UPDATES
This high level conference will bring together experts from across Europe to identify the key elements necessary for financial sustainability in the future. University leaders, policy makers, researchers and partners from the private sector will discuss the results of the EUDIS project and further explore the key features and conditions for implementing successful income diversification strategies.
On the basis of key-note presentations, case studies from across Europe and expert sessions, the Conference will:
• raise awareness of crucial aspects of diversification of funding that contribute to financial sustainability
• share the first findings of the EUDIS project
• investigate the challenges that diversified funding brings for leading, managing and governing institutions
• show institutional and external success factors for broadening the funding base
• analyse the impact of the economic downturn on universities and their ability to diversify their funding structure.
For more information, please see the conference website.
EUA and HUMANE organised in mid-October a joint EUDIS seminar focused on income diversification strategies in universities across Europe. Over 50 university leaders and experts as well as representatives of public authorities, representing 20 European countries, gathered in Madrid to reflect on the preliminary findings of the EUDIS survey around the following themes: seizing regional opportunities; external incentives to diversify income; challenges and complexity of multiple funding streams; challenges and opportunities of the economic downturn. The findings of the survey were largely confirmed by the experiences that participants shared from their national contexts.
The seminar’s discussions highlighted the following key messages:
• Diversified funding cannot and should not replace the authorities’ commitment to publicly fund higher education
• Universities must have the right framework conditions, in particular the ability to establish efficient governance bodies and to receive sufficient support for the ‘professionalisation’ of management, for successful income diversification
• Funders need to take action to streamline eligibility conditions and accountability requirements in order to reduce the administrative burden on higher education institutions.
The outcomes of the seminar and all presentations can be downloaded here: (and also on the HUMANE website)
• Mikel Tapia - Introduction
• Thomas Estermann – EUDIS preliminary findings
• Adrian Graves – Seizing regional opportunities to diversify funding
• Kari Balke Oiseth – The Donation Reinforcement Programme
• Ramona Todericiu – Challenges in accessing European structural funds
• Thomas Estermann – EUA monitoring of the crisis
• Gundars Berzins – The impact of the crisis on institutional strategy
• Xavier Puente – Multiple funding streams.
EUA thanks all universities that have taken part in the EUDIS survey. The survey is still open to gather additional information. If you are interested in taking part, you can request a personalised link at eudis@eua.be.
The EUDIS project is being run by EUA in collaboration with HUMANE network, the University of Bologna and the Bavarian State Institute for Higher Education Research and Planning. It is co-funded by the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Programme.
EUDIS aims at mapping the status of income diversification in European universities and seeks to provide useful examples of best practices. It will promote the institutional perspective on the topic of funding, with a view to informing national and European policy makers of how best to facilitate a sensible diversification of income streams. It will offer a unique opportunity, in these uncertain times of economic downturn, to ensure that the universities’ voice is heard.
More information about the project is available here.
• By taking part in the EUDIS online questionnaire
• By hosting a site visit – to enable EUA to collect crucial information about the diversity of university funding across Europe. (Contact us at eudis@eua.be)
• By participating in the Experts’ conference (13-14 September 2010, Bologna), for which EUA is looking for instructive examples of income diversification (successes and challenges).