About CIVICA

About CIVICA

CIVICA – The European University of Social Sciences unites ten leading European higher education institutions in the social sciences, humanities, business management and public policy, with a total of 72,000 students & PhDs and 13,000 academic staff.

Together, we build on an ever-stronger combination of education, research & innovation, and civic outreach to develop the European university of the future: grounded in excellent teaching and learning, offering seamless mobility, contributing innovative solutions to societal challenges, and creating a path for other universities to follow. 

CIVICA was selected in 2019 by the European Commission as one of the pilot European Universities, funded under the Erasmus+ programme.

A transnational force for the public good

As a European University of Social Sciences, our key ambition is to serve European societies and educate the next generations of Europeans.

We are building an innovative university model that places our communities of students & PhD researchers at its heart, and branches out to NGOs, businesses, policymakers, the civil society, and other entities outside academia. 

CIVICA embodies the European idea in its purest form: "United in diversity."

Thematic priorities

As CIVICA, we strive to find solutions to complex societal challenges around four thematic priorities. We chose these topics because they reflect both pressing contemporary issues and our joint expertise.

Thanks to the recently launched project CIVICA Research, which complements our educational strategy, our alliance will continue to deepen its research collaborations in these major areas.

The European Universities Initiative

The European Universities are transnational alliances that will become the universities of the future, promoting European values and identity, and revolutionising the quality and competitiveness of European higher education. Mainly funded under the Erasmus+ programme, the European Universities Initiative is one of the flagship activities introduced by the European Union in its ambition to build a European Education Area. 

Following a first call for proposals, in June 2019 the European Commission selected 17 European Universities involving 114 higher education institutions from 24 member states. A second call in 2020 selected another 24 European University alliances consisting of 165 higher education institutions from 26 member states.