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The cooperation with Clowndoctors exemplifies the ENLIGHT spirit: combining academic expertise with external partners’ experience to generate real societal impact. What began as a challenge has grown into an international collaboration that connects universities, medical professionals, and artists across Europe.
On Saturday, 13 June, the first joint ENLIGHT micro-credential, “Humor as a Communication Tool in Healthcare,” was successfully completed. The programme was developed through the collaboration of Comenius University Bratislava (Slovakia), the University of Groningen (the Netherlands), Uppsala University (Sweden), the University of Göttingen (Germany), and the University of Galway (Ireland), together with ČERVENÝ NOS Clowndoctors (Slovakia), Clowns on Call (Sweden), and the Teddy Bear Hospital initiative, which uses experiential learning to help children overcome fears associated with hospitals and healthcare settings.
Doctoral studies in Europe are becoming more international and accessible through new initiatives developed within the ENLIGHT university alliance.
Through its active participation in the FOREU4ALL Community of Practice and the Lifelong Learning Topical Group, ENLIGHT continues to contribute to the European lifelong learning agenda by sharing expertise, promoting mutual learning, and strengthening collaboration across the European Universities Initiative.
Rights in Europe: The Risks and Impact of Authoritarianism
The call for application for the Online School on Human Rights is now open! The third edition of the School will explore fundamental rights in the wider region of Europe shedding light on how institutions and political regimes shape the enjoyment of human rights amidst authoritarianism and global normative contestation. The School will critically engage with how institutions and political systems affect human rights protection, explore core societal transformations in digital and environmental policies, and analyze the instrumentalization of human rights language. The program will also address human rights during armed conflicts, particularly relevant given the current global increase in warfare.
ENLIGHT has reached a major milestone by becoming one of the first European University alliances to sign a broad joint PhD framework agreement covering all disciplines and all partner institutions. It sets out provisions for joint supervision, examination and defence, leading to a double PhD degree. The rectors of the ten partner universities signed the agreement early June at the biannual General Meeting, hosted by the University of Galway.
Yesterday in Brussels, 150 rectors from across Europe gathered for the European Universities’ Alliances Rectors Meeting — an important moment to reflect on the next phase of the European Universities initiative and its long-term impact with European Commissioner Roxana Minzatu.
More than 180 representatives from ENLIGHT universities gathered at the University of Galway from 3–5 June 2026 for the ENLIGHT Mid-Year Meeting. Held under the theme Culture and Creativity, the three-day event brought together university leaders, researchers, educators, professional staff and students from across the alliance to review progress, strengthen collaboration and prepare for the next phase of ENLIGHT's development.
Alexandra Reynolds, a passionate educator who has turned cross-border collaboration into a mission. Through ENLIGHT’s virtual exchanges and international projects, she has helped students step beyond classrooms and into real global conversations. In this heartfelt interview, she shares what drives her, the challenges she’ has faced, and why the journey, though demanding, is always worth it. Read the full interview here.