T4EU: Building One University
Transform4Europe presents an overview of the main activities of 2025 and international cooperation in action.
Transform4Europe (T4EU) is an international alliance of European universities that has worked across borders, languages, and academic systems from the very beginning. The Alliance brings together many academic communities with one shared goal: to create a common European space for education, innovation, and engagement with society.
As a Transform4Europe member, the Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) plays an active role in shaping cross-border cooperation and innovation within the Alliance. Being part of T4EU opens up opportunities for students, researchers, and staff to engage in joint programmes, mobility schemes, and international projects, while enabling each partner university to contribute its expertise and perspective in a truly collaborative European network.
The year 2025 was a key moment for T4EU. It was a time of concrete actions and initiatives that strengthened cooperation and made the idea of T4EU as one university visible in everyday academic life. These actions did not change the international character of the Alliance – they made it clearer, stronger, and more practical.
Legal Entity and Stable Cooperation
One of the most important developments in 2025 was the formal establishment of T4EU as a legal entity. During the Strategic Assembly in Kaunas at VMU, rectors of the partner universities signed the founding documents, completing a process coordinated by Prof. Tomasz Pietrzykowski from the University of Silesia in Katowice.
This step gave T4EU a stable legal and organizational framework. It made long-term international cooperation easier, more transparent, and more reliable, as well as laid solid foundations for joint activities in education, research, and innovation.
International Dialogue on the Future of Universities
In 2025, Vytautas Magnus University hosted the international policy conference Universities Shaping the Future and the Global Partnership Forum. The events brought together university leaders, experts, and decision-makers from across Europe. Keynote speeches by former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda emphasized the role of universities in supporting democracy, dialogue, and stability in times of global uncertainty.
For the T4EU community, the conference confirmed the importance of working together at an international level and sharing responsibility for the future of higher education. The event concluded with the formal approval and signing of three cooperation agreements with universities in Australia, the Caucasus, and Africa – marking a major step forward in the Alliance’s global engagement strategy. The new partnerships connect T4EU with the Australian Catholic University, Caucasus University in Georgia, and Universidade Católica de Moçambique.
Shared Leadership and Governance
Shared leadership is a core principle of the T4EU Alliance. In 2025, the rotating presidency was handed over from Vytautas Magnus University to Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. This model ensures balance, shared responsibility, and active involvement of all partner universities.
The new presidency focuses on strengthening research cooperation and promoting the responsible, human-centred use of artificial intelligence in higher education and research.
Visibility in European Higher Education
T4EU strengthened its presence in the European higher education landscape by participating in the EAIE Conference in Gothenburg, Europe’s largest event dedicated to international education. As one of 35 European University Alliances in attendance, T4EU had the opportunity to share its experience and vision for the future of international academic cooperation.
Reflections from the delegation, collected under the title T4EU Voices in Higher Education, showed how cooperation within the Alliance translates into real impact on education, mobility, and research.
Also, T4EU was represented at several European Science Festivals through the Science Café format.
Research Cooperation and Joint Grants Office
Support for research was further strengthened through the creation of the T4EU Joint Grants Office. This shared office supports researchers from partner universities in finding funding and developing international research projects. It helps research teams work together more effectively across borders and disciplines.
Education, Mobility and Learning Opportunities
In 2025, T4EU continued to expand international learning opportunities for students. Seamless mobility arrangements allow students to study at partner universities without additional tuition fees and with fewer administrative barriers. Joint degree programmes, vertical mobility pathways, and microcredentials offer flexible and internationally oriented study options.
To make international study simpler and more accessible, the T4EU Metacampus was launched in 2025 as a central digital hub, allowing Transform4Europe students to easily explore and apply for academic offerings from across the Alliance.
The T4EU Seed Funding Programme, with a 700,000 EUR funding available, drives educational innovation by supporting the creation of joint courses and degree programmes. To date, two successful calls have engaged over 120 academics in 23 ongoing projects, with two more calls planned to further integrate shared learning opportunities across the Alliance.
Community, Well-being and Shared Values
T4EU places a strong emphasis on building a sense of community, recognising that an international university is built on its people, trust, and shared values and interests. Thus, the T4EU Campus Life Manual and the Green University Handbook were released alongside a diversity & inclusion comprehensive repository of good practices. These values were put into action through two major virtual initiatives. A mental health awareness month reached 9.901 views with practical advice and daily stories, while the 1 million steps challenge connected all T4EU universities, as part of which 569 participants walked together and took a total of 290,233,489 steps in 100 days, with 68 participants reaching one million steps or more.
Communication and Digital Impact
Transform4Europe continues to strengthen its digital and communication presence. In 2025, the Alliance launched the T4EU Digital Notebook, first presented at EAIE Gothenburg 2025, offering an interactive, all-in-one overview of T4EU’s impact, achievements, and opportunities, complemented by the “Boost the European Spirit” subpage. A major website overhaul introduced an intuitive mega menu, and advanced filtering, helping users navigate over 100 Alliance outcomes and registering more than 65,000 visits by September 2025. T4EU’s LinkedIn channel, re-established in 2024, grew organically to 800+ followers, while the 2024 Focal Points campaign reached over 730,000 users, reinforcing the vision of one European university.
About the Transform4Europe Alliance
The T4EU Alliance is part of the European Universities initiative, aiming to change the face of European higher education by building international campuses, facilitating mobility, and offering joint study programmes. The Alliance now consists of 11 universities: Saarland University (leader, Germany), the University of Alicante (Spain), the Estonian Academy of Arts (Estonia), Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski (Bulgaria), the University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland), the University of Primorska (Slovenia), Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Portugal), Jean Monnet University (France), the University of Trieste (Italy), Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), and Mariupol State University (Ukraine).
