CIVIS welcomes 10th member University: Paris Lodron University of Salzburg

21 October 2021
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Press release

CIVIS, a European Civic University, is an innovative European University Alliance. We have the ambition to create a single interuniversity campus where students and academics can study, teach and research like at home. All of our activities are inspired by our commitment to civic engagement and a notion of the University anchored in its environment and community. CIVIS is open to new member universities who share our values and our vision for higher education. Now we are delighted to announce that the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS) will be the tenth member of our Alliance, and the first Austrian University in our European family.

Meeting at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) the CIVIS Board of Rectors and Presidents was unanimous in recommending that the PLUS be welcomed into the Alliance. The decision is still awaiting full approval by the European Commission, which funds CIVIS through the Erasmus+ programme. Nevertheless, staff and academics at the PLUS are already hard at work preparing their University’s integration into the Alliance, including participation in the development of a strategic vision for the CIVIS Alliance after the current funding round.

For students and academics at the PLUS, this huge step will offer exciting opportunities for mobility, co-creation of educational programmes and practical civic engagement project. For CIVIS, the addition of the PLUS will bring expertise in – amongst others – digital humanities, life sciences and international networking and will add a second member from German-speaking Europe.

With almost 18,000 students and around 2,900 employees, the PLUS is the largest educational institution in Salzburg and a vital meeting place for teachers and students, academia and the general public. The University is named after its founding by Prince Archbishop Paris Lodron in 1622. Since its reestablishment in 1962, it has grown into a modern University active in education and research across (soon) six faculties. Students can choose from 30 different fields of study taught in beautiful buildings in Salzburg’s old town. A modern University campus is made up of the Freisaal Faculty of Natural Sciences and Unipark Nonntal. Locations in Itzling and Rif, as well as in Linz, Krems and Vienna, complete the PLUS’ physical presence.

Amaya Mendikoetxa, Rector of UAM, was delighted to welcome the PLUS to the CIVIS Alliance: “We are delighted to welcome Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, an institution with a strong tradition of research-based teaching with which the universities of CIVIS share essential principles of academic excellence, sustainability and active engagement with our social, cultural and economic environment”

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hendrik Lehnert, Rector of the PLUS, celebrated the good news: “The PLUS is excited about the perspective to work together with the other members of the CIVIS consortium and to contribute to the solution of great societal challenges addressed by CIVIS.”

We will soon share more news about the PLUS’ membership of CIVIS, and what it means for academics, staff and students across the Alliance. For the time being, we can simply wish our new colleagues herzlich willkommen!

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CIVIS, a European CIVIC University

CIVIS, a European Civic University, is an Alliance of the nine following European Universities: Aix-Marseille Université (France), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece), University of Bucharest (Romania), Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), Sapienza Università di Roma (Italia), Stockholm University (Sweden), Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (Germany), University of Glasgow (UK). Selected by the European Commission as one of the first 17 European Universities pilots, it brings together some 450,000 students and 65,000 staff members.

Current CIVIS member universities

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