STARS EU will keep its call for innovative academic offers permanently open. The call is addressed to teaching staff at member universities who are interested in contributing to the development of a shared European curriculum within the alliance. Selected proposals may be incorporated into the joint academic offer planned for 2026.

The call is open to both new courses specifically designed for this initiative and existing courses from current curricula that can be shared — with or without adaptations — among partner universities. One key requirement is that courses are taught in English or can be easily translated.

Proposals may target bachelor’s or master’s programmes at different levels and may be submitted in online, hybrid or blended formats. These include methodologies such as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), guest lectures delivered by invited faculty, Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs), as well as other innovative formats that combine online and face-to-face learning.

STARS EU particularly values proposals that promote interdisciplinarity, international collaboration, strategic and systems thinking, global awareness, sustainability, and interaction with regional and interregional stakeholders.

Participation and selection

Interested staff should contact their home university or the STARS EU coordinator at their institution and complete the online form with the basic information about their course proposal, available on the STARS EU website. Once all submissions have been received, the alliance universities will assess the proposals and select the courses that will form part of the first joint academic offer in 2026.

Selected proposals will become part of a large-scale European initiative aimed at strengthening the internationalisation of higher education and will gain access to a network of universities across nine European countries. In addition, they will receive didactic and methodological support from the STARS EU Curriculum Lab during implementation, as well as potential financial support or additional resources from their home institutions.

Hochschule Bremen (HSB) – City University of Applied Sciences is just one of eight universities of applied sciences (HAW) in Germany that is being funded by the EU to create a European University with partners, the STARS EU alliance. In mid June, the project team at HSB invited all university members to a dialogue intorducing the highlights of the project.

As it was explained during the meeting, a lot of initiatives has already been put in motion in recent months and years: New digital and analogue teaching formats are being practised and tested by the nine partner universities. Teachers and students are benefiting from this. New courses and degrees are in preparation – for example: the development of a double degree in the Master’s course in Construction and Environment (Infrastructure) together with the Portuguese partner university Polytechnic Institute of Bragança – funded by the DAAD programme HAW.International “Internationalising Practice in Civil Engineering” (I_PaCE).

Start-up funding for project ideas
In research, scientists have the opportunity to apply for start-up funding for project ideas with STARS EU partners. At the regular STARS EU conferences and working meetings, ideas can be developed and taken forward – for example on the topics of energy transition, circular economy, start-ups and innovation or health and how the nine universities can learn from each other. Bremen and the region therefore are benefitting from STARS EU.

At the information event in the foyer of the International Graduate School on Langemarchstraße at the Neustadtswall campus, STARS EU project coordinator Stefanie Eul (on the picture at speakers’ desk) and Vice-Rector for Studies, Teaching and Internationalisation Prof. Dr. Annika Maschwitz (on the photo with microphone) explained the project structures behind STARS EU and how you can get involved. It is pleasing to note that more than 50 HSB employees from all status groups are already involved in STARS EU. More are very welcome.