EULiST 2023 General Assembly: interconnecting technology and society is a necessity

EULiST is an international alliance that brings European universities together to together improve the quality of higher education in Europe. Part of improving this quality is reflecting on the challenges our society is facing and how universities can contribute to solveing them. For this reason, all members of EULiST, which includes Brno University of Technology (BUT), met at the General Assembly on 26 and 27 June in Athens.

All the alliance partners attended the General Assembly, namely the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Institut Mines-Télécom, Jönköping University, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT, Leibniz University Hannover, National Technical University of Athens, Rey Juan Carlos University, University of L'Aquila and TU Wien. The BUT was represented by the Rector Ladislav Janíček, Vice-Rector for Internationalisation Iveta Šimberová, International Cooperation Manager Mariana Tesařová and the President of the Chairman of Chamber of Students BUT Anna Kruljacová.

Being part of the EULiST international alliance brings a number of benefits for the BUT. These include not only the exchange of experience, but also the opportunity to establish new collaborations in science and research and international mobility of students and staff. "The meeting at the Technical University of Athens was very productive. Physical meetings give us the opportunity to get to know our colleagues from partner institutions better and to discuss in depth the individual topics that we want to actively develop within EULiST," explains Tesařová.

These meetings also provide opportunities for the formation of common goals. The Alliance should start working on further joint proposals to bring these visions into reality. What has changed since the last General Assembly in Madrid is the strengthening of links between the EULiST Alliance partners. Building on this solid foundation, they can now move forward onto practical matters and jointly advance technical education across Europe.

The members of the Alliance are not only academics and employees of each university, but their students as well. Indeed, they are integral to the achievement of the objectives set out, helping shape the guidelines that need to be developed. Student representatives have been involved in all EULiST activities since its inception, but the General Assembly was the first time they met physically. The EULiST Student Council meeting included the election of students to all important structures within EULiST and the temporary internal setup of the Student Council, where a representative of the BUT became Co-Chair Student Council. The representatives also agreed that the next General Assembly will be held in May 2024 in Brno under the auspices of the BUT.