Given the travel restrictions and other difficulties the universities are facing in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, the DRC Presidency, after careful consideration and in consultation with the Uzhhorod National University, agreed unanimously on the postponement of the Annual Conference scheduled to take place on 4.-6. November 2020 at the Uzhhorod National University to 2021. The new date for the 2021 Annual Conference will be announced in due time.

The General Assembly for all DRC member universities will be held as an online meeting on 6. November 2020 10:00 CET.

Information regarding the registration as well as the draft programme will be available in the upcoming weeks on the DRC website.

We look forward to seeing you during our General Assembly in November!

"Your university created a link between Europe and its region, between science and society."

On the occasion of the 30 years since the foundation of the Vasile Goldis Western University of Arad, Friedrich Faulhammer, Rector of the Danube University Krems and DRC Vice President, send his message wishing ongoing academic success and prosperity.

Do you want to learn more about sustainable construction, renewables and alternative building? The Danube Rectors Conference – as a partner of the Green.Building.Solutions. Online Summer University – offers two fully funded scholarships for participation! Be sure not to miss this unique opportunity and apply until 21 June, 2020 here!

The Danube Rectors’ Conference (DRC) organizes a summer school every year, hosted by one of the DRC member universities. Recently, the Danube:Future project has been integrated into the DRC structure, and it has been agreed that the summer school will be organized alternately between DRC and Danube:Future. This year the Danube:Future Summer School, for the first time under the auspices of the DRC, was about to take place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. 

All the more we regret to announce that, given the current situation regarding measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 disease, we are forced to postpone the 17th edition of the DRC Summer School “Sustainable development in the Danube Region. Where we are and how we tackle future challenges?”, scheduled to take place 6-12 July 2020 to 2021. We will announce a new date in due time.
 
We are fully aware of the complexity of the challenges faced by universities at present, and therefore we have decided to take this step to save the additional efforts of all people involved. We very much regret this decision, since the DRC Summer Schools represent a long record of successful cooperation among young promising scientists from the Danube Region. However, we believe that the positive track of the DRC Summer Schools will be followed up next year when the situation is settled.

We thank you for your understanding and are looking forward to the 17th DRC Summer School in 2021!

The Danube Rectors’ Conference (DRC) is pleased to announce that the Call for applications for the "Sharing Future" Residence scholarship 2020 of the International Elias Canetti Society is now open!

Also in 2020, the DRC is funding one residence scholarship that enables the scholarship holder to pursue his/ her artistic work within one month in the summer of 2020 at the Canetti House in Ruse, Bulgaria.

The Canetti Artist Scholarship is aimed at artists from all over Europe. The fact that it is also advertised to artists from neighboring countries - from the Western Balkans and Turkey, should in particular provide opportunities for international, artistic exchange. Various different forms of arts should be fostered by the scholarship: painters, photographers, writers, performance artists, translators and musicians can apply for it. The slogan of the scholarship “Sharing Future” aims at a collaborative creation and cooperation for a joint Europe and a common future.

The scholarship is advertised for one month a year.

The scholarship holder can

-   pursue his/ her artistic work undisturbed in the spring / summer of 2020 in Ruse

-   use the historic Canetti house as work place with various possibilities for artistic expression using the space (photos attached)

-   get to know the local cultural scene in Ruse and Bulgaria and use the resulting synergies and artistic realization

-   live in an apartment provided by the IECS

-   receive 1200 € for contribution and 300 for € travel expenses or 1500 € for both combined

Application documents to be submitted:

•  artist curriculum vitae

•  significant illustrations of the artistic works in personal catalogs or a portfolio

•  brief outline of the planned project

The application with all documents should be sent to eliascanetti@eliascanetti.org not later than the 30.3.2020.

You can find additional information in the attached document.

We are pleased to inform you that the Joint Research Centre (JRC) has published the second call for expressions of interest for the Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships (CDP) in the following fields:

1.       Digital Governance

2.       Smart, connected and clean mobility  

3.       EU Energy Transition  

4.       Development of methods to monitor progresses, design transformations and identify solutions to achieve SDGs  

5.       Secure and sustainable supply of raw materials for strategic value chains  

6.       Artificial intelligence for earth observation  

7.       Graphic causal models for hybrid threats  

8.       Resilience of built infrastructure to natural and man-made hazards  

9.       Health promotion and prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)  

10.     Non-power nuclear and radiological technologies to achieve the SDGs 2030 Agenda  

11.     Synergies of qualitative and quantitative methods for anticipation activities  

12.     Behavioural insights applied to policy-making  

13.     Robustness in complex data analysis and statistical modelling

The call is opened to higher education institutions/universities from EU Member States and countries associated to the EU Research Programme Horizon 2020.

