Conference 2018: Research Network of Excellence
“Border Studies – Towards a research network of excellence” - under this heading, the University of the Greater Region and its member universities presented the project “UniGR-Center for Border Studies” for the first time to the public at the University of Luxembourg on 24 October 2018. The project is funded by the INTERREG VA Greater Region program with €2M ERDF until 2020.
“I am very happy to host the kick-off conference of this project at our university. Together with our partner universities, we have supported the implementation of cross-border studies from the beginning. Thanks to the support of Interreg, we can raise this scientific cooperation to a higher level. Together, we aim to position the UniGR-Center for Border Studies as an excellence center of European dimension,” Stéphane Pallage, Rector of the University of Luxembourg, opened the event.
“Border regions are real laboratories of European integration. Due to its experience, the UniGR-Center for Border Studies contributes to the valorization of borders as resources for citizens living on either side.” Karl-Heinz Lambertz, President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), summed up the importance of Border Studies in a changing world, where questions of migration, identity, and spatial planning are topical issues. With 2,595 km of borders, the Greater Region is a privileged territory of experimentation. It is for this reason that Border Studies became a key area of scientific cooperation among the six partner universities in the Greater Region.
On the occasion of the presentation of the project “UniGR-Center for Border Studies”, the University of the Greater Region filled the auditorium with an audience consisting of representatives from local authorities, universities, students and the cultural/artistic scene. The overall aim of the project is to create a unique European center of knowledge and resources in Border Studies.
Approximately 80 researchers from 16 different scientific disciplines are already involved in the scientific cross-border network as it builds international visibility. Its activities, along with the “Greater Region Forums”, a series of public panel discussions organized in the House of the Greater Region in Esch-sur-Alzette (L), seek to promote the dialogue between the scientific world and institutional actors about cross-border topics and their challenges: migrations and borders, spatial planning or the development of cross-border mobility and new forms of working.
Students from the six universities in the Greater Region will likewise benefit from the project. In order to facilitate multilingual cross-border studies, innovative distance learning tools will be developed. The students of the Master in Border Studies – supported by the Franco-German University and taught at four universities in the Greater Region – will be the first to enjoy these tools to simplify virtual mobility before being applied to other cross-border study courses. Researchers’ mobility will also be enhanced by means of a mobility program funding their interregional research visits.
“With the European Center for Border Studies, the University of the Greater Region affirms the dynamism and vitality of scientific cross-border cooperation among its six member universities. Taking into account current developments in the European Union, this center, unique in Europe, will contribute to the international visibility of our grouping. It paves the way for the emergence of numerous other scientific networks which will contribute to the creation of a truly European University,” Pierre Mutzenhardt, President of the Université de Lorraine and the University of the Greater Region, concluded the event.
Press Reviews
- Auftakt in Luxemburg zur Grenzraumforschung, dans : www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de (15/10/2018). Plus d’informations
- Universität der Großregion: Fördersummen aus laufenden INTERREG-Projekten überschreitet vier Mio. Euro, dans : Unispectrum (01/2018).
- Un centre européen en études sur les frontières en Grande Région, dans : Entreprises Magazine, 87 (01-02/2018).
- Wissenschaft an der Grenze (Armin Neidhardt), dans : Forum – das Wochenmagazin (16/02/2018).
- Sechs Universitäten, 80 Wissenschaftler. Das neue Europäische Kompetenz- und Wissenschaftszentrum für Grenzraumforschung in der Großregion, dans : Saarland Journal (01/2018).
- Grenzräume unter der Lupe. Großregionales „Center for Border Studies” geht offiziell an den Start (Claude Karger), dans : Letzebuerger Journal (25/10/2018).
- Viel zu forschen. Die Grenzraumforschung in der Großregion wird verstärkt – Ein logischer und wichtiger Schritt (Claude Karger), dans : Letzebuerger Journal (25/10/2018)
Contact
