Innovation Europe > News > Innovation EU Vol2-1 > European University Association - On a learning curve

EUIMA is a new project by the European University Association addressing two main elements of the modernisation agenda for European universities: The sustainability of university funding, financial management and development of full costing (EUIMA-Full Costing); the transparency and appropriateness of measurement tools for the assessment of collaborative university-based research reflecting the diversity of university missions (EUIMA- Collaborative Research).

European University Association is the representative organisation of universities and national rectors’ conferences in 46 European countries. European University Association plays a crucial role in influencing EU policies on higher education, research and innovation and in the Bologna process.

European University Association provides a unique expertise in higher education and research, as well as a forum for the exchange of ideas and good practice among universities.

New challenges in education, research and innovation call for new tools and methodologies to keep the European higher education sector an essential player in global competition. In January 2010, European University Association launched the EUIMA project, a FP7 Support Action within the Capacities – Science in Society Programme, to address key issues related to full costing and collaborative research.

A third focus running transversly through the project will be to identify requirements for further development of human resources universities to enhance the attractiveness of university careers.

The project will provide support for mutual learning and the exchange of information, and will draw on empirical evidence from several projects that have been undertaken by the European University Association and European partners.

The European University Association project will promote good practices and support universities through a series of case studies, workshops and study visits held at different universities across Europe, aimed at university leaders and managers, govern- ment and regional authorities, business communities, research and technology organisations, non-governmental organisations, and other funding bodies.

Euima-full costing

The EUIMA–Full Costing project will promote the implementation of full costing around Europe by addressing the need for universities to identify the direct and indirect costs of all their activities and projects. Importantly, the project will address full costing in the framework of financial sustainability by aiming to raise broad awareness about its importance as a strategic management tool. This reflects the findings of a previous European University Association study (“Financially sustainable universities: towards full costing in European universities”), which confirmed that while most European universities are still not able to define the full costs of their activities, the main driver to do so is the use of full costing in informing institutional strategic management.

The EUIMA-Full Costing project will also strongly advocate the role of full costing in informing discussions on sustainable university funding. While universities are already diversifying their income streams to support their core funding (a topic further explored by the European University Association EUDIS project), governments and other funding bodies also need to understand the full costs of universities’ activities to improve their funding instruments.

Objectives

The objectives of EUIMA-Full Costing are:

• Bring best-practice examples; promote mutual learning and sharing of experience in the development of full costing.
• Provide expert advice in developing and implementing full costing in European universities taking account of the diversity of situations and experience.
• Encourage national support to foster the development of full costing, showing positive correlation between national support and the development of full costing.
• Encourage funding bodies to address the complexity, diversity and inflexibility of current funding regulations, which create uncertainty about how to implement full costing.

Activities

During the lifespan of the project, two series of events will be held at different universities around Europe:

• The country workshops will encourage implementation of full costing at national level by bringing together relevant country stakeholders, such as university leadership and management as well as government and funding bodies’ representatives. The purpose is to promote a co-ordinated implementation of full costing involving all stakeholders, drawing on carefully selected best practices and expertise from across Europe, which will be adapted to best suit the specific needs in each country. The participants will also be encouraged to work together after the workshop and develop follow-up activities with a view of enhancing the implementation of full costing around the country.
• Study visits will allow university managers and administrators to visit universities who have already successfully implemented full costing. The sessions will include practical advice from different management levels of the host institution, complemented by experience of external experts. Participants will develop skills in different processes needed in the implementation of full costing in universities, such as identifying objectives for implementation, performing status analysis, setting up costing methodologies, data and project management, communication and project implementation.

European University Association euima-collaborative research

This part of the project addresses the issue of monitoring tools and indicators for the assessment of university-based research collaboration with external partners (collaborative research). The professional development of human resources in universities for research managers and the competitiveness and attractiveness of university careers will also be addressed.

By the end of the project, a range of potential indicators for the assessment of collaborative research will be identified and recommendations made for the necessary adjustments in universities in terms of human resources for successful academic/non-academic partnerships. The project outcomes will also serve as a basis for further critical dialogue in university assessment exercises and ranking methodologies, and specifically for testing the feasibility of multidimensional assessment schemes.

EUIMA-Collaborative Research builds on experience from previous and current European University Association work studying relationships between university and industry in doctoral education and career perspectives for doctorates (DOC-CAREERS and DOC-CAREERS II projects), as well as guidelines for good practice in collaborative research developed through the Responsible Partnering Initiative, with EIRMA, EARTO and ProTon Europe.

Objectives

EUIMA-Collaborative Research objectives are:

• To support universities that wish to strengthen their collaborative research through the promotion of good practices in relation to different external partners, business enterprises, regional authorities, NGOs, civil society organisations, and so on.
• To identify indicators for the success of collaborative research agreed by the university and external partners at the beginning of a research project, and the measurement tools designed to monitor progress towards achieving the project’s aims and objectives.
• To determine the specificity of measurement tools to the precise nature of the collaborative research in its particular context and the degree to which they are transferable to other contexts – in consultation with all the stakeholders involved, universities, external partners and users.
• To reflect on the experience of such good practices collected on a “bottom-up” basis, to establish a dialogue with the stakeholders on the results of the European Commission DG Research Expert Group’s work on the development of a “multi-dimensional” research assessment tool for feedback and further refinement.

Activities

Activities of EUIMA-Collaborative Research include collecting project-based case studies from university professors, researchers and leaders describing their views and experiences, and holding eight workshops at European level to foster sharing and exchange of good practice. European University Association is seeking contributors and participants among university leaders and managers, researchers, teachers, industry managers/researcher, government officials, representatives of professional bodies, and so on.

EUIMA-Collaborative Research’s bottom-up and good-practice approach is crucial in assessing the generality or specificity of measurement and performance indicators in collaborative research and the necessary adjustments in human resources for successful collaborative research. European University Association aims to involve as much as possible the external partners collaborating with universities to bring their views into the dialogue.

For more information visit the European University Association:
Website: www.eua.be/euima