The application for the upcoming Intercultural Staff Training 2020 of Eötvös Loránd University, organized by the Department of Erasmus+ and International Programmes and the Institute of Intercultural Psychology and Education (IIPE), Faculty of Education and Psychology IS NOW OPEN.

The training will be held from 8th to 12th June 2020 and targeted mainly at staff members of higher education institutions who work with international students and staff on a day-to-day basis and have at least one year of work experience in this area. The training program aims to promote intercultural skills and competencies especially for those who engage in intercultural encounters in their everyday work and feel that they need to further develop their skills to be more successful.

Those who participate in the whole training receive a Certificate of Attendance at the end. The participation fee is 150 EUR, which includes the complimentary lunch of the first day, welcome package, work materials, cultural programs, coffee breaks, and farewell dinner.

The application deadline is 16th February 2020.

For more information and registration please visit the homepage of the Intercultural Staff Training 2020.

If you need further information, do not hesitate to send an email to erasmus@elte.hu (Subject: Intercultural staff training 2020)

The European Commission has opened its JRC Nanobiotechnology Laboratory for Training and Capacity Building for access to applicants from Enlargement and Integration Countries:

2020-1-TCB-NanoBiotech

Opening of the call: 2020-01-16

Closure of the call: 2020-03-16

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) opens for the purposes of training and capacity building its scientific laboratories and facilities to people working in academia and research organisations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and more in general to the public and private sector.

Applicants from institutions and organisations located in countries associated to the Framework Programme H2020: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine are welcome to apply to the calls of the Training and Capacity Building at JRC Research Infrastructures programme.

Climate change is THE hot topic all around the world – concerning everyone, everywhere. How are you contributing to a green future? The DRC, as a partner of the GBS summer university, offers one scholarship for participation – be sure not to miss this unique opportunity!

Taking place for the 10th time in 2020 from July, 18th to August, 9th in Vienna, you learn about sustainable construction, renewables and alternative building from renowned Austrian experts! In this way, YOU can make the world more sustainable.

Application until April 30, 2020 at https://summer-university.net/study-abroad/green-building-solutions-vienna/!

Want to learn more about how the economic system contributes to climate change and what we can do about it? As a partner of the Alternative Economic and Monetary Systems summer school, the DRC offers one scholarship for participation – be sure not to miss this unique opportunity!

From 20 July to 7 August in Vienna, at the AEMS summer school you learn about the interactions between the environment, society and economy, as well as about possible reform approaches for the economic and monetary system.

Application until April 30, 2020 at https://summer-university.net/study-abroad/aems-vienna/application/

On January 13, 2020, the joint Jean Monnet project of the DRC with the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) was launched with the kick-off event on "Democracy Is (No!) Fiction: Developing Concepts and Strategies For an Inclusive and Participatory Europe".

The event was opened, among others, by the DRC President and Rector of the University of Belgrade Prof. Dr. Ivanka Popović, who emphasized the importance of education on the formation of a stable, sensitive civil society composed of critically-minded and socially engaged citizens.

On behalf of the DRC were also involved the DRC Vice-President and Rector of the Danube-University Krems Mag. Friedrich Faulhammer as well as the DRC Secretary General Mag. Sebastian Schäffer.

You can find the programme of the conference as well as further information here.

We are looking forward to future project steps! 

13 January 2020

Haus der Europäischen Union, Vienna, Austria

Keynote speech: Ivan KRASTEV, Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM), Vienna, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia

As part of the IDM and DRC Jean Monnet Project “From Fictional to Functioning Democracy (FIFUDEM)”, the conference brings up the problem of fictional democracy - a new form of façade democracy that produces illiberal fictions of democracy. It aims at creating new visions for actively committed citizenship in a functioning democracy, embedded in a common and inclusive European Union. In order to achieve this, academics and researchers specialised in EU matters, as well as civil society activists, stakeholders and practitioners and EU representatives are invited to develop strategies of strengthening active and participatory citizenship and functioning political communication methodologies.

The Danube Rectors' Conference Secretariat is operated by the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM). The IDM has received the Jean Monnet funding from the Erasmus+ Program of the EU Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency for the project

"From Fictional to Functioning Democracy: Developing Concepts and Strategies for Inclusive and Participatory Europe (FIFUDEM)".

FIFUDEM will be conducted at the IDM in the period from 2019 to 2022 and within this framework, the DRC represents the main project partner as well as the main tool of dissemination of the project’s results.

In the context of the DRC Annual Meeting 2019 the Danubius Award Ceremony took place on 7th November 2019. 

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 Danubius Awards:

Danubius Award 2019

Prof. Ing. Jiří Balík, CSc., dr.h.c.