EURECA-PRO for the Academic Community
Discussion of the current participation of the Silesian University of Technology in the creation of the European University EURECA-PRO and preparations for the organization of faculty days with EURECA were the topics of the meeting, which, on the initiative of the Vice-Rector for Science and Development, prof. dr hab. Eng. Marek Pawełczyk, took place on March 14th in the hall of the Biotechnology Centre.
Initiated by the President of France Emmanuel Macron in 2017, the idea of building a network of European universities is to be the Community’s response to the growing competitiveness in the global area of higher education. The Silesian University of Technology, together with 8 partners, by participating in one of the largest programs of the European Commission, creates a European university under the name EURECA-PRO, focused around the broadly understood implementation of the 12th UN Goal "Sustainable Consumption and Production".
All European universities are to promote common values and strengthen the European identity, as well as strive to increase the attractiveness and international competitiveness of European higher education institutions.
“We are talking about a strategic program for the Silesian University of Technology and a strategic program for the European Commission and all universities that participate in it. Together, we are creating the European University - it may sound lofty, but we are really doing our best to create a real transnational university. In the first phase of this project, we prepared the ground. It was not an easy process because we had to face formal and legal restrictions as well as academic traditions that are in force in 9 countries that are part of the EURECA-PRO consortium. We are now reaching the end of the first phase and we would like to use the coming months to share what has already been done and what we expect in the next phase of this extraordinary program for all of us. We would like to encourage students, doctoral students and employees of the University to cooperate" said prof. dr hab. Eng. Marek Pawełczyk, Vice-Rector for Science and Development, manager of the EURECA-PRO project at the Silesian University of Technology.
Prof. Pawełczyk discussed the structure of the emerging university, the level of implementation of individual areas and the development opportunities that already result from the University's membership in this unique academic consortium. He added that EURECA-PRO is to integrate the international community in all areas of the university's activity: scientific, didactic, organizational and in the area of cooperation with the social environment.
According to the idea of the competition, the way to achieve this is through intensive cooperation of partners at all levels of the university's functioning. Even at the current stage of the program implementation, the opportunities offered by EURECA-PRO are very large. Many of them concern the area of education, which was pointed out by prof. Anna Chrobok, Director of the College of Studies and Vice-President of the Educational Council EURECA-PRO. “The most important mission of EURECA-PRO is education. We're talking about a university, after all. At the moment, we are looking for a solution that will allow us to construct a common educational program for students from all partner countries. We have many difficulties to overcome due to differences in our national regulations. Looking for solutions, we are already implementing joint educational projects, such as series of lectures, summer schools or scientific seminars for doctoral students.
The consortium partners are working on creating study programs for all levels of education. The goal is for students to be able to study at each of the partner universities and finish their education with a diploma of a European university. Currently, the specialization of Sustainable Consumption and Production Management is available at the Silesian University of Technology as part of the European consortium EURECA-PRO for second-degree students .
The strength of the consortium is the extraordinary diversity and access to modern research infrastructure, unique, interdisciplinary knowledge and research results. This is a prerequisite for modern science.
“As a consortium of universities and the future European University, we already have a huge equipment, laboratory and experience base related to conducting scientific research. Participation in EURECA-PRO gives scientists direct access to these unique resources and contacts that are necessary to conduct science at an international level and implement research projects that will solve problems related to the 12th UN Goal” emphasized dr hab. Eng. Szymon Ogonowski, prof. SUT from the Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Computer Science, responsible in the consortium for the research area (lighthouse mission) of Process Automation and Industry 4.0.
The meeting ended with a discussion of the principles of organizing faculty days with EURECA-PRO, the aim of which is to disseminate knowledge about the opportunities offered by the European University, both for students, doctoral students, research and administrative staff. Dr Eng. Marcin Górski, director of the Project Management Centre, deputy manager in the EURECA-PRO project at the Silesian University of Technology.
The initiative of European Universities is to increase the competitiveness of universities from EU countries in relation to those from the United States or Asia. Their creation is part of the overall vision of creating a common European education area in the coming years. Currently, there are 44 European Universities, which bring together a total of 340 higher education institutions from 31 countries of the Community and, among others, Iceland, Norway, Serbia and Turkey. In Poland, this European network currently includes 18 universities, including the Silesian University of Technology, which - together with 8 partners from Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Greece and Romania - forms a consortium called EURECA-PRO.
The Silesian University of Technology participated in the preparation of the application to the European Commission and has been co-creating the Eureca-Pro University from the very beginning.
