The Steering Committee of the STARS EU alliance met at Bremen University of Applied Sciences (HSB) for a working meeting in May 2024. In intensive discussions, the committee dealt with the following aspects of the project work, among others:

• how the governance and cooperation structures of the STARS EU Alliance can be optimised – including the work of the Steering Committee and communication with and between the various working groups
• Options for a possible legal status of the Alliance and the academic offer of STARS EU
• Preparation of the STARS EU internationalisation strategy ‘STARS EU Goes Global’ and definition of criteria for the selection of strategic partner universities in third countries.

November 21 and 22 were the dates of the end-of-year physical celebration of the STARS EU Steering Committee at the headquarters of the Portuguese partner of the STARS EU, the Plytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB). The highlight of this meeting was the in-person presentation of the two new STARS EU partners: the University of Franche-Comté (France) and the Aleksandër Moisiu University of Durrës (Albania). For all the partners, it represents an addition of great wealth to the Alliance and its contribution is promising.

The central subjects of the meeting were two. On the one hand, the activities carried out so far by the partners in the STARS EU action program were reviewed in detail, with special interest in learning about the stakeholders involved in each partner, their impact and their prospects for future development. The full list of actions carried out or underway generated great satisfaction and pride among SC members, showing all partners a broader dimension of the impact that STARS EU is producing in each one. The future is hopeful and the spirit to continue and increase the efforts was highly strengthened.

Secondly, being the fundamental objective of the meeting, the evaluation received for the 2022 candidacy was reviewed in detail, which achieved a magnificent score (85/100), but was not enough to obtain financing. The strengths and weaknesses expressed in said report were reviewed and a long debate was held to analyze them, with a constructive, critical and highly demanding spirit in the objectives set by STARS EU itself, and collecting the suggestions for improvement indicated by the evaluators.

Based on this analysis, the alliance has already begun to draft the financing candidacy proposal for 2023, a call already published and which ends next January 31. The construction machinery of the proposal is already underway, the weekly meetings of the SC are the management engine and the permanent review of the objectives, the work packages, the scheduled tasks, the associated indicators and the measurement of their implementation and impact they are the fundamental axis of the coordination of the SC exercises from the governance of the Alliance.

Schedule of the meeting

21st November

• 09:00 Part #1 (morning). Meeting IPB: a visit to IPB and city facilities to know better IPB research and teaching focus areas and the IPB vision to STARS EU structures and thematic interest groups, guided by principals and R&D coordinators.
• 12:00 Lunch
• 13:30 Part #2 (afternoon). What will happen at STARS EU next semester? The Steering Committee meets to validate and to ensure the dissemination of the STARS EU actions for the 2nd semester 2022/2023 (BIP, STAR Talks,STAR Weeks, etc.)
• 19:30 Dinner

22nd November

• 09:30 Part #3 (morning). Taking over Europe: Steering Committee meets to prepare the European Universities 2023 call.
• 12:30 Lunch
• 13:30 Part #4 (afternoon). ReTaking Europe: Steering Committee meets to prepare the European Universities 2023 call.
• 19:30 Dinner