CIVICA, the European University of Social Sciences, has secured European Commission funding to continue its work for two more years, confirming the alliance’s standing as a transformative force in European higher education. The grant, worth EUR 7.2 million, awarded under the Erasmus+ programme, will enable CIVICA to deepen cooperation in the social sciences and advance an academic community that spans ten universities.
“I welcome this new phase of CIVICA with real optimism," said EUI President Patrizia Nanz: "The alliance began on a simple idea, that universities across Europe could teach, question and learn together rather than apart, and it has proved that idea many times over. For the EUI, CIVICA is not a project alongside our mission but an expression of it."
Over the next two years, CIVICA will expand opportunities for students, faculty and staff, ensuring greater numbers benefit from the chance to study and collaborate across ten universities, in nine countries. Alongside consolidating its existing portfolio, CIVICA will pilot an inclusiveness programme and explore the European Degree Label. Key priorities ahead also include developing innovative educational pathways, strengthening research ties, further embedding open science and expanding lifelong learning opportunities. There is also an ongoing commitment to the partnership with five Ukrainian universities, supporting their closer integration into the European Higher Education Area. Lastly, CIVICA’s scientific priorities have been renewed, with the addition of a fifth priority dedicated to security and resilience, as well as a more direct reference to the role of Artificial intelligence in the social sciences.
Aurélien Krejbich, CIVICA’s Executive Director, said the decision reflected both the strength of what the alliance had achieved and future promise: “We are deeply grateful to the European Commission for its renewed confidence in CIVICA. We also want to congratulate and thank our alliance partners. Six years of collaboration have been genuinely fruitful, built on close working relationships on all sides. CIVICA has matured into a model of how European universities can work together, durably and at scale. At a moment when Europe faces extensive structural pressures, sustained transnational investment in the social sciences is timely and will support the dissemination of knowledge.”
The 2026-2028 phase builds on six years of collaboration to deepen institutional integration across the alliance. The ambition is to establish CIVICA as a leading global voice for the social sciences, providing the next generation of Europeans with the critical skills needed to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex world.
About CIVICA
CIVICA, The European University of Social Sciences, unites ten leading European higher education and research institutions in the social sciences, humanities, business management and public policy. Founded in 2019, the alliance brings together Bocconi University, Central European University, the European University Institute, the Hertie School, IE University, the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Sciences Po, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, the Stockholm School of Economics and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Find out more here.
About the European Universities initiative
The European Universities alliances are part of a flagship initiative of the European strategy for universities. They encompass 73 European Universities alliances with almost 650 higher education institutions of all types, from all across Europe. Find out more here.