The initiative includes the seven-member CIVICA Alliance, of which the Hertie School is a member.
The German Academic Exchange Service DAAD will spend 28 million euros to support the European Commission’s European University Initiative, in which the seven-member CIVICA alliance, including the Hertie School, is a participant. The funding, which comes from the German Ministry of Education and Research, will run until the end of 2023. The Hertie School will receive 750,000 euros over the next three years, with further funding still pending.
The European Commission initiated the transnational European Universities Initiative with the aim to foster collaboration and exchange across borders and languages. Among the 17 chosen university alliances, 15 German universities are involved, including the Hertie School as part of CIVICA-The European University of Social Sciences. The DAAD is supporting the universities in the further expansion of their existing alliances, especially in the areas of teaching, research and transfer.
CIVICA aims to combine study, teaching and research in the fields of social sciences, humanities, political sciences and business administration across cultural, linguistic and national borders. The alliance brings together 38,000 students, 7,000 scientists and over 3,000 administrative staff. The seven CIVICA universities have also established a close partnership with the London School of Economics and Political Science.
CIVICA aims to establish a physically and digitally connected campus, and will encompass work at bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels. The partners have identified four core areas of focus: challenges for democracy in the 21st century, social change related to global crises, the future of Europe, and data-based methods in the social sciences.
Besides the Hertie School, members of the CIVICA Alliance are Bocconi University (Italy), Central European University (Hungary), the European University Institute (European Intergovernmental Organization), the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romania), Sciences Po (France, lead institution for the project) and the Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden).
You can find the DAAD press release (German) here.