EUR launches new programme in the European University UNIC to promote inclusion and impact through engaged research

Community-based research methodologies will be designed and adopted, fostering the increased impact of research within cities. The Horizon-funded programme offers a unique opportunity for universities to directly engage with public authorities, civil society actors and wider communities to jointly tackle today’s societal challenges.
 

Facilitating effective community-university partnerships for evidence-based urban development and policy making

In the context of UNIC4ER, a broad variety of new research initiatives will be developed across faculties and disciplines of the eight universities involved. New infrastructure and processes will be built within the Erasmus University Rotterdam and the other UNIC partners to ensure that the advantages of community links can be leveraged by researchers across all faculties and departments. The four main strands of the programme include:

• “UNIC4ER Research Strategy” – Developing a shared understanding of engaged research, guidelines and examples of good practice;
• “UNIC4ER Open Science Campus” – Creating  a designated platform that includes resources/databases of engaged research and opportunities to make research visible and accessible to all;
• “UNIC4ER Meets the City” – Building institutional infrastructure and resources to facilitate engaged research across all colleges, disciplines and departments;
• “UNIC4ER Engaged Research Community” – Supporting Engaged Research Excellence by embedding engaged research in undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral training to build research capacity.

UNIC4ER and the EUR

The Erasmus University Rotterdam is the coordinating body for the UNIC4ER programme and is responsible for the overall programme management, communications and dissemination as well as the monitoring and evaluation of the programme’s activities.

European University of Post-Industrial Cities (UNIC)

The UNIC University is a European University Alliance (https://www.unic.eu/), co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme, consisting of the Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands), the Koç University (Turkey), the Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), the University College Cork (Ireland), the University of Deusto (Spain), the University of Liège (Belgium), the University of Oulu (Finland) and the University of Zagreb (Croatia).