INGENIUM Student Partnerships 2026: strong student engagement and diverse ideas across the alliance
Following the success of its first edition, the second INGENIUM Student Partnerships Call 2026 has once again demonstrated the strong interest of students in shaping international, collaborative initiatives across the alliance.
The call is now closed, marking the transition from idea generation to the selection and development phase. With over 40 expressions of interest submitted, this edition highlights a growing momentum for student-led collaboration within INGENIUM.
A growing platform for student-driven innovation
The Student Partnerships initiative continues to position itself as a dynamic platform where students and student associations take the lead in designing international, interdisciplinary projects.
Participants were invited to form teams across at least three INGENIUM universities and propose initiatives addressing shared priorities such as:
- Inclusivity
- Sustainable development
- Intercultural dialogue
- Student entrepreneurship
- Local and global challenges
- Healthy campus
The diversity of topics and approaches confirms the relevance of the initiative as a space for experimentation, collaboration, and real-world impact.
Diverse and ambitious project ideas
The second call attracted a wide range of expressions of interest (EOIs), reflecting both the creativity of students and the diversity of perspectives across the alliance.
A strong focus emerged on mental health and wellbeing, with many ideas aiming to create cross-university support networks through peer learning, workshops, and awareness campaigns.
Sustainability is another prominent theme, with students exploring topics such as environmentally friendly mobility, sustainable campus practices, and responsible business approaches.
In the area of innovation and entrepreneurship, many ideas focus on supporting early-career development, building interdisciplinary teams, and experimenting with startup-oriented collaboration formats.
Students also showed strong interest in culture and creative expression, proposing initiatives that use storytelling, digital media, and gamification to promote inclusion, diversity, and shared European heritage.
Finally, alternative learning approaches, including game-based and interactive formats, are emerging as powerful tools to address complex societal challenges and foster dialogue across cultures.
Strengthening student communities across Europe
Beyond individual ideas, the call reveals a clear ambition to build lasting student communities across the alliance. Students are not only proposing projects, but also creating formats that encourage connection, peer learning, and long-term collaboration across institutions and disciplines.
This collaborative spirit is further reinforced by the openness of many applicants to find partners and co-develop their ideas, highlighting inclusivity and interdisciplinarity as key values of the initiative.
What’s next?
With the call now closed, the focus shifts to the evaluation and selection phase, where submitted proposals will be reviewed based on their relevance, quality, and potential impact.
Only teams that successfully built international partnerships and submitted full applications during the second stage will be considered in this phase.
The evaluation process will take place between 6 April and 19 April 2026, with results expected to be announced shortly after this period, following final validation by the INGENIUM Steering Committee.
Selected projects will then move into the implementation phase, which is scheduled to run from 1 May to 15 December 2026.
During this period, student teams will have the opportunity to:
- further develop and implement their project ideas
- collaborate internationally across the INGENIUM network
- gain hands-on experience in project management and intercultural teamwork
As the initiative continues to grow, the INGENIUM Student Partnerships programme is becoming an increasingly important driver of bottom-up engagement—empowering students to actively contribute to the development of the European University alliance.
