Ingrid Wadskog, Managing Director and Dean of JTH, is a member of EULIST’s Management Board.

Ingrid Wadskog is Managing Director and Dean of JTH and Vice-President for Internationalization at Jönköping University. She is a member of EULIST’s Management Board, which leads and makes decisions on deliverables and strategic initiatives. Now, almost halfway into the project, she shares her view of the advantages of being a European University and why long-term investments are crucial for creating lasting value.

The European Universities initiative was launched in 2019 as part of the EU's education and research strategy. What are the major benefits for JU in participating?

"I see several benefits – we gain a stronger international network, more opportunities for student and teacher exchanges, and can develop joint courses and programmes. This makes JU more attractive to both students and researchers. And perhaps most importantly, collaboration will also lead to new EU research projects, which is crucial as more and more research funding will come from the EU."

EULiST stands for “Linking Society and Technology”. How can JU contribute to linking technology with social sciences and humanities?

"JU is an important part of the alliance because we are a broad-based university with four strong pillars – technology, economics, social sciences and healthcare. We can demonstrate how technology is linked to issues that affect people, organisations and society – for example in relation to sustainability, entrepreneurship and inclusion. This will serve as an important complement to our more technology-focused partner universities."

The EU project itself has a fixed duration and has set deliverables and project goals. What strategic initiatives do you think are important for long-term cooperation?

"I strongly believe in creating things that will live on even after the project, such as joint education programmes and research collaborations in areas where we complement each other. We can use the project as a springboard to develop elements that we would have wanted to do anyway, which will then become a natural part of our activities even without project funding."

Can you describe EULiST in three words?

"Then I would say: community, cross-border and catalyst!"

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