€1.6 million to develop CHARM-EU

[Press Release] - Published on March 10, 2023 in Press Room

The European University Alliance CHARM-EU received initial funding from the “Investment for the Future” program in 2019, enabling the University of Montpellier to make rapid progress toward its goal of “reconciling humanity with the planet.” Its success led to renewed support from the European Commission beyond 2022, with €12.8 million in funding over four years, including more than €1.7 million for UM (the “CHARM-EIGHT” project). On February 28, a new €1.6 million grant was awarded by France 2030, enabling the alliance to be consolidated through the implementation of new objectives (the “CHARM-ANR” project).

CHARM-EU at a Glance

The CHARM-EU alliance establishes a long-term partnership among its nine members: the University of Barcelona (UB, coordinator), Utrecht University (UU), Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest (ELTE), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Åbo Akademi (AAU), Hochschule Ruhr West (HRW), the University of Würzburg (JMU), the University of Bergen (UiB), and the University of Montpellier. By promoting the creation of joint programs, student and staff exchanges, and the definition of shared research themes, it lays the foundations for an innovative model of an inter-university European campus that supports the free movement of people, ideas, and practices. CHARM-EU contributes to the transformation of European higher education by proposing concrete actions for a sustainable, inclusive, innovative, and intercultural university capable of addressing global challenges that require an international and interdisciplinary approach.

A new France 2030 grant and new objectives for the “CHARM-ANR” project

In August 2022, the success of the CHARM-EU European University Alliance, of which the University of Montpellier is a member, led to the award of a €12.8 million grant from the European Commission for the “CHARM-EIGHT” project under the 2022 Erasmus+ call for European Universities. Within this total budget, the University of Montpellier received over €1.7 million.

CHARM-EU aims to develop its strategy to build on the achievements made during the pilot phase and become a stable and sustainable European university in the long term. To this end, the plan is to expand its scope of action among alliance members while also reaching out more broadly to external stakeholders (at the local, national, and international levels). The goal of this funding is that, at the end of the four-year period, CHARM-EU will be able to have a significant impact on the entire international academic community (students, Professors staff), with stable and strengthened governance, integrated and shared services, and a rich and varied educational offering accessible on an intercultural campus. This innovative model must be transferable and sustainable.

This new €1.6 million grant from France 2030 for the CHARM-ANR project is crucial, as it will enable the successful completion of the project as a whole and enhance the visibility and appeal of CHARM-EU at the local (cities and regions in Europe) and international levels. More specifically, this funding will support the alliance’s governance at the UM level through staff recruitment, strengthen the joint degree program and promote it nationally by offering free tuition for students who have studied in France, and ensure a tangible impact across all departments and divisions of the UM by supporting on-the-ground initiatives and giving them an international scope. In concrete terms, this grant will enable the wider deployment of innovative teaching methods initiated within CHARM-EU by setting up connected hybrid classrooms, launching internal calls for projects such as internships co-supervised by researchers from other universities in the alliance, and initiating new educational or research collaborations through interdisciplinary and international projects.

Keywords: Charm-me, International, University