Joint Student Projects
Within the recent Bottom-Up Call for ERUA Student Projects, students from the ERUA network were invited to submit project ideas and actively contribute to the development of the European Reform University Alliance. The call aims to support student-led initiatives that promote collaboration, creativity, and engagement across disciplines and institutions.
Following a competitive selection process mainly involving the ERUA Student Board, a number of projects were chosen based on their quality, their relevance to ERUA’s objectives, and their potential impact on the student community. The selected projects reflect the diversity of the ERUA universities and address a wide range of academic, cultural, and societal topics.
Below you will find the current projects including an overview of their goals, activities, and participating students and institutions. Together, these initiatives highlight the important role of students in shaping a collaborative, inclusive, and forward-looking European higher education space.
“The Unmapped City”: Women’s Cultural Heritage Across ERUA
The project team will collaboratively explore overlooked women’s cultural heritage through participatory mapping and digital storytelling, creating a bilingual open-access digital atlas. Main locations: Macerata & Paris, with students from the University of Macerata, University of Paris 8 and European University Viadrina.
“Blue Commission Forum 2”: Sustainability Resilience in ERUA — From Manifesto to Action
With the support of the new project team, the Blue Commission will bring back the successful Young Forum for Action on Sustainability and Climate Change, a three-day international congress. It will connect students, academics, and experts in sustainability to advance the ERUA Student Manifesto for Sustainable Higher Education (PDF) across all campuses. Main location: Macerata, with students from all universities of the alliance.
“Frames of Europe”
This hybrid intercultural project will explore how theatre, cinema and collective artistic practices contribute to preserving democratic memory and shaping the European identity. The project aims to analyse how historical events, and political movements have influenced the idea of Europe throughout time and how artistic representation continues to shape contemporary understandings of democracy, migration, social change and intercultural dialogue. Main location: Frankfurt (Oder), by students from University of Macerata, University of Paris 8, Mykolas Romeris University and European University of Viadrina.
Archive of previously funded projects
ERUAvision
Inspired by the spirit of Eurovision, ERUAvision aimed to connect students from all ERUA universities through music while also celebrating diversity, democracy, multiculturalism, and multilingualism. Each participating university was encouraged to select student performers. The final event took place in a hybrid format via YouTube live stream and, locally, at the Kleist Forum theatre, a cooperation partner of the European-University Viadrina. The combination of a live performance with a professional online stream ensured accessibility across the alliance. Before the final contest on the 7th of May, the students organised an intensive course which offered the participants a collaborative cultural experience, both on stage and behind the scenes, including opportunities for interdisciplinary participation in event organization, communication, and media production as well as shared input about music history and production.
Organizing Team: Behnam Ramezanpour (UNIMC), Inès Diallo University (Paris 8), Rica Joy Armada (MRU), Izan Suárez Nuez (ULPGC), Sergi Suárez Nuez (ULPGC)
The Participants and their songs
Viva Diva -Vyara Raycheva (NBU) – Winner
Quién soy yo sin ti – Yurima del Mar Ramos Ávila (ULPGC)
I come back to you – David Samuel Rüth (EUV)
Take me away – Seline Cicek, Yigit Tellioglu, Ulpan Turniyazova (MRU)
Neural Borders – Ruslan Zulpikan, Williard Kalwani (UNIMC)
Paradis – Martin Aubague, Pierre Blocquet (UP8)
Photographs by Valeria Lazareva, European University Viadrina.
Watch the live stream on YouTube.
Exploring China
The project aimed to bring Chinese culture closer to European students through academic, artistic, and participatory activities. By integrating perspectives from politics, history, art, philology, and Asian studies, the initiative fostered intercultural exchange and a critical understanding of China’s role in the contemporary world. In line with ERUA’s thematic priorities, the project also explored topics such as feminism, culture, art, and migration in Chinese contexts. The final event took place at the Mykolas Romeris University from the 8th to the 9th of May and was realised by:
Raquel Caballero Sosa (ULPGC), Montserrat Maldonado Arévalo (ULPGC), Ainhoa Dorta Delgado (ULPGC), Elena Russo (UNIMC), Ekin Furuncu (MRU), Mamadou Diallo (EUV)
Photographs by Yuliana Shuhani (MRU).
