UL drives European collaboration with new EMERGE university alliance

A EUROPEAN University Alliance, led by the University of Limerick, is committed to building "a more connected and more inclusive European future through education."

That is according to Acting UL President Professor Shane Kilcommins, speaking at the launch of the EMERGE European University Alliance.

As a major EU initiative the European University Alliances enable groups of universities across Europe to work together to reimagine the future of higher education through deep and long-term collaboration.

UL is at the helm of the EMERGE - Empowering the Margins of Europe through Regional and Global Engagement - Alliance that comprises of nine universities on the edge of Europe.

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The EMERGE Alliance brings together those nine universities from eight countries with a plan to build a more connected and inclusive European future. The alliance aims to deliver joint-degrees and make it easier for students and staff to study and work across each of the nine campuses.

“This marks more than the beginning of a partnership,” said Professor Shane Kilcommins. “It marks a shared commitment to build a more connected and more inclusive European future through education and engagement across our borders and our campuses."

“At UL, we are proud to be a founding member of this ambitious alliance. Proud to stand alongside our partners from across Europe - each of us bringing different strengths, languages, and traditions, but united by a common vision; to reimagine what higher education can be when it is truly transnational, truly collaborative, and truly values-driven."

Prof. Kilcommins continued on to say, “Crucially, EMERGE is a whole-of-university alliance. This is not a project confined to specific disciplines or expertise—it is a shared undertaking that reaches into every faculty and every professional support service. It calls on our collective imagination, and invites every part of our university community to participate"

“We are living in a time when collaboration is no longer optional. It is essential. And universities must lead by example.”

EMERGE has been in planning since 2019 and was officially selected for funding by the EU last year. The launch took place in the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, with UL Chancellor Professor Brigid Laffan delivering a keynote address.

The heads of the nine partner universities signed the EMERGE Charter of Common Values, before a panel discussion on the future of European higher education took place.

Professor Colin Fitzpatrick, UL’s Vice President for Global and Community Engagement, explained: “This is a celebration of shared ambition. We are not just imagining the future of higher education, we’re building it, together.”

The European university alliances bring together a new generation of Europeans and allow them to study and work in different European countries, in different languages, and across sectors and academic disciplines.

Students can obtain a high-level degree by combining studies in several European countries, contributing to the international attractiveness and competitiveness of Europe's higher education.

These alliances also bring innovation to Europe's regions by allowing students to work together with academics, researchers, enterprises, cities, authorities, and civil society organisations.

The EU Commission announced in 2024 that 14 new European Universities alliances would join the 50 previously selected alliances, with each to receive up to €14.4 million over a period of four years.