uni'wissen 01-2015

Hans-Jochen Schiewer, Rector of the University of Freiburg, wants to establish the European Campus. Photo: Baschi Bender nology on the German side, the University of Basel on the Swiss side, and the Universities of Strasbourg and Upper Alsace in Mulhouse and Colmar on the French side of the Rhine. When it comes to securing funding for their projects, researchers from the Eucor alliance are at a great advantage: The cross-border coopera- tion qualifies them for a number of prestigious funding programs. In order to ensure that the re- searchers can devote their concentration to their projects rather than dealing with funding issues, the coordination units at the universities have taken over part of their administrative responsi- bilities. Junior researchers have the opportunity to earn a binational doctoral degree and receive grants to attend the yearly summer schools held by the confederation. Students can select be- tween 19 cross-border degree programs coordi- nated by Eucor. In addition, they can take lecture courses and seminars from the regular curricu- lum of all member institutions to fill gaps in the course offerings of their home university. They have access to all libraries and can use the re- sources of all of the universities. Graduates of the Eucor degree programs are awarded with a double or even a triple degree. Another forum for cooperation is the organiza- tion “Upper Rhine Trinational Metropolitan Re- gion” (TMO), which combines politics, industry, and research. Hans-Jochen Schiewer has served as Eucor president since 2013 and is thus spokesman of the “research pillar” of the tri- national metropolitan region, which also includes further research institutes and higher education institutions. He aims above all to more closely integrate the region’s research institutions: “We want to make the geographical junction of the Upper Rhine into a center of gravity for cutting- edge research with international appeal.” The re- sult will be an unparalleled research area for European researchers. As the flagship project, the Eucor universities and further partner institu- tions will establish a large-scale research infra- structure focusing on bioinnovations to create new incentives for collaboration. Also planned is a virtual center of competence on sustainability. Government Backing At an executive committee meeting in Decem- ber 2013, the Eucor members resolved that the “Our vision is a ‘zone franche’ for science and research.” 6 Specialtopic:ResearchintheUpperRhineregion

Seitenübersicht