University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering

Unite! is a network of universities in nine countries that will set a new model for a European virtual and physical inter-university campus.

X Dialogue and II Branding Event

Inspiring People – Sparking Innovation – this is the motto under which we welcome you to the X Dialogue and II Branding Event in the City of Science Darmstadt. Join us from 24 till 26 September 2024.

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About Unite!

Unite! will connect engineering, science and technology with the grand challenges of society in co-creation by students, faculty and staff – providing skills for a new generation of European and global citizens.

Unite! will transform European higher education through multidisciplinary, multicultural and multilingual education, research and entrepreneurship.

www.unite-university.eu (opens in new tab)

Unite! is an European University alliance of innovation, technology and engineering of nine universities connecting European regions of economic prospect, entrepreneurship and innovation. A strategic, agile and dynamic alliance of universities based on shared values with a common vision and mutual trust. Unite! commits to being a strong driving force for technology and innovation, a multilingual transeuropean campus that will train the experts and leaders that drive the digital and green transition.

Together the seven partners have 280,000 students and annually 77,300 graduates.

Unite! already builds on three decades of close and dedicated cooperation on different aspects of higher education, research, innovation and social responsibility with eight of the nine partners. Unite! thus creates a reinforcing framework of already existing collaborations.

The Unite! partner universities are drivers of strong European regions. They come from:

Unite! is a network of universities in seven European countries, connecting European regions of economic prospect, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Unite! is a network of universities in seven European countries, connecting European regions of economic prospect, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Darmstadt welcomes Unite!

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TU Darmstadt is active as the coordinator of Unite! both throughout the alliance and also internally within the university.

In the role as coordinator, Unite! is officially represented by the Unite! President. TU President Professor Tanja Brühl was elected as Unite! President in November 2019 by the Unite! Governing Platform for the three-year pilot phase and confirmed in office for a further three years on 22 November 2022. This is because in July of this year, the European Commission approved funding of 14.4 million euros for the implementation of the second funding phase of Unite! until 2026, which serves to sustainably anchor Unite! at the partner universities.

At the end of 2022, the University Assembly of TU Darmstadt also elected a new Executive Board. The TU Vice President for Transfer and International Affairs, Professor Jens Schneider, is now succeeded by Professor Thomas Walther. As Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, he is the representative of the Unite! President and represents TU Darmstadt as a partner and coordinator in political strategic issues. Professor Jens Schneider goes to the TU Vienna as Rector.

The Unite! Secretariat, based at the TU, coordinates and manages the alliance of the nine partner universities and is headed by Secretary General Dr. Andreas Winkler. The Secretariat takes over the management of Unite!. The Unite! Secretariat is located in Department VIII D International Relations – Europe & Unite!

The Unite! activities within each of the partner universities are managed by the Unite! Key Liaison Officers. Dr. Jana Freihöfer, Head of the International Relations & Mobility Department, is the Key Liaison Officer at TU Darmstadt. She is supported by Deputy Key Liaison Officer Dr. Nadine Kramer.

Unite! will become tangible for the various status groups at TU Darmstadt in projects, initiatives, various offers and in the development of strategic projects such as research cooperations or joint programmes. All members of TU Darmstadt should contribute to how TU Darmstadt directly influences Unite! and how Unite! impacts TU Darmstadt. The aim is for Unite! to develop out of the universities – with all of their status groups – and the structure is merely designed to facilitate this process. Contact persons for ideas are the Key Liaison Officers.

The European Universities Initiative

The European Commission proposed the European Universities Initiative in 2019 to shape and drive the creation of a European Education Area by 2025. The European Universities are transnational alliances of higher education institutions from across the EU that share a long-term strategy and promote European values and identity. The initiative is designed to significantly strengthen student and staff mobility and foster the quality, equity and competitiveness of European higher education.

Responding to a call in 2019 under the Erasmus+ Framework Programme, the first 17 Alliances were selected for a pilot phase of 3 years to build the foundations of the future European Universities. This was followed by 24 more alliances in the second call in 2020 and additional funding from the EU under the Horizon 2020 call “Science with and for Society” to strengthen the Research and Innovation activities of European universities towards a European Research Area.

The new Unite! funding, which started at the end of 2022, falls under the calls for further implementation of the European Higher Education Initiative. The aim is to increase the number of European universities to 60 by mid-2024, bringing together more than 500 universities and supported by Erasmus+ with an expected budget of €1.1 billion for the period 2021-2027. The aim is to develop and share joint and long-term structural, sustainable and systemic cooperation in education, research and innovation to create European inter-university campuses where students, staff and researchers from all parts of Europe can enjoy seamless mobility and create new knowledge together across countries and disciplines.

