Covid-19 and universities

The coronavirus crisis has challenged higher education institutions in many new and unexpected ways. As universities have to take radical measures and make major efforts to slow the contagion and to better understand the virus, they are forging new paths in crisis management. This brings both challenges and opportunities to Europe’s universities, in particular in relation to digitalisation and digitally enhanced learning and teaching, Open Science, research, quality assurance, university autonomy, funding and civic engagement.

On its part, EUA is working closely with members in this difficult moment. The Association has moved its public events online and added new events dedicated to needs that have arisen from the crisis. In many cases, the content of existing events, as well as surveys and projects, has been adapted to those same needs. EUA is working to facilitate the sharing of crisis-related good practices among members. It also gathers useful information via member questionnaires and the monitoring of European-level policy developments and shares information through its many communications activities. EUA has created the hashtag #UniversitiesAtHome so that universities can relay what they are doing via social media to adapt their working methods.

As places that gather many people, universities are emptier now than before, but this does not mean that they are closed. Learning and teaching are very active online and universities remain central in the research of new treatments and possible vaccines. The crisis has opened a window of opportunity for universities to engage even more with society, support governments through research and innovation and to help prepare a more resilient society.

EUA supports its members in these missions, with the hope of best preparing Europe’s societies for addressing global challenges.

 

 

 

Keywords

Resources

  • EU seven-year budget proposal falls short of urgently needed education and R&I...

    News

    27 May 2020

    As the European Commission released its new proposal for the next seven-year budget of the European Union, the academic community nourished hope that, in the few past months, it had become clear to policymakers just how fundamental adequate investment in research, innovation and education is to...

    view more

  • KIOS researchers step-up to support the fight against Covid-19

    Partners news

    27 May 2020

    The KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence (KIOS CoE), part of EUA Member University of Cyprus, developed and set up an “Emergency Management System for Handling Covid-19 Cases” in collaboration with the Cyprus Ministry of Health and the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and...

    view more

  • Online seminar on recognition and information provision in the time of...

    Partners news

    27 May 2020

    The seminar “Recognition, transparency and information provision in the time of Covid-19: the role of Higher Education institutions”, organised in the context of the Bologna Process, will take place online on 18 June from 9:30 to 12:45 CEST.  The objective of the seminar is to share...

    view more

  • IAU releases Global Survey Report on Impact of Covid-19 in Higher Education

    Partners news

    27 May 2020

    The International Association of Universities (IAU) released the final report with the results of the survey on the impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education, launched in March 2020 with the aim to deliver an overview of the current state of play worldwide. The survey was conducted online from 25...

    view more

  • The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on university funding in Europe

    Briefing

    18 May 2020

    In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, and its expected economic impact, this EUA briefing...

    read more

  • NIDL’s online survey on the affect in online teaching during Covid-19

    Partners news

    13 May 2020

    The National Institute for Digital Learning (NIDL) at Dublin City University (DCU) launched an online survey to investigate the affective experience of educators as they adapted to teaching online in response to Covid-19. The results of this investigation will help NIDL researchers to better...

    view more

  • ASEM Education Secretariat calling for examples of practices on inclusive...

    Partners news

    4 May 2020

    In the context of the coronavirus crisis, the Secretariat of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Education Process would like to showcase and disseminate different types of initiatives and measures, with a focus on the inclusion of vulnerable or disadvantaged students in distance education and...

    view more

  • InSPIREurope 2020 Virtual Stakeholder Forum, 8 June 2020

    Partners news

    24 Apr 2020

    The 2020 InSPIREurope Stakeholder Forum, originally scheduled to take place at the Collège de France in Paris, will now take place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. Registrations are now open to the online event, which is the first of three annual fora taking place over the duration of...

    view more

  • Resources for digital learning and teaching during the coronavirus pandemic

    News

    23 Apr 2020

    As more than 90% of the world’s students are now at home, digital learning has taken centre stage around the world. Many institutions are posting ideas and good practices via social media in order to share their experiences and to provide support to others. Major global organisations are also...

    view more

  • ESU’s survey on student life during the Covid-19 pandemic

    Partners news

    21 Apr 2020

    The European Students’ Union (ESU), together with the Institute of Development of Education in Croatia and an interdisciplinary team of researchers based at the University of Zadar in Croatia, launched a survey on student life during the Covid-19 pandemic, open until 30 April. The survey...

    view more

  • LIBER statement on Covid-19

    Partners news

    17 Apr 2020

    During the coronavirus crisis, LIBER, the Association of European Research Libraries, calls on European Commissioners, Member State governments, publishers and authors to urgently help libraries, universities and other educational establishments, so that they can continue supplying researchers,...

    view more

  • EQAR and ENQA offer support for quality assurance agencies during coronavirus...

