On Friday, December 7, over one hundred guests from European Union institutions, Swedish universities and potential collaboration partners took part in the opening of the Universities in South Sweden’s (Lärosäten Syd) new office in Brussels. The main goal of the new branch is to broaden the participation of southern Sweden’s universities in the EU framework programme.
Universities in South Sweden is a collaboration between Blekinge Institute of Technology, Kristianstad University, Lund University, Malmö University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Halmstad University with the aim to be able to influence policy processes, promote research and develop a valuable network. Opening an office in Brussels is a strategic step towards this goal.
Big interest from partner organisations
Rickard Eksten from Lund University is based in Brussels since September as a representative of the new office. With over 10 years’ experience within various EU institutions, he already has a strong network in Brussels which he will further develop in his new role.
”The event on Friday was successful, and we hope the participants left with a good feeling, but also that they felt a bit challenged by the discussions”, says Rickard Eksten, who mentions that there is a big interest in southern Sweden’s universities and their collaboration model among European partner organisations.
This article was originally published by Halmstad University on https://www.hh.se/english/information-english/news/news/2018-12-10-swedish-universities-merge-in-brussels-to-enhance-international-research-collaboration.html