The Danube Rector's Conference met the DRC representatives of all its member universities for the DRC Annual Conference 2023, from 19 to 20 October 2023, at the West University of Timișoara in Romania. This year, the discussions of the conference focused on the current and future developments of higher education in the EU and especially in the Danube Region. The main topic was 'Forty years of overcoming academic divisions: importance of higher education for democracy and culture"' as the DRC celebrated its 40th anniversary. It was an opportunity for DRC members to celebrate and connect with experts and scholars from the Danube Region.
The 2023 Annual Meeting of the Danube Rectors' Conference was hosted at the West University of Timisoara, Romania, from October 19 to 20, 2023. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Danube Rectors’ Conference in 1983, the DRC Permanent Secretariat presented the 40th DRC Anniversary Publication.
During the General Assembly 2023, the applications for membership for four more universities in the Danube Region were approved. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that the DRC network is welcoming four new member universities:
"Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati
Academy of Music, Dance and Visual Arts "Prof. Asen Diamandiev" - Plovdiv
University of Applied Sciences - Public Management and Finance Ludwigsburg
The DRC Permanent Secretariat wishes them a warm welcome to the network and is looking forward to our future cooperation!
On October 19, 2023, the IDM, together with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, awarded exceptional scientists, whose work contributed to the Danube Region.
The Danubius Awards 2023 Ceremony took place in a hybrid setting. You can find the recording of the ceremony on the IDM Youtube channel.
FORTY YEARS OF OVERCOMING ACADEMIC DIVISIONS: IMPORTANCE OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY AND CULTURE
The Danube Rectors' Conference meets this year to discuss the current and future developments of higher education in EU and especially in the Danube Region. The speeches and debates with international experts and scholars will focus on the European cohesion through higher education, as well as its condition in times of war. Plans to foster research possibility for youth will be discussed with the recipients of the DRC Initiative Fund, and the participants will attend to the Ceremony for the Danubius Awards 2023.
More information on the Annual Meeting can be found here: 2023 Annual Conference of the Danube Rectors' Conference
Less than twenty years from now, can you imagine what our ever-shifting world will look like? Will knowledge, science and research take their rightful place in this world as seekers of truth and understanding? And what role will universities play in this process as research initiators, science bearers and knowledge brokers?
Group of university students, early-stage researchers and young scientists coming from ten countries of the Danube Region conducted a strategic foresight and projected various future scenarios regarding the world of science, university and academia in the region of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in the year of 2040.
Find out more about the project here.
Download and read the project report below.
Between its source in the Black Forest and its mouth on the Black Sea, the Danube traverses 2,872 kilometres and shares shores with ten countries. The Danube Rectors' Conference (DRC) is a strong network of almost 70 universities in this region. Our aim is to improve higher education in teaching and research, and the advancement of our member universities by establishing sustainable contacts.
The DRC is Affiliate member of the European University Association (EUA)
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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE DANUBE HIGHER EDUCATION AREA IN CONDITIONS OF RECOVERY
Embracing the European programme for digitalisation, the Danube Rectors’ Conference (DRC) meets this year to discuss the main pillars of digital transformation in light of the green deal of a unified Europe, with an emphasis on resilience and on the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. In parallel, participants of the first DRC Initiative Fund as well as of DRC Strategic Foresight project will meet with the winners of the Danubius Young Scientist Awards 2022 and present to their universities’ rectors their view on Open Science from the perspective of Danube region’s doctoral students and young researchers, who are in part responsible for the future of the region.
The 2022 Annual Conference of the Danube Rectors' Conference takes place at the University of Maribor, Slovenia, on 9.-11. November 2022.
For more information, please visit our dedicated webpage The 2022 DRC Annual Meeting.