EPICUR secures funding until the end of 2028

EPICUR Alliance confirms its place as a mature, forward-thinking and innovative European University Alliance, having secured €7.2 million in bridge funding under the Erasmus+ European Universities call for proposals (ERASMUS-EDU-2026-EUR-UNIV) with the two-year EPICUR-SHAPE-IT-PLUS project (2026–2028)

For the third time, the Alliance reaffirms its place among Europe’s most innovative and ambitious university networks, with a strengthened and renewed project that reflects its continued commitment to shaping the future of European higher education.

This success marks a new dynamic for EPICUR, enabling its members to consolidate actions, develop new approaches and expand mobilities with our three new university members:

Pablo de Olavide University, Spain
Roma Tre University, Italy
University of Basel, Switzerland

In its new configuration, EPICUR unites 280,000 students, 29,000 academics and 17,000 administrative staff across 11 universities, 9 countries and 7 European languages in addition to English, consolidating its position as a strong and diverse European academic community and embodying a global and open Europe.

“EPICUR is a broad, diverse, committed and resilient academic community dedicated to continuously promoting humanist values and the European social model. It is a connected community working every day to develop solutions to major societal, economic, climate, scientific and geopolitical challenges”. Prof. Dr. Jean-Marc Planeix, Vice President for International Partnerships and strategic coordinator of EPICUR.

Founded in 2019, EPICUR (European Partnership for an Innovative Campus Unifying Regions) is a multidisciplinary research-intensive alliance bringing together historic and young universities with a shared vision to build a long-term European University Confederation.

This new funding phase marks a significant step in the alliance’s continued development, confirming the strength and credibility of its renewed partnership and the ambitions it carries for an innovative, globally competitive, and attractive European Education Area in synergy with the European Research Area and the European Higher Education Area.

Over the coming two years, the Alliance will pursue its ambition to evolve into a Confederation of Universities, deepening structurally embedded cooperation in education, research skills, innovation and societal impact. By interlinking regional innovation ecosystems and reinforcing its shared frameworks, EPICUR consolidates its role as a mature and trustworthy Alliance contributing to Europe’s resilience, innovation capacity and social cohesion within the European Universities Initiative.

Prof. Dr. Jean-Marc Planeix added: “Thanks to EPICUR, today’s students are, and will continue to be, the key players who will make our world a sustainable and desirable place to live”.