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
We are delighted to announce the successful culmination of the 18th DRC Summer School, held in the picturesque city of Cluj-Napoca and hosted by three esteemed Romanian universities. This year's event saw the convergence of 13 young scientists, university students, and emerging researchers hailing from 10 countries across the Danube Region and Central Europe. The week-long 18th DRC Summer School, themed "Transformation of post-war Europe: Challenging universities and research in the Danube Region?," took place in Cluj-Napoca from 16 to 22 July 2023.
Babeș-Bolyai University, the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, and the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine hosted this year's edition. Amidst the charming backdrop of Cluj-Napoca, participants engaged not only in insightful dialogues with experts on the designated theme but also in the exchange of their expertise from diverse research domains.
The core theme of the Summer School was rigorously explored through four focal points, namely democracy, inclusivity, digitalization, and European strategies during periods of conflict. These topics provided an enriched platform for comprehensive discussions and intellectual exploration.
The Summer School involved cultural aspects, allowing participants to engage in local traditions through group activities. This created a friendly atmosphere, deepening connections among attendees and offering a taste of Transylvanian life and cuisine. Guided city and botanical garden tours, alongside traditional dinners, enriched the week. A highlight was a field trip to Salina Turda, highlighting Romania's natural beauty. The experience concluded with a meaningful final gathering.
Friedrich Faulhammer (*1963) studied law at the University of Vienna. He worked there from 1985 to 1990 at the Institute for Legal History as well as in the legal department of the University Directorate and moved to the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research in 1990. In 2005, he became Section Head of the Higher Education Section in the Federal Ministry of Science and Research and served as its Secretary General from 2009. During his more than two decades as a civil servant of the Republic of Austria, Faulhammer has been instrumental in shaping Austrian and European higher education policy, including the implementation of the Universities Act 2002.
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.