UNICA membership policy and criteria

  • The Universities must be based in a member state of the Council of Europe.
  • UNICA being a network of universities from the capital cities of Europe, it is clear that all European capital cities are eligible for inclusion and it has been accepted in recent years that this means capital cities of countries rather than regions.
  • One member per capital is the rule. However, several cities (Brussels, Rome, Madrid, Berlin, Paris, Bucharest, Budapest, Tallinn, Ankara, Tirana) have more than one university as members and exceptions are accepted if they are well motivated. Before considering the candidature of a University located in an “already-UNICA capital”, the opinion of the previous member(s) in the capital is requested.
  • Members must be committed to high quality teaching and research and strive for excellence in both areas at the European and international level. This is crucial to the Network and it is central to our membership criteria.
  • The universities must be publicly funded and comprehensive providing degrees at Bachelor, Master and Doctoral level. This excludes private universities, and it also excludes purely business, science, or engineering universities. However, this does not mean that universities lacking the full range of faculties are completely ineligible, as there may be valid national reasons for the restricted range. Judgement is required on each application.
  • The General Assembly is of the view that more emphasis should be put on co-operation and integration within the Network than on expansion for its own sake.

UNICA membership application in 5 steps

  • Universities interested in becoming a UNICA member shall send an expression of interest to office@unica-network.eu and the expression of interest will be placed on the agenda of one of the upcoming UNICA Steering Committee (SC) meetings.
  • If the University meets the criteria mentioned above and the preliminary feedback from the UNICA SC is positive, the institution is invited to formally apply for UNICA membership by submitting a membership candidacy form and an official letter on behalf of the University’s academic leadership (Rector/President). 
  • Once the candidature of a University is accepted for consideration by the SC, the SC will review the membership application before placing it on the agenda of the UNICA General Assembly. The Steering Committee will verify whether:
    • The candidature of the University has the support of two UNICA Universities located in two different non-neighbouring countries.
    • The quality of the University-Candidate will be evaluated.
    • The two Universities that support the candidature take the responsibility for the quality of the University-Candidate.
  • The candidature of the University is put again on the agenda of the SC for consideration.
  • Membership application is placed on the agenda and voted upon by the UNICA General Assembly.

More information

To get further information or express interest in UNICA membership, please contact us at office@unica-network.eu.

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