About CIVICA

CIVICA – The European University of Social Sciences unites eight leading European higher education institutions in the social sciences, humanities, business management and public policy, with a total of 50,000 students & PhDs and 10,000 academic staff.

Together, we build on an ever-stronger combination of education, research & innovation, and civic outreach to develop the European university of the future: grounded in excellent teaching and learning, offering seamless mobility, contributing innovative solutions to societal challenges, and creating a path for other universities to follow. 

CIVICA was selected in 2019 by the European Commission as one of the pilot European Universities, funded under the Erasmus+ programme.

As a European University of Social Sciences, our key ambition is to serve European societies and educate the next generations of Europeans.

We are building an innovative university model that places our communities of students & PhD researchers at its heart, and branches out to NGOs, businesses, policymakers, the civil society, and other entities outside academia. 

CIVICA embodies the European idea in its purest form: "United in diversity."

Bocconi University (Italy)

Central European University (Austria and Hungary)

European University Institute (Intergovernmental)

Hertie School (Germany)

National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romania)

Sciences Po (France)

Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden)

The London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom)

As CIVICA, we strive to find solutions to complex societal challenges around four key topics. We chose these topics because they reflect both pressing contemporary issues and our joint expertise.

• Societies in Transition, Crises of Earth
• Democracy in the 21st Century
• Europe Revisited
• Data-Driven Technologies for the Social Sciences 

Thanks to the recently launched project CIVICA Research, which complements our educational strategy, our alliance will continue to deepen its research collaborations in these major areas.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, we recognise the role that only the social sciences can play in understanding the current and future impact of the pandemic. We are fully committed to transmitting our knowledge into the public realm and to engaging for the common good of Europe and the