19/06/2023
IE University’s CIVICA membership ensures international opportunities and further boosts an extraordinary network of knowledge across some of the best European universities for the social sciences.
At IE University, we take pride in our international community. We aim to provide our student body and faculty with an international environment to nourish their ideas and enrich their experience. To this end, we have joined CIVICA, The European University of Social Sciences.
CIVICA is an alliance between 10 top European universities, totaling 168 research institutes, 72,000+ students, and 13,000+ academic staff members. Established in 2017, CIVICA aims to increase the visibility of the international competitiveness and excellence of higher-education institutions across Europe.
Each member university shares their commitment to providing an enriching education, an international outlook, and academic expertise.
Together, we’re looking to pioneer a new type of higher education across Europe, with a focus on the social sciences, humanities, business management, and public policy.
A shared vision
Since we joined CIVICA in 2022, we have been working towards our civic responsibility as Europeans for both future generations and the role of Europe in the world. With CIVICA, we are:
• Working towards sustainable institutional cooperation.
• Developing a diverse and inclusive CIVICA community.
• Establishing CIVICA’s lead role in the social sciences with further global reach.
• Deepening and expanding our commitment to education, research, innovation, and lifelong learning.
Through our membership of CIVICA we intend to forward joint research projects, faculty collaborations, enhance student experience, innovate on our pedagogy, and foster new alliances and collaborations both within and outside of Europe. In these extraordinary times of turbulence, it is important to reaffirm our commitment to university collaboration and to the project of European integration. – Manuel Muñiz, Provost of IE University and Dean of IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs.
Our membership with CIVICA makes us stronger than ever before and provides more opportunities for our students to get involved outside the classroom.
Thanks to our CIVICA membership, thousands of students will benefit from enhanced mobility, new and expanded joint-institutional educational programs, and Europe-wide opportunities for civic engagement and extracurricular activities. Most importantly, it allows our students to bridge the gap between communities and policies, becoming active players in policymaking and driving positive change.
Getting students involved
Our bachelor’s students will be able to participate in short-term programs, attend multicampus and joint courses, and use CIVICA Engage Track, combining study and civic engagement. Our master’s students will be able to benefit from jointly taught courses, digital mobility opportunities, the Europeanship multicampus course, “The Future of Europe”, the new course on CIVICA’s scientific research priorities, and follow the intensive programs of “CIVICA Honor Seminars.”
In terms of extracurriculars, students will be able to apply to become CIVICA Ambassadors, participate in bottom-up initiatives and attend the Public Lecture series.
That’s not to mention the cultural and sports events and European Weeks.
In essence, CIVICA helps erase the borders created by our differences, by our cultures and nationalities. – Isabel de Valenzuela, IE University student and CIVICA Ambassador.
CIVICA provides over 400 online seminars and courses, summer schools, workshops, and training opportunities. What’s more, there’s also a wide range of impactful student-led initiatives, and we’re confident that IE University students can and will make a difference through these projects.
An international effort
We believe that an international outlook is one of the most important skills to gain in our current global landscape, and this goes for our research activities too. CIVICA strengthens the European research network by allowing faculty members to carry out research at and with other universities, attend inclusion workshops, and go on short visits to other institutions. Our faculty will also benefit from CIVICA’s dedicated research teams:
• Societies in Transition and Crises of Earth.
• Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century.
• Europe Revisited.
• Data-Driven Technologies for the Social Sciences.
CIVICA aligns with IE University’s purpose of creating a better future, and this partnership brings us and our IE Community closer to this goal.
