Support for the positions of the European universities of applied sciences (united in the UAS4EUROPE network) at the 2nd "Croissant Event" in Brussels

Representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament as well as representatives of numerous national and European political organisations met last Tuesday at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands in Brussels for the 2nd UAS4EUROPE "Croissant Event". The focus was on the presentation of UAS4EUROPE's positions on the European Commission's draft for the 9th Research Framework Programme "Horizon Europe". UAS4EUROPE is an association of European umbrella organisations of universities of applied sciences. In this way, UAS4EUROPE represents 471 universities of applied sciences in 14 European countries and is thus a strong voice for applied research at these universities in Europe.

In its position paper, UAS4EUROPE is primarily in favour of better integration of applied researchers as well as better mapping and higher budgetary funding for applied and innovation-oriented research. Transdisciplinary research consortia should also be promoted more strongly. "The individual fields of research must work together more closely in future in order to meet the challenges of the future. The universities of applied sciences have a great deal of expertise in this area and our experience shows that transdisciplinary consortia need to be smaller in order to be able to work together efficiently. For this reason, smaller transdisciplinary research consortia should also be more firmly anchored in the budget within the framework of Horizon Europe," says Johann Kastner, Head of Research at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, who took part in the panel discussion on behalf of the Austrian universities of applied sciences.

"We have excellent research in Europe, but we have problems developing concrete products and services from research results," said Angelika Niebler, Member of the European Parliament. Universities of applied sciences should therefore be supported and promoted because they have an application-oriented research profile and thus play a key role in the transfer of innovation to industry and the regions.

Fabienne Gautier from the EU Commission's Directorate-General for Research also emphasised the important role of universities of applied sciences in shaping "Horizon Europe". She also confirmed that better integration of applied researchers is in the interests of the EU Commission and that the aim is to close the funding gap towards an innovative Europe.

With reference to the Austrian universities of applied sciences, which are involved in UAS4EUROPE through the Austrian University of Applied Sciences Conference (FHK), FHK Secretary General Kurt Koleznik is delighted with the results of the event: "We are pleased that the Commission has recognised the importance of research at universities of applied sciences and that our proposals have been taken on board. With a better budget for applied research, many research projects rated as excellent can be realised in the future." The Secretary General also commented on the European comparison: "A look at other countries shows that national measures such as sustainable research funding or the opportunity to offer doctoral programmes positively reinforce the impact of universities of applied sciences in the European regions. Portugal, for example, is another country alongside Ireland and Germany that has recently introduced doctoral programmes at universities of applied sciences. We at the FHK will therefore continue to advocate the implementation of these measures in Austria."

UAS4EUROPE is an association of European organisations and university of applied sciences representations that have set themselves the goal of positioning research at universities of applied sciences strongly in the context of the European Union. More about UAS4EUROPE and its positions on Twitter: UAS4EUROPE(@UAS4EUROPE) and www.uas4europe.eu