Transylvanian Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania joins VUB in EUTOPIA Alliance
Today in Barcelona, the European University EUTOPIA is finalising the expansion process that started in September. Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) in Romania will be the 10th university to join the EUTOPIA Alliance. UBB, in Cluj-Napoca, has a history dating back to 1581 and is one of the leading universities in Romania. It has more than 55,000 students and staff members in 15 cities and 11 provinces and holds top positions in global rankings.
Many languages
A notable feature of UBB is that it teaches in four languages: Romanian, Hungarian, German and English. This multicultural heritage is at the core of its identity.
Prof Daniel David, rector of UBB, on his university’s affiliation to EUTOPIA: “As a global university, renowned for its performance, size, and tradition, BBU is an innovator within the national and international academic area. As such, BBU is already engaged in top international research and double/multiple degree educational programmes, working with major international consortia, establishing innovative ties with society (with national and international actors), and engaging in policy-making in international science (i.e. through renowned organisations, such as the GUILD etc.) The new statute as a member of the EUTOPIA European University Alliance comes to consolidate BBU’s role and our mission to contribute to further redefining the European university area than BBU’s already existing mechanisms. I was pleased to receive the invitation to join EUTOPIA and we gladly accepted it; BBU had already been invited to join similar European alliances, but the strength of the members of EUTOPIA and their vision, strategy, and programmes convinced us that we want to be part of this alliance, and that we can bring an important academic value to it”
Deeper and broader collaboration
After an initial expansion in mid-September 2021 with the University of Ca’Foscari in Venice, NOVA University in Lisbon and Technische Universität Dresden as new members, the arrival of one of Eastern Europe’s oldest and most prestigious higher education institutions demonstrates EUTOPIA’s commitment to additional exchanges, collaborations, mobility and shared projects.
Rector Caroline Pauwels, VUB: “We are extremely happy that we can strengthen our alliance with a 10th partner from Eastern Europe. This makes EUTOPIA a true European Alliance, with members from Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Europe. We see this diversity as a strength and as a driver for an innovative view of what European education and research should look like in the 21st century. With EUTOPIA, we are building the university of the future.”
EUTOPIA week
UBB’s official joining of the alliance is one of many events on the programme of the twice-yearly EUTOPIA Week, being hosted this week by the Pompeu-Fabra University of Barcelona. The full programme of online and offline events can be found here.