5 Exciting Ways to Enhance Your University Experience with Unite!

You are interested in Unite! and want to take part in activities but don't know where to start? From online courses and joint continuing education programmes to events and project funding initiatives, I've put together a short list to help you personalise your studies while expanding your international network.

1. Virtual and combined online courses

Probably the most flexible offers within Unite! that are available to you during your studies are the numerous online courses. As a TU Graz student, you are automatically a member of the European University Alliance and can attend these courses online from anywhere. After completion, these are also recognised as “soft skill credits”. The courses cover a wide range of topics, including in-depth workshops on key topics such as renewable energy and sustainability as well as personal training in languages and key social skills. Offers such as the virtual Unite! Language Tandems not only promote intercultural exchange between students from the different partner universities, but you also learn another foreign language of your choice.

As new courses are constantly being added, I have gotten into the habit of regularly visiting the Unite! Student Catalogue, where you can find the latest courses. Here you will find a wide range of academic and non-academic opportunities that can enrich your study time immensely and is open to all students from the nine partner universities.

2. Exciting short-term programmes (winter/summer schools and BIPs)

For a shorter international experience, Unite! offers various summer and winter schools, as well as courses between semesters, which you can attend via the selected partner universities.

Short-term programmes offered in summer 2024, for example, were “What Computers and AI can't do” at TU Darmstadt in June and “Ulisses - Interdisciplinary Studies on Sustainable Environment and Seas” in Lisbon in July 2024. Furthermore, the summer school “Safety of undergroud transport infrastructure”, will take place at the end of September 2024 at TU Darmstadt in cooperation with TU Graz, Politecnico di Torino and Wroclaw Tech.

With the Unite! BIPs (Blended Intensive Programmes), you can not only learn new course content at another university for a short time, but also get to know the city, the country and the people.

For a better overview of the diverse semester offerings, click through the Unite! Student Catalogue or follow Unite! on Instagram and never miss any more news.

3. Unique student events such as the U!Train

An exciting activity this fall is the U!Train, where 30 students from all partner universities take a unique joint train trip from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, to Grenoble INP-UGA in France. This programme includes various non-academic activities during the trip as well as team-building exercises and academic tasks at the destination. The course, which also includes virtual project work before and after the U!Train, will be worth 3 ECTS credits.

4. The Unite! Seed Fund: Your seed capital for joint student activities

With the help of the Unite! Seed Fund, students can apply for seed funding to implement joint student projects such as exhibitions, events, excursions, competitions or ideathons in areas such as innovation, sports, careers, language, education, communication, public relations and many more. If your proposal is accepted, you and your team, consisting of members from at least one other partner university, can receive up to 20,000 euros to realise your project. The calls for proposals for the Unite! Seed Fund take place twice a year.

Interested in receiving more information about the Unite! Seed Fund? Check out the rules and how to apply for this funding on the Unite! Seed Fund website.

5. Always up to date with Unite!

Unite! is constantly growing, with new projects and ideas that are constantly taking on new forms. In addition to the regular initiatives, new events are constantly being created. Last year it was the Unite! Student Festival - in 2024 it's all about the U!Train. As we continue to evolve, so does the alliance offering , and I'm always eagerly awaiting the next fascinating opportunities. And what can we expect next year? It promises to be packed with even more surprises. Stay tuned as Unite! and its partner universities evolve together to offer a European campus full of exciting opportunities!

Keep up to date and find out more on the Unite! Website, on Instagram or on the dedicated page on the TU4U intranet “Unite! – Study at the European Campus” for the latest courses and events.

How to get actively involved in Unite!

If you've found something that captures your interest and you'd like to get involved or learn more about it, don't hesitate to reach out. Feel free to write to me or my SURE! colleagues at TU Graz, Laila Zildžić and Jakob Harden.

We at SURE! (Students in Unite! for Representation and Empowerment) represent the students of all partner universities, actively shape the future of the alliance and its offerings and are always happy to hear about new ideas and students who are enthusiastic about Unite!. Because only together can we achieve more and change European higher education in our favour.