EUt+ Research Institutes (ERI)
The EUt+ Research Institutes (ERIs) represent a strategic and permanent concentration of research strengths within the EUt+ alliance. They bring together researchers and academics from member universities under a unified European identity. Designed as stable and structured entities, ERIs play a central role in anchoring research integration across EUt+. They support the creation of new institutes, the development of common operational processes, and the emergence of innovative, interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and specialized research structures.
ERIs contribute to building a cohesive and visible research environment across the alliance through:
- Long-term research projects;
- Hosting of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers;
- Leadership or participation in international funded research initiatives;
- Development of joint scientific publications.
long-term research projects, the hosting of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, leadership or participation in international funded research initiatives, and the development of joint scientific publications.,.
By fostering excellence, visibility, and cohesion in research, ERIs directly support the EUt+ mission of constructing a truly integrated European University.
Their permanence and strategic coordination lay the foundation for sustainable innovation and collective research capacity that transcends national boundaries. ERIs constitute one of the means for EUt+ to usefully contribute to the European Research Area (ERA). Indeed, universities in Europe are faced with unprecedented challenges in their missions: the issues raised by the twin green and digital transition (priority area n° 2 of the ERA) or Europe’s industrial renewal. The EC’s 2020 policy report is very clear about the central role of universities as research actors within the strategic European Research and Innovation agenda. Whether to be competitive at the international level, e.g., to bridge the gap in technology with the US or China, or to be able to better fulfil their third mission, European universities need to transform themselves. Thanks to the creation of commons (sharing infrastructure or human capital) and reaching critical mass, the ERIs have proved to have the potential to contribute in a more impactful way to the transitions that are necessary in the HE sector in Europe.
To this day, EUt+ counts 2 ERIs : The European Culture and Technology Laboratory (ECT Lab+) and the European University of Technology Institute of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies (EUTINN).