Press release

The University of the Greater Region (UGR): Metz hands the Council Presidency to Nancy

The UGR Council votes for reductions for students and wishes to consolidate the university network over the long term

During its working meeting at Metz on 28/10/2010,  the Council of the crossborder project, 'The University of the Greater Region' (UGR), voted for numerous benefits which the students enrolled in the seven partner universities can benefit from.

Thus students enrolled in a partner university will benefit in general from privileged 'UGR status', which will simplify studies which also take place in another partner university. Let us for example cite the interlibrary agreement which will soon be signed by all the partner universities. Thanks to this agreement, students enrolled in one of the partners can now borrow books free of charge from any other of the participating institutions. Students will also benefit from this status in terms of catering: every student who is a member of a partner university will be able to eat in the other universities' restaurants at the reduced student rate.

The UGR Council brings together the Presidents and Rectors of the seven partner universities and the political representatives of the five regions and 'Länder' connected to the project. Its Presidency switches every six months. During the Metz working meeting, Luc Johann, the President of the University of Metz,  passed the Presidency to his Nancy counterpart, Jean-Pierre Finance

The Presidents and political representatives present stressed the vital role of the 'University of the Greater Region' project in setting up crossborder networks and see the project as a 'beacon project of a pilot character for Europe.' In order to make use of the existing potential, the Council commits itself to continuing the 'University of the Greater Region' even to the project's expiry date. The main objective of the new Presidency is consequently to continue working on the concept of the durability of the university network. The once associate partners, the Kaiserlautern Technical University and the University of Trèves, have taken up the same position. They have now been partners of the consortium since August, which means that the two Rhine-Palatinate universities are committed financially to the project and are contributing actively to the tasks currently in hand. The two universities in particular wish to invest in the areas of 'Interface Lycée - a higher education establishment' and 'Technology transfer.'

The UGR Council welcomes the fact that students are becoming more and more involved in the project and they are making it their own. The Council's student representatives have also made important proposals in the area of credit recognition and mobility between the partner universities, and it is now necessary to put  them into practice by working jointly with the students.

Context

The UGR Project  hopes within the next two years to create a crossborder university network. The University of Sarre, the University of Liège, the University of Luxembourg, the University of Paul Verlaine - Metz,  the Universities of Nancy as well as the Kaiserlautern Technical University and the University of Trèves are joined together in the project. Since the official launch of the UGR project, the partner universities have met, amongst other forums, in crossborder expert committees, given the responsibility of putting into practice concrete actions in different fields of activity.