INGENIUM launches its first Annual Education Call: a new yearly pathway for collaborative education

The INGENIUM Annual Education Call 2026/2027 opens on 14 September 2026, inviting academic staff from all ten INGENIUM partner universities to propose new forms of joint education and collaboration.

Designed as the first edition of a recurring annual cycle, the call introduces a new way for ideas from across the INGENIUM community to become collaborative educational opportunities for students and staff across the Alliance.

The Annual Education Call is INGENIUM’s single annual route for proposing joint education. It brings together nine categories of collaboration, ranging from joint programmes and international study pathways to Blended Intensive Programmes, micro-credentials, collaborative teaching and learning, teaching innovations, Staff Academy training and contributions to the INGENIUM Course Catalogue.

Read the full call

A call designed to make collaboration happen

The new Annual Education Call is built around a simple idea: good educational collaborations should not have to start from scratch every time.

Instead, INGENIUM is establishing a predictable yearly rhythm through which academic staff can propose ideas, find partners, develop their concepts and receive support to turn them into deliverable educational activities.

The 2026/2027 edition is the first step in this annual cycle. The cycle will connect continuous dialogue with societal and regional stakeholders, the annual call, networking and proposal co-creation, selection and formalisation, preparation and implementation, and finally a review that feeds into the following year’s call.

This means that a proposal does not simply end with selection. Selected teams receive support as they prepare their activities, initiatives are integrated into the INGENIUM student offer, and the experience gained through implementation is used to improve future editions.

The aim is to make joint education a continuous part of how the ten universities work together — rather than an occasional opportunity.

Two routes to bring ideas to life

The 2026/2027 call offers two routes, designed to accommodate collaborations at different stages of development.

Fast Track

The Fast Track is for collaborations that are already mature and ready to run in the second semester of the 2026/2027 academic year. Proposals can be submitted directly, without an expression of interest, until 16 October 2026, with selected activities delivered between February and June 2027.

General Call

The General Call is designed for new collaborations and partnerships that are still taking shape. An expression of interest can be submitted by 13 November 2026, followed by a final application by 18 December 2026. Selected collaborations will be prepared for delivery during the 2027/2028 academic year.

Importantly, applicants do not need to have a partner already identified to enter the General Call. The Annual Education Call includes a dedicated networking and matchmaking phase, allowing colleagues across the ten universities to discover potential collaborators, share ideas and develop proposals together.

Nine ways to collaborate across the alliance

The scope of the call is deliberately broad.

An idea could be as focused as a single guest lecture delivered together with a colleague from another INGENIUM university, or as ambitious as a new joint, double or multiple degree programme.

The call is also designed to encourage participation from early-career academics, diverse teams, faculties and colleagues who are new to INGENIUM collaboration, as well as teams involving students as partners.

Innovation at the heart of the call

Innovation is not limited to a particular category. Across the Annual Education Call, INGENIUM is looking for collaborations that strengthen student-centred and inclusive learning, embedded mobility, genuine jointness, innovative pedagogies and co-creation with society.

The call also takes an enhancement-oriented approach to assessment. Proposals are evaluated on Relevance, Quality and Impact, for a total of 10 points, with a minimum of 6 required to qualify. Applicants receive feedback, with the assessment process designed to help good ideas become more deliverable rather than simply ranking proposals.

Another important feature is flexibility: applicants who are unsure which category best fits their idea are encouraged to submit anyway. The technical review can reclassify proposals rather than reject them simply because they were submitted under the wrong category.

Building the European Campus together

At its core, the Annual Education Call is about making collaboration across the INGENIUM Alliance easier, more systematic and more sustainable.

The call requires academics from at least two INGENIUM partner universities to work together, with at least three institutions required for Joint Programmes and Blended Intensive Programmes. There is no minimum number of ECTS, contact hours or students.

Through this model, INGENIUM aims to create more opportunities for students to experience learning across borders, while giving academic staff a structured mechanism for developing educational collaborations with colleagues elsewhere in the Alliance.

The first edition also establishes a foundation for what comes next. The 2026/2027 call is a pilot of the annual cycle, and its criteria and processes will be formally reviewed in June and July 2027. The lessons learned will inform the following edition, allowing the cycle to evolve through evidence and experience.

Apply Your Expression of Interest Now

Academic staff from all ten INGENIUM partner universities are invited to start developing their ideas and explore the opportunities available through the call.

Key dates

14 September 2026 — Call opens
16 October 2026 — Fast Track final application deadline
13 November 2026 — General Call expression of interest deadline
18 December 2026 — General Call final application deadline
February–June 2027 — Fast Track activities delivered
Academic year 2027/2028 — General Call activities delivered

Whether you already have a collaboration in mind, are looking to connect with colleagues at another INGENIUM university, or want to explore a new approach to teaching and learning, the Annual Education Call is the place to start.

This year marks the beginning of a new INGENIUM tradition: a yearly opportunity to turn ideas into shared education, build new connections across Europe and continuously shape the INGENIUM educational offer together.