Coimbra Group

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Coimbra Group

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coimbra Founded in 1985 and formally constituted by Charter in 1987, the Coimbra Group is an association of long-established European multidisciplinary universities of high international standard. The Coimbra Group is committed to creating special academic and cultural ties in order to promote, for the benefit of its members, internationalisation, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and research, and service to society. It is also the purpose of the Group to influence European educational policy and to develop best practice through mutual exchange of experience. The headquarters of the Coimbra Group are situated in Brussels. The association organizes an annual congress and several summer schools, publishes a newsletter, and to the extent of its possibilities, funds scholarship programs and participates in international projects. The Coimbra Group operates mainly through working groups classified under three key policy pillars: Research, Education and Outreach.

Research Pilar

Life Sciences

Life sciences, mainly understood here as the sciences which study human beings, are studied and taught in numerous different programmes and formal and informal contexts in Coimbra Group Universities. Researching and educating in Life Sciences implies a reflection on values, on scientific and social developments, on the expectations of society and more. An interdisciplinary and harmonized approach to the problems encountered by the Life Sciences is crucial for the contribution that Higher Education Institutions need to make to the complex challenges of contemporary European and global society.

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Contact Person

  • José Juan Jiménez Moleón, Email: jjmoleon@ugr.es; delegacionsalud@ugr.es
  • Enrique Cobos del Moral, Email: ejcobos@ugr.es

Research and Support Officers

Research by its very nature is a collaborative activity, where the potential added value of a close-knit network such as the Coimbra Group is immense. The considerable complexity of research programmes and funding today, and in particular of the European Union’s “Horizon 2020” programme further highlights the need for greater and enhanced cooperation in research. Universities’ research support offices constitute permanent structures at universities with the necessary knowledge, expertise and experience to optimize network cooperation in enhancing local expertise through the sharing of best practice, in pursuit of deeper cooperation in actual projects, and in informing policy debate.

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Contact Persons

  • José Antonio Carrillo, Email: jcarril@ugr.es
  • Pedro Castillo Valdivieso, Email: pacv@ugr.es

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (in this established acronym-friendly order) have benefited, over the centuries and still today, from fundamental contributions of scholars from universities which are now members of the Coimbra Group. STEM remains a major factor of modernization and progress for society at large. As research-intensive universities, the members of the Coimbra Group are firmly committed to and constantly develop and expand their research and education in STEM, also including societal outreach related to these fields.

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Contact Person:

  • Artur Schmitt, Email: schmitt@ugr.es

Social Sciences and Humanities

Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH as they are denoted) have benefited over the centuries and continue to benefit today from major contributions of scholars from universities which are now members of the Coimbra Group. SSH have, for centuries, contributed to the development of values, thought and democratic institutions of the open society of which CG universities are today a part. SSH educational programmes continue to provide a large share of the Europe’s most highly qualified work force with both educational and research training, and SSH research remains crucial for answers to the challenges that today face contemporary European and global societies.

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Contact Person:

  • Carmen Caballero, Email: carmenca@ugr.es

Education Pilar

Academic Exchange and Mobility

A university cannot exist without the continuous movement of scholarly ideas. At the core of academic life, a main facet of this movement is academic mobility. As they have done over the centuries and intensely since the establishment of the network, Coimbra Group universities continue to exchange students and staff in national, regional, European, international – bilateral or multilateral – settings. With a wealth of challenges to respond to, the design and implementation of student and staff mobility require a collective, empathic and imaginative approach by participating institutions. The Working Group will ensure continuous exchange of experience among member institutions. The Working Group will also advise the Coimbra Group Executive Board on possible actions to be taken to influence the development of European educational programmes with mobility components.

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Contact Person:

  • Olga Nikolaeva, Email: onikolaeva@ugr.es
  • Simón Suárez Cuadros, Email: diracademic@ugr.es

Doctoral Studies

Doctoral Studies constitute a key activity and major priority for multi-disciplinary research universities and represent one of the most important contributions of universities to the development of societies, requiring creative and collaborative approaches by universities. Substantial reform of doctoral studies has taken place across Europe over recent years, and the challenges of implementation and consolidation are central to the strategies of universities.

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Contact Person:

  • Leandro Di Stasi, Email: distasi@ugr.es

Education Innovation

The potential offered by information and communication technologies, pedagogical research, the general expectation that students can and should participate more in their own learning process, widening of access and participation, as well as the use of relevant resources outside the boundaries of Academia, all point to the central importance of a Working Group dedicated to Education Innovation in its many different forms in the pursuit of enhanced teaching and learning.

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Contact Person:

  • Diego Pablo Ruiz Padillo, Email: druiz@ugr.es
  • Vanesa Gamiz Sánhez, Email: vanesa@ugr.es

Employability

There is increased concern in European universities - also expressed by stakeholders - that graduates should be well prepared for a rapidly changing and evolving society and employment market. Growing emphasis on the generic and entrepreneurial competences and lifelong learning abilities required of the highly qualified critical citizen of the 21st century have led our universities to include programmes for the acquisition of these skills during and alongside degree programmes in all three cycles. The global nature of our society underlines the added value of international network cooperation in this area of university activity, avoiding narrow calls to respond to short-term needs and responding to the deeper educational mission of our universities.

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Contact Person

  • Esteban Romero Frías , Email: erf@ugr.es; viceinnova@ugr.es
  • María del Mar Ortiz Camacho, Email: mmortiz@ugr.es

Outreach Pilar

Development Cooperation

The global social responsibility of universities requires their active engagement with development issues and challenges. The Coimbra Group universities have a strong tradition in Development Studies and in Development Cooperation. The Coimbra Group aims to increase such engagements through the pooling of expertise and through the coordination of actions targeted towards a most effective response to major cooperation and funding agencies such as the EU and other international and national agencies. In addition, it aims to increase exchange and cooperation between its Development Studies Programmes, its Development Studies experts, as well as with partner institutions in African, Asian and Latin American countries.

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Contact Person

  • Wenceslao Martín Rosales, Email: wmartin@ugr.es

Heritage

Coimbra Group Universities are important heritage institutions within their cities, regions, and countries and in their European dimensions. Throughout their history they have been stalwarts of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Today heritage constitutes an important resource for cultural identity, a sense of belonging and social cohesion. Coimbra Group Universities have a special responsibility for preserving and transmitting as well as articulating and interpreting cultural heritage and its manifold cultural, societal and economic benefits for society.

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Contact Person:

  • Margarita Sánchez Romero, Email: marsanch@ugr.es
  • María Luisa Bellido Gant, Email: mbellido@ugr.es

Latin America

Academic relations between European universities and Latin American institutions have a long tradition and are going through a moment of intensified cooperation and widening opportunities, due to high level commitment of governments and agencies on both sides of the Atlantic, materialized in the EU-CELAC strategic partnership. The Coimbra Group has played an important role in providing links to institutions and networks which are relevant to this transatlantic cooperation and has also in the past facilitated many initiatives and projects to the benefit of member institutions. The Latin America Working Group will pursue the development of synergies among Coimbra Group Universities in order to increase the quality and quantity of cooperation with Latin American institutions, networks and agencies and follow the opportunities created by ongoing high level policy dialogues between the two regions.

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Contact Person:

  • Irene Pedreira, Email: ipedreira@ugr.es
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