U4 Alliance

U4 stands for a close cooperation between the universities of Göttingen, Ghent, Groningen and Uppsala in teaching, research and public image. The network was founded in 2008 in Groningen on the basis of a common membership of the Coimbra Goup. The U4 is a structured network with the aim of increasing the chances of EU applications, using partner networks (including those outside the EU) more intensively and developing a common marketing. Using joint study and doctoral programmes with double or joint degrees to develop educational cooperation and encourage student and teaching staff mobility, the cooperation provides an appropriate framework for internationalising teaching and research. If you are the faculty staff member, programme coordinator and member of the teaching staff responsible for organising trips and workshops and you are interested or wish to participate in this network then, as a first step, you will receive support and advice on making contact, preparation and financing.

Cooperation is divided into five different areas (thematic clusters):

• Humanities (coordination in Ghent)
• Medicine and Pharmacy (coordination in Groningen)
• Science and Technology (coordination in Uppsala)
• Social Science and Law (coordination in Göttingen)
• Institutional Management (cooperation of the individual university administrations)

The rectors of the four partner universities meet once a year in autumn.