    Partners news

    14 Apr 2020

    In the light of coronavirus pandemic, both the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) and the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) have issued statements and actions of support for quality assurance agencies and the higher education sector...

    view more

  • ERC President resigns, EUA calls for unity and cooperation as the way forward

    News

    9 Apr 2020

    The President of the European Research Council (ERC), Mauro Ferrari, resigned on 7 April citing his dissatisfaction with the EU response to the coronavirus crisis.  Ferrari proposed using the ERC for targeted funding related to the crisis. This would have been against the purpose and rules of...

    view more

  • #EUvsVirus – the official EU Hackathon for coronavirus challenge

    Partners news

    9 Apr 2020

    The European Commission launched EUvsVirus, a pan-European non-profit online hackathon on 24, 25 and 26 April to connect civil society, innovators, partners and buyers across Europe to develop innovative solutions to overcome coronavirus-related challenges.   Universities are invited to...

    view more

  • Consortia and universities call for wide access to electronic resources amidst...

    News

    9 Apr 2020

    In a reaction to the ongoing coronavirus crisis and the halt of on-campus operations in Europe and beyond, digital access to scientific research and electronic resources is more important than ever. Several national rectors’ conferences and national consortia, including in France, Spain,...

    view more

  • Coronavirus: European Commission takes special measures for Erasmus+ and...

    News

    8 Apr 2020

    The coronavirus pandemic has implications for student and staff mobility and projects funded by EU programmes such as Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020. Several application deadlines for Erasmus+ have been extended. Furthermore, the Commission announced to apply maximum flexibility in the...

    view more

  • UNIMED’s collection of online learning stories during Covid-19

    Partners news

    8 Apr 2020

    UNIMED (Mediterranean Universities Union) created an online space aimed at collecting stories from its members and the wider community on how educators and institutions are coping with the present coronavirus emergency. As Covid-19 continues spreading in many countries of the world, how to keep...

    view more

  • IAU global survey on the impact of Covid-19 on Higher Education

    Partners news

    3 Apr 2020

    The International Association of Universities (IAU) launched a survey on the impact of Covid-19 on Higher Education, open until 14 April. The questions relate to students and academic staff mobility; access to classes/campus; extent of disruption of teaching, learning and research, as well as...

    view more

  • RDA Covid-19 Working Group - Call for Expert Contributions

    Partners news

    26 Mar 2020

    The Research Data Alliance (RDA) set up a Fast-Track working group on Covid-19 and launched a call for contributions to provide recommendations on the creation of a common framework for research practice, with detailed guidelines on data sharing and re-use under the present...

    view more

  • Survey on impact of Covid-19 on Higher Education Admissions

    Partners news

    25 Mar 2020

    The organisers of the World Access to Higher Education Day (WAHED) launched a survey on the impact of Covid-19 on higher education admissions around the world, to be filled before 29 March. The aim of the survey is to gather information that can help policymakers and institutions in finding...

    view more

  • Coronavirus: EUA stands united with members and invites universities to share...

    News

    24 Mar 2020

    With the spread of the coronavirus, Europe and the rest of the world are facing a true test in terms of civic duty and the sharing of knowledge and resources. Europe’s universities are taking radical measures to slow the contagion and to better understand the new virus. EUA stands united with its...

    view more

  • EHEA Ministerial Conference 2020, 18 – 20 November, Rome

    Partners news

    20 Mar 2020

    Due to the coronavirus crisis, the EHEA Ministerial Conference has been postponed to 18 -20 November 2020. The Conference will take place in the same location, La Nuvola Conference Centre. The event will be open to European Higher Education Area (EHEA) delegations and includes a Bologna Global...

    view more

  • EUA cancels all public events until 30 April

    News

    11 Mar 2020

    In view of the continuing spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Europe, EUA has taken the decision to cancel all of its public events until 30 April. The 2020 EUA Annual Conference, which was scheduled from 16 to 17 April at Gdańsk University of Technology in Poland, is among the events...

    view more

  • Sharing research data and findings relevant to the novel coronavirus...

    Partners news

    21 Feb 2020

    The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China (Covid-19) represents a significant and urgent threat to global health. EUA signed a statement by Wellcome to call on researchers, journals and funders to ensure that research findings and data relevant to this outbreak are shared rapidly and openly...

    view more

View more

Expert voices

Events

View all events

Website designed and developed by
Comfortable read mode Normal mode X