  Name Contact
Unite! Secretariat
Picture: Philipp Arnoldt
Prof. Dr. Tanja Brühl
Unite! President
Dr. Andreas Winkler
Secretary General
+49 6151 16 24059
S1|01 311
Picture: Lunghammer/ TU Graz
Dipl.-Theol. Christine Marburger
Alliance Manager
+49 6151 16-20041
S1|01 311
Dr. Ing. Anshika Suri
Funding and Policy Advisor
+49 6151 16-20147
S1|01 311
Konrad Löbcke
Research and Innovation Advisor
+49 6151 16 24217
S1|01 509
Heidi Roßmann
Office Manager and uShare Administrator
+49 6151 16-24056
S1|01 310a
TUDa Key Contacts
Picture: Katrin Binner
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther
Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs
+49 6151 16-20001
Dr. Jana Freihöfer, Leiterin Dezernat Internationales
Picture: Lungahmmer/ TU Graz
Dr. Jana Freihöfer
Key Liaison Officer TU Darmstadt
Dean of the Directorate International Affairs
+49 6151 16-24055
S1|01 308
Dr.-Ing. PD Nebojša Čamprag
Deputy Key Liaison Officer
+49 6151 16-21236
S1|01 509
Picture: Jen Vander Heide
Aaron Szczerba M.A.
Inclusion Officer
Unite! Inclusion Office
+49 6151 16-29987
S4|13 301
Nadia El Nokraschi M.A.
Student Liaison Officer
Senior Coordinator TUtor International, Unite! Student Liaison Officer
+49 6151 16-26684
S1|03 56
Picture: Gregor Rynkowski
Mareike Hochschild
Communication Officer
+49 6151 16-21426
S3|12 154
  • Erasmus+ Programme:
    • Erasmus+ Programme 2014/15 – 2020/21: Business and administration (broad programmes) (Department 1), Physics (Department 5), Computer science (Department 20)
    • Erasmus+ Programme 2014/15 – 2020/21: Building Technology (Department 13), Energy Building (Department 13), Geomatics (Department 11), Mechanical Engineering (Department 16)
    • Erasmus+ Programme 2018/19 – 2020/21: Chemical Engineering and Processes (Department 7)
  • Double Degrees:
    • Department 18 – Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (Master)
    • Department 4 – Mathematics (Master)
    • Department 11 – Materials and Earth Sciences (only incoming)
    • Department 20 – Computer Science
  • Erasmus+ Programme:
    • Erasmus Mundus 2015-2016 Financial Convention (Functionalized Advanced Materials & Engineering) within the EMMC partnership agreement #2012-0190
    • Erasmus+ Programme 2020/21: Psychology (in the field of cognitive science) (Department 3 – Human Sciences)
  • Double Degrees:
    • Department 1 – Law and Economics (Master)
    • Department 5 – Physics (Master)
    • Department 13 – Civil and Environmental Engineering Sciences (Master)
    • Department 18 – Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (Master)
  • Erasmus+ Programme:
    • Erasmus+ Programme 2019/20-2020/21: Engineering and Engineering Trades (Department 13)
  • Double Degree Appendix A:1, Duration: Academic Year 2018/19-2025/26 – Master of Science in Physics
  • Research cooperation:
    • Compact Ultrafast Laser Sources Based on Novel Quantum Dot Structures: „Fast Dot“
    • Flutter-Free Turbomachinery Blades: „Future“
  • Double Degrees:
    • Department 18 – Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
  • Erasmus+ Programme:
    • Erasmus+ Programme 2014-2021: Computer Science (Department 20), Mechanical Engineering (Department 16), Civil Engineering (Department 13), Electronic, Computer, Information, Telecommunication, Telematics Engineering (Department 18), Management/Logistics and Production Engineering (Department 13)
    • Erasmus+ Programme 2018/19 – 2020/21: Chemistry (Department 7), Mathematics (Department 4), Engineering and engineering trades (Department 13), Manufacturing and Processing (field of Material Sciences) (Department 11)

.

  • Exchange agreement from 1988 (Department 20 – Computer Science)
  • Erasmus+ Programme:
    • Erasmus+ Programme 2014-20[21]: Architecture (Department 15), Computer Science (Department 20), Mathematics (Department 4), Mechanics, Metal work (Department 16), Electricity and Energy (Department 18), Chemical and Process (Department 7)
  • Double Degrees:
    • Department 18 – Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
    • Department 16 – Mechanical Engineering
  • Erasmus+ Programme:
    • Erasmus+ Programme 2014/15-2020/21: Biology and Biochemistry (Molecular Biology) (Department 10)
    • Erasmus+ Programme 2016-2020/21: Political Sciences (Department 2)

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.