YERUN is delighted to announce that the University of Limerick (UL) and the University of Rijeka (UNIRI) have officially become YERUN members! This joyful event, which marks the beginning of a new exciting era for YERUN, follows the General Assembly's decision of October 2020 to initiate the network's first enlargement process. YERUN warmly welcomes the new perspectives, inspiring practices and fresh energies that these two new members will bring to the network. For YERUN, the University of Limerick and the University of Rijeka are simply a natural fit, by virtue of their values, ambitions and priorities, which perfectly match those identified by YERUN in its recently launched Strategic Plan 2021-2025. A big welcome to to UL and  UNIRI to the Young European Research Universities Network!

Welcome to the first YERUN newsletter of 2021! Back in December, the European Commission published the much-awaited Final Report on "A European approach to micro-credentials". The content of the report contributes to establishing a common definition for micro-credentials, the common characteristics of a European micro-credentials framework, and a roadmap of actions to ensure the take-up, validation and recognition of such courses. Working on and with micro-credentials is among YERUN's priorities under the new strategy of our network, therefore we had a look to some good practices that YERUN members have been implementing in this field. These and other news complete this month's newsletter. No better way to celebrate the International Day of Education! Enjoy your read! 

Click here to read the YERUN January Newsletter!

The Young European Research Universities Network is proud to present its new Strategy 2021-2025! 

The Young European Research Universities Network (YERUN) warmly welcomes the publication of the European Commission's Communication “Achieving the European Education Area by 2025”. Such an ambitious Communication certainly comes at a unique moment, as the COVID-19 pandemic and the digital and green transitions are accelerating changes in the European education and training landscapes. Consequently, it seems important to develop new initiatives, foster investment in education and training, and achieve a stronger cooperation between the EU Member States so that all European citizens can benefit from high-quality education and training.

The Young European Research Universities Network (YERUN) warmly welcomes the publication of the Communication “A New ERA for Research and Innovation” and believes in its potential to push the European Research Area forward. In particular, YERUN strongly supports the European Commission’s will to: strengthen the national investments in R&I; further promote Open Science practices; promote diversity and inclusiveness; engage citizens, local communities and civil society; increase the cooperation between higher education and research; and strengthen synergies between EU programmes, including Horizon Europe, Erasmus, European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and private investments.

Click here to read the position paper

After four months since the beginning of lockdowns across Europe due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, on Monday 6 July YERUN has published a Reflection Paper on The World of Higher Education after COVID-19. The paper is structured in three parts: the first, "What has changed so far", is an overview of the challenges that we have taken stock of across our networks and the solutions identified so far by our members; the second part, "What is coming next" explores three possible post-COVID-19 horizons; the third and last part, "What can we gain", identifies those opportunities coming from this challenging situation that we should not miss. 

Enjoy your read!