On 9 May 2022, Una Europa announced that University College Dublin (UCD) and Universität Zürich (UZH) will join its alliance of leading European research universities.
UCD is a research-intensive university ranked in the top one per cent of higher education institutions worldwide. Established in 1854, UCD has played an important role in shaping modern Ireland, Europe and beyond, producing numerous political, business, and cultural leaders, most notably the writer James Joyce.
UZH is Switzerland's largest comprehensive university and one of the foremost universities in the German-speaking world. Founded in 1833, UZH was Europe's first university established by a democratic political system – the words 'by the will of the people' remain engraved on its main building to this day.
UCD and UZH join nine existing Una Europa partner universities: Freie Universität Berlin, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, University of Edinburgh, Helsingin Yliopisto, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Universiteit Leiden, KU Leuven, Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. UCD and UZH have strong established links with Una Europa members; collectively, the new partners have published over 7,000 publications in collaboration with Una Europa alliance members in the last five years.
Professor Peter Lievens, Coordinator of 1Europe (Una Europa pilot project), Vice Rector for International Policy at KU Leuven, said: 'In a rapidly changing Europe – and world – Una Europa stands united in defence of European values: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, human rights. We are proud to mark Europe Day 2022 by welcoming UCD and UZH – and, in growing our alliance, reinvigorating Una Europa’s commitment to these fundamental values'.
As one of Europe’s leading university alliances, Una Europa is a driving influence, transforming education and shaping Europe’s shared future for the better. Una Europa transcends traditional geographical and disciplinary boundaries, working together towards a virtual ‘multi-campus’ – a University of the Future. With UCD and UZH on board, the alliance will now count over half a million students and almost 100,000 university staff among its network, with digital learners numbering in the millions.
text: International Relations Office
