With the "European University Networks (EUN) - National Initiative" programme, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is supporting the EU's "European Universities" initiative. Since the beginning of the year, 13 German universities have been supported in the current and final fifth funding round. They will receive around eight million euros from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) over the next four years in addition to the EU funding.

The European Universities are cross-border university networks that jointly develop teaching and learning formats, new forms of cooperation in education, research and technology transfer and strive for close cooperation with society. They are the brainchild of French President Emanuel Macron and are part of the European Union's Erasmus+ programme.

In the national accompanying programme, the DAAD supports the German universities selected by the EU in setting up European university networks. To this end, the DAAD promotes networking between the universities, helps to reduce bureaucratic hurdles and ensures greater visibility for German universities in the European networks

The fifth funding round of the national accompanying programme started at the beginning of January 2025. The following 13 German universities will receive up to 600,000 euros in addition to EU funding over the next four years:

•    Bauhaus University Weimar 
•    European University of Flensburg 
•    University of Hagen 
•    Berlin University of Applied Sciences 
•    Heilbronn University 
•    Offenburg University of Applied Sciences 
•    East Bavarian Technical University of Regensburg 
•    Deggendorf Institute of Technology 
•    Cologne University of Technology 
•    Chemnitz University of Technology 
•    Ilmenau University of Technology 
•    Würzburg-Schweinfurt University of Applied Sciences 
•    University of Greifswald

Background European Universities

The European Universities initiative aims to bring Europe's universities much closer together in terms of teaching, research, transfer and innovation. At its core is the vision of a cross-border university. The way to achieve this is to be achieved in particular through the development of joint study and research programmes, cross-campus offerings and intensive exchanges between teachers, researchers and students. 
Following two pilot calls for proposals, the EU selected the European universities in three funding rounds in 2022, 2023 and 2024. A total of 64 alliances with more than 560 participating universities from 35 countries have been established. 66 German universities are represented in a total of 58 alliances. Sustainable funding is currently being negotiated at EU level.

National support programme

In addition to the EU, the DAAD has been supporting German universities on their way to becoming European universities with a national support programme funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research since 2020. The programme currently supports 63 German universities that have received prior funding approval from the EU. The total budget of the national support programme for the years 2024-2027 is around 39 million euros.