science and research data management trainings, blended intensive programs, benefit both academic staff and students alike. The seed fund also aims to provide students with the opportunity to come up with bottom-up solutions which could be funded for their innovative design and strategies.

Lastly, I believe the alliance provides opportunities through matchmaking events, which can benefit staff, academics and students to network and find common interests to collaborate on. More often than not, students and researchers spend a lot of time trying to find resources or existing knowledge on topics of their interest but the decentralised locations often deter further investigation. However, with an alliance like Unite!, they can find a centralised one-stop to help them optimise this journey, and also provide opportunities for collaborative, international exchange to boost their own interests.

The questions were asked by mho.

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About Unite!

Alongside TU Darmstadt as the coordinator, Unite! (University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering) also includes Aalto University (Finland), KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Grenoble Institute of Technology (France), Politecnico di Torino (Italy), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain) and Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal).

The seven partner universities aim to use the European University to create a trans-European campus for students and researchers with the involvement of regions and companies. The partners have a total of 167,000 students, already cooperate closely in more than 80 EU projects and have exchanged more than 2,000 students in the past five years. The alliance has set itself the goal of combining courses for the benefit of students, breaking down existing technical and administrative hurdles, and thus significantly increasing student mobility. Research will also benefit from the conditions created for larger and easier cooperation, which will strengthen the competitiveness of the European Higher Education Area overall.