University of Kiel: Hanse Alliance brings together ten German universities

The north German university area is committed to cooperation and innovation: the Association of North German Universities (VNU) can look back on 30 successful years of cooperation in teaching and learning. As one of the first university associations in Germany, it has set standards. In view of the diverse challenges, developments in other German regions and the great opportunities in the Baltic and North Sea regions, the network is being strategically developed and repositioned as the ‘Hanse University Alliance’ (HUA).

The North Sea and the Baltic Sea as a bridge

The members of the Hanse University Alliance are not only geographically connected by their proximity to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, but also by common research topics and study programmes in areas such as the sea, climate, sustainability, energy and health. The idea of the Hanseatic League acts as a connecting element – a symbol of cooperation, development and the exchange of knowledge.

In times of global challenges, multiple crises and in the face of competition in science, northern Germany can be perceived as a high-performance science and innovation location that sets important impulses and radiates internationally.

Potentials for the future of the north

This will be made possible in particular by more intensive international networking, which is of great importance for science and for the labour market, for innovation and in view of demographic change. Together with the members of the North German Science Ministers' Conference, the ten universities will look back on 9 December and develop perspectives for the future in order to exploit the potential in and for the north.

Chancellor of Kiel University, Claudia Ricarda Meyer: “With the Hanse University Alliance, we want to join forces with the universities in the North and Baltic Sea region to pool our expertise and further strengthen northern Germany as an attractive location for study, research and knowledge transfer. In particular, in view of the declining number of students and the current social and economic challenges, it is important to continue and ensure the development of quality in teaching, to jointly set impulses for a science policy in northern Germany and intensify our research collaborations. We look forward to continuing our cooperation with the partners in the Hanse University Alliance and expanding the portfolio of the Verbund Norddeutscher Universitäten in a forward-looking way.“

Joint further development and celebratory presentation

The Hanse University Alliance consists of ten member universities: the University of Bremen, the University of Greifswald, the University of Hamburg, the Hamburg University of Technology, the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, the University of Lübeck, the Leuphana University Lüneburg, the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, the University of Rostock and the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. There are currently around 185,000 students at the Alliance universities, including 28,000 international students and 2,900 professors. For three decades, the universities have been actively involved in the quality development of studies and teaching. Building on this experience, the alliance is developing into the Hanse University Alliance in order to meet future challenges in the quality of the courses offered to students, to advance common topics for the North German region and to make the importance of science for social and economic developments more visible.

The Hanse University Alliance is committed to further expanding the North German science and innovation area in close cooperation with the North German science ministers and to further expand the North German science and innovation area and to act as a unified dialogue partner for science and education policy.

“With today's event, we are sending a signal of a joint effort to recognise the strengths of science in the north and for the north. Through cooperation, we want to strengthen these in the future,“ says Sascha Spoun, spokesperson for the Hanse University Alliance and president of Leuphana University Lüneburg.

Prof. Dr. Catherine Cleophas, Vice President for Digital Transformation, Gender Equality and Diversity: “The Hanse University Alliance provides the scientific framework to further strengthen the innovation area of Northern Germany: we can advance joint research projects in close cooperation with our partners, thereby anchoring research more firmly in the universities. The alliance allows us to shape teaching in the North and Baltic Sea region in an innovative and cross-regional way – drawing on more than 30 years of experience from the Verbund Norddeutscher Universitäten. In addition, we can position ourselves as the scientific voice of the Hanseatic League throughout the European Union, thus bringing the North and Baltic Sea region more into the focus of the international scientific and university community.“