Five Years of ENLIGHT: From Project to Partnership
What started as an ambitious European project five years ago has now grown into a structural partnership between 10 universities with tangible impact on education, research, student participation, and societal engagement. On the occasion of this five-year milestone for ENLIGHT, we look back at five key achievements.
1. Strongly Growing Academic Engagement
Through ENLIGHT, more and more researchers and lecturers are participating in international collaborations. The alliance encourages bottom-up initiatives through, among others, our centralised calls for ENLIGHT Thematic Networks, Incubator Grants, and ENLIGHT+ Grants. All of these have sparked great interest from thousands of academics across all 10 of our partner institutions.
These projects and networks often serve as the starting point for sustainable collaborations in education and research, across faculties and national borders. The growing participation in ENLIGHT activities and conferences underscores the broad support within the ENLIGHT academic community.
2. ENLIGHT as a Structural Partnership
With the establishment of an AISBL planned for early 2026, the alliance will gain a legal and organisational structure that enables long-term cooperation. The AISBL for ENLIGHT marks the transition from a temporary European project to a sustainable university network.
3. Empowered Students
Students are strongly represented within ENLIGHT. Through the ENLIGHT Student Board and Student Network, they participate in decision-making, project work, and communication for the alliance. Students also launch their own initiatives, by and for students, and represent ENLIGHT at European forums. This structural student participation is a cornerstone of ENLIGHT’s vision of shared governance and student engagement.
4. Impact-Oriented Culture and Methodology
ENLIGHT positions itself internationally as a pioneer in impact methodology and culture. Our developed impact methodology and tools are widely used and shared with other European university alliances. In 2025, this resulted in the first ENLIGHT Impact Assessment Report, to which all 10 partners’ staff and students contributed. This strengthens the focus on societal impact in both education and research.
5. Lower Barriers for Mobility and Joint Doctorates
Finally, ENLIGHT is taking important steps to make international collaboration easier. Our renewed multilateral Erasmus+ agreement facilitates mobility for all our students and staff, even where no bilateral agreements exist.
In addition, ENLIGHT is working on a joint PhD framework agreement, which will structurally enable joint doctorates across ENLIGHT. This initiative is considered a major breakthrough in international doctoral collaboration and a major accomplishment for our alliance.
Looking Ahead
Five years of ENLIGHT shows what becomes possible when universities, researchers, students, and staff collaborate across borders. For all of our unviersities, ENLIGHT is not an endpoint but a shared ambition to keep learning, innovating, and creating impact together.