Mission statement of Circle U. European University

We,

Aarhus University (Denmark), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Germany), King’s College London (United Kingdom), Université Paris Cité (France), University of Belgrade (Serbia), University of Louvain (Belgium), University of Oslo (Norway), Università di Pisa (Italy) and Universität Wien (Austria) have agreed to combine our expertise and common interests to build a European University with the name Circle U.

Our vision:

By 2025, Circle U. is an inclusive, research-intensive and interdisciplinary European university. Students, staff and partners from civil society, businesses and the public sector collaborate to jointly develop competencies and solutions for keeping Europe and our planet healthy, peaceful, democratic and prosperous.

Our mission:

Empowering our students and staff to mobilize knowledge for impact in order to make the world a better place.

We are strongly committed to each other

Our Alliance consists of seven equally-committed universities with a shared dedication to Circle U.’s long-term transformational processes and future. Our Alliance is grounded in existing and solid partnerships; however Circle U. represents a considerable shift in our commitment to each other. Since the initial Memorandum of Understanding was signed in October 2018, our diverse communities have been involved in the co-construction of the Alliance. Students actively contribute to our development process and their inputs were crucial in the drafting of our proposal.

We share the same values

Our seven universities are all comprehensive, research-intensive universities firmly built on academic freedom and integrity as fundamental values. Each play important roles in shaping national and regional higher education and research systems. As role models, we share the awareness of our special responsibility to inclusiveness and to society at large. We share the same commitment to our students by continuously developing innovative and creative ways to teach and learn, focusing on research-based and interdisciplinary knowledge.

We embrace European identity in all our diversity

We are likeminded universities, enriching each other with our variety of cultures, histories and geographic locations. Regional diversity is important in our Alliance. We encompass universities from Erasmus+ programme countries outside the European Union, including differing relationships to the European Union. This knitting together of Europe brings the European Union closer together, and also contributes to the building of a broader European identity. We view this as a strength, as it sends a strong message to citizens in favour of diversity and inclusion.

We strive for the same goals

Our Circle, grounded in a dedication to ethical principles and a sustainable society, links together our missions in education, research, innovation and service to society, and paves the way for the universities of the future. Initiatives in key areas make these links stronger and concrete and focus efforts on sustainability. Our Alliance transforms our way of interacting with each other and with our external partners, and help us to shape the future of the European Education and Research Areas to the benefit of our students, staff and society at large.

We are

Circle-U.