On 18th October 2019, the Arqus Rectors’ Council was formally established in Granada, and our rectors signed the partnership agreement that defines the commitments and internal working procedures of the Alliance for the first three-year work plan. On that date, the Alliance with its seven members was also publicly and officially presented for the first time following the announcement that it had been selected for funding in the first pilot call. Such an important event was later designated as the annual day to celebrate Arqus, the Arqus Day.
Arqus is now even more collaborative, interdisciplinary, multilingual and intercultural; more entrepreneurial, participative; more innovative, research-based, inclusive, citizen-oriented; and even more student-centred.
Arqus has grown in a variety of aspects. Despite the travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and being unable to hold our first annual conference in Lyon (March, 2020), we have become a large and coordinated group of people working for a common goal: the creation of a truly European higher education, with no barriers, with no limits. Seven universities working together to attain a high level of institutional integration in order to enhance the education of graduates as critically engaged European and global citizens who are able and willing to contribute to a multicultural, multilingual and inclusive Europe which is open to the world.
Arqus works to provide high quality challenge-based education, free mobility among our universities and strong research collaborations, with the aim of becoming a single cohesive alliance with shared goals, alongside deep respect for the autonomy of each of its members.
During this year we have been awarded support from the Horizon 2020 programme to foster our joint research and innovation capacity. It is even more important than ever that the seven universities continue working together in setting up the foundations for our joint long-term vision.
This is just the beginning of a journey full of challenges and objectives to overcome.
Happy Arqus Day to everyone and thanks to the 300,000 students, 24,000 academics and 17,000 administrative staff members who make up our Alliance. Without you and all the external stakeholders who are supporting us in this ambitious journey we would not have reached this far. YOU all are the protagonists of this story.
Marina Fernández-Peña Mollá and Anja Hoffmann