Leiden University to play key role in new EU-funded Una Europa project
Leiden University and its partners have been selected to receive European Commission funding for the two-year Una.Via project. Una.Via is the next step in the development of Una Europa.
Una Europa constitutes an alliance of 11 leading European research universities, aiming to build a truly integrated European University of the Future. ‘Through Una Europa, our academics, staff and students have worked, learned and connected across Europe, and with our partners in the global south’, said Rector Magnificus Sarah de Rijcke. ‘This international and interdisciplinary coollaboration has strengthened our research, education, and societal impact. With Una.Via, we can now build on that momentum by scaling up and embedding successful formats and initiatives, ensuring that even more members of our university community can benefit in the years ahead.’
International opportunities
Since joining the Una Europa alliance in 2022, Leiden University academics have participated in 40 seed-funded projects with Una Europa colleagues, backed by over €600,000 in joint seed funding from Una Europa and its partner universities. More than 200 colleagues and students have also joined international opportunities such as summer schools, virtual exchange programmes, a doctoral training programme and the Live My Life job-shadowing exchange.
During the Una.Via project, Leiden University will take a leading role in the following activities:
- Supporting the creation of a Europe and the World interdisciplinary hub. This hub will equip students and staff to collaborate on understanding and shaping Europe’s role in a rapidly changing global context. It is closely aligned with Leiden University's own interfaculty theme Geopolitics in Europe and the World. There will be hubs for each of Una Europa's six Focus areas, all aiming to support collaborative research, education, and outreach.
- Strengthening research collaboration. Leiden University will coordinate efforts to spark more collaborative research across the alliance. This includes connecting researchers across institutions and translating joint ambitions into sustainable research initiatives.
- Scaling-up training opportunities. The new Una Europa Training Academy will provide more structured training opportunities for academics, professional staff and students. Leiden University will help to design, scale-up and implement training modules for academics. This builds on the successful work we did to create an interdisciplinary training programme for doctoral researchers and supervisors.
- Piloting innovative mobility formats for students. Leiden University will design and test a 'Summer in the City' programme for bachelor's and master's students, and PhD candidates. The goal is to eventually expand this format into a four-week blended summer school, capable of hosting rotating groups of students and different disciplinary tracks.
Una.Via will also expand opportunities for students and staff to join shared courses, take modules offered by partner universities, earn microcredentials and collaborate internationally through innovative online and blended formats. This includes a new 'Twinning' format, designed to bring students from different universities together through shared academic and intercultural activities.
The first Una.Via activities are expected to start in November 2026. From 2028 onwards, the alliance aims to secure long-term funding under the European Commission's next Multiannual Financial Framework.
Explore what Una Europa can offer you
Hundreds of our academics, staff and students have already connected with colleagues across the alliance. Together they collaborate on research, develop educational programmes, attend summer schools and conferences, and participate in international exchanges. Curious about what Una Europa can do for you? Join our Teams group and sign up for the newsletter.