Encourage amateur and student photographic creation, while providing information on current migration issues in Europe.
Project Team: Martina Tramell, Nicolas Sklavos, Ludivine Briain, Elise Lamidey (University of Paris) and Mel Decorte (New Bulgarian University), kindly supported by the University of the Aegean
The project was born from the desire to shed light on the issue of migration through personal, poetic, and committed testimonies, while also highlighting the work of young artists. Exploring the contexts of Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Serbia, and France, the exhibited photographs examine the experiences of exiled individuals, places of transit, and the question of memory.
In April 2025, the team published an open call for photographers and from the submissions selected 20 photographs, that were presented in a first exhibition in the library in Paris Saint-Denis. Further exhibitions are planned to happen in the New Bulgarian University and the University of the Aegean in Greece.
The project has been successfully completed. However, the exhibition continues to travel within the ERUA network and beyond. After a first showing at the university library of the University of Paris 8, it was also presented at the University of the Aegean (ERUA Summit in Mytilini, November 2025), and at the European University Viadrina (ERUA Day, December 2025, and exhibition at Gräfin-Dönhoff-Gebäude from May to July 2026), thus allowing the project’s results to reach new audiences across ERUA.
Please find here the booklet of the photo exhibition.
Photo credits: Focus 8 team
Roads of Europe was selected for Funding through the first student-led Open Call for joint Student Projects (2024/25)
Popularize ocean sciences through cooking.
Project Team: Eva Smidtas (University of Paris) & Anabel Martín Santana (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)
The project blends marine science, environmental awareness, and culinary art to spark scientific literacy and engagement. Recognizing the ocean’s vital role in the environmental transition, it uses cooking as an accessible and creative tool to explain complex oceanic processes. A mobile exhibition features recipes that double as edible models of physical ocean mechanisms, accompanied by interactive cooking workshops and a multilingual game booklet for at-home exploration. By combining science with culture and cuisine, the project fosters community, promotes cross-disciplinary learning, and encourages students—from both the sciences and humanities—to connect, communicate, and collaborate.
Since April 2025, the project has been presented at Grand Palais, Festival du livre – La mer en tournée in Paris, at the University of Paris 8, at ERUA’s Young Forum for Action on Sustainability and Climate Change at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the Salon des jeux mathématiques – Place Saint-Sulpice in Paris and in the Congrès de la société Française de Physique à Troyes. Further exhibitions are scheduled.
Please find here the booklet of the project recipes.
Photo credits: Eva Smidtas
(3rd photo: Niki Kasis)
Taste of Marine Sciences was selected for Funding through the first student-led Open Call for joint Student Projects (2024/25)
The project has been successfully completed. It achieved its planned objectives and concluded its activities within the framework of the ERUA funding period.
Repurposing unsold meals in university canteens through a food sharing subscription for students.
Zain Ul Ebad, Alice Warkentin (European University Viadrina), Violetta Karydaki (University of the Aegean), kindly supported by Mykolas Romeris University
The project addresses food waste and promotes inclusivity by creating a sustainable system within the university canteens. Tons of edible food are discarded daily, despite growing food insecurity among students. The project addresses this gap by redistributing surplus meals, reducing waste, and promoting sustainability.
So far, the project has done huge effort in involving necessary stakeholders, reducing administrative barriers and clarifying legal concerns about data protection and food quality. The actual piloting of the project in the canteens is planned for October 2025, resulting in a practical guide that summarizes the experiences during the set-up and implementation phase.
(1st photo: unsplash, 2nd/ 3rd photo: pixabay)
Food be Good – ERUA was selected for Funding through the first student-led Open Call for joint Student Projects (2024/25)
After having been selected, the project secured funding from other sources. It therefore continues its activities independently and beyond the scope of ERUA support.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them
