EUniWell awarded funding to expand research horizons

The European University for Well-Being's (EUniWell) ambition to improve the well-being of European citizens has gained additional momentum through the award of H2020 funding.

Supported by the Science with and for Society (SwafS) call, EUniWell#research will build understanding and human capital across the EUniWell Alliance by bringing expert groups together and developing innovative digital tools to improve well-being.

We will set up a ‘Well-being Incubator‘ to catalyse cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary research in and solutions to complex well-being challenges. The initial priority areas will be: Health and Well-being; Environment, Urbanity and Well-being; Teacher Education; and Individual and Social Well-being.Through targeted programmes and project support, the Incubator will harness the intellectual and creative capital of our universities, associate partners and regional economies.

We will work towards a FAIR data system across the Alliance. Our Open Science pilot project will develop processes that enable the (re)use of research knowledge more reliably, effectively and equitably. Specific training modules will ensure that outreach beyond academia becomes a core part of EUniwell research activity, fostering new skills in communicating scientific knowledge so that society at large can benefit from accessible high-quality research.

Pilot schemes and training initiatives targeting early career researchers and those on the cusp of leadership positions will strengthen and diversify research talent across the Alliance.

We seek to deliver challenge-focussed and impactful expertise to advance well-being within and outside academia. In so doing, EUniWell will prepare the next generation of researchers for a future world of work in which well-being is central.

EUniWell leaders:

• Professor Sir David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, University of Birmingham, UK
• Professor Luigi Dei, Rettore, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy
• Professor Axel Freimuth, Rektor, Universität zu Köln, Germany
• Professor Hester Bijl, Rector Magnificus and President, Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands (as of 8th February 2021)
• Professor Peter Aronsson, Rektor, Linnéuniversitetet, Sweden
• Professor Carine Bernault, Présidente, Université de Nantes, France
• Professor Béla Merkely, Rektor, Semmelweis Egyetem, Hungary

EUniWell Steering Committee:

• Professor Robin Mason, Pro-Vice-Chancellor International, University of Birmingham, UK
• Professor Giorgia Giovannetti, Vice-Rector for International Relations, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy
• Professor Beatrix Busse, Vice-Rector Teaching and Studies, Universität zu Köln, Germany
• Professor Heinz-Peter Mansel, Director of the Institute for Private International and Comparative Law, Universität zu Köln, Germany
• Professor Hester Bijl, Rector Magnificus and President, Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands (as of 8th February 2021)
• Professor Ann-Charlotte Larsson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Linnéuniversitetet, Sweden
• Professor Isabelle Richard, Vice-President for European Affairs and International Relations, Université de Nantes, France
• Professor Olivier Grasset, Vice-President for Research, Université de Nantes, France
• Professor Miklós Kellermayer, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis Egyetem, Hungary
• Judith Barth, EUniWell Chief Student Officer

• For more information, please contact Tony Moran, International Communications Manager, University of Birmingham on +44 (0) 121 414 8254 or +44 (0)782 783 2312. For out-of-hours enquiries, please call +44 (0) 7789 921 165.
• The H2020 SwafS-Support Call was issued in autumn 2020 to provide additional EU funding to support the 24 newly-selected European Universities in setting up their work programme with special respect to collaboration in research and innovation.
• EUniWell unites the Universities of Cologne, Birmingham, Florence, Leiden, Linnaeus, Nantes, and Semmelweis in a European Universities Alliance, bringing together 244,000 students and 36,500 staff members. The importance of the topic of well-being has become all the more evident over the last year.
• To address the challenges to the well-being of our communities and society at large, EUniWell has four priority areas for research and teaching, closely linked to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), in which the seven partner universities have strong expertise:

Well-Being & Health (SDG 3, Good Health & Well-Being)
Individual & Social Well-Being (SDG 16, Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions)
Environment, Urbanity & Well-Being (SDG 11, Sustainable Cities & Communities)
Teacher Education (SDG 4, Quality Education)

• Funded by the European Commission, EUniWell was officially launched as a new European University Network in November 2020. During the three-year pilot phase, the Alliance will develop joint international teaching programmes and research and innovation collaborations.
• The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions and is a member of the UK’s Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham: leading researchers and teachers and more than 8,500 international students from over 150 countries.
• The University of Florence is one of the most important Italian public comprehensive universities with a strong international vocation and a large number of “departments of excellence”. It is a top destination in Europe for Erasmus and has a particularly high number of enrolled international students. Unifi has over 400 cooperation agreements with universities and research centres in 89 different countries and a unique cooperation with the study abroad programme of Stanford, NYU, Syracuse and many of the other 43 US programmes in Florence.
• The University of Cologne is one of the top comprehensive research universities in Germany and a member of the GermanU15 group. Cologne’s students come from 180 countries. Its 6 Faculties and 16 cross-Faculty research and teaching centres ensure the high reputation of Cologne’s graduates for both research and the wider market. Among Cologne’s many internationally renowned research units are four Clusters of Excellence on Aging-associated Diseases, Public Policy and Markets, Plant Sciences and Matter and Light for Quantum Computing funded within the German Excellence Strategy.
• Leiden University is one of Europe’s leading international research universities. It has seven faculties in the arts, humanities and sciences, spread over locations in Leiden and The Hague including the largest bio-science park in the Netherlands with a unique innovative ecosystem. Leiden University is ranked amongst the top 100 universities and listed 38 in THEs most international universities ranking. Leiden University is member of the League of European Research Universities – LERU.
• Linnaeus University is Sweden’s sixth largest university in terms of number of students, with some 600 partner universities in more than 80 countries. Its nationally and internationally prominent research covers a wide range of disciplines with a number of cutting-edge research environments from ecology and evolution to discrimination and integration, postcolonialism, intermediality, bioscience, and big data.
• The University of Nantes is a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary university with 20 faculties in technology, humanities and sciences. It has a strong focus on excellence in teaching and research and two fields of priority in health and industry of the future. Nantes University is ranked amongst the top 200 universities that contribute the most actively to sustainable development objectives addressed by the United Nations (THE university impact rankings) and amongst the top 100 Reuters ranking for Europe most innovative universities.
• Semmelweis University, is a leading biomedical institution of higher education in Hungary and Central Europe. Education, research & innovation, and healthcare comprise the University’s three-pillar mission. Its educational programmes in English, German and Hungarian attract students from more than 70 different countries. The international student body accounts for nearly a third of the almost 11,000 students studying at the university’s six faculties. Semmelweis University is the largest healthcare provider in Hungary and a regional centre of excellence in research and innovation in the field of life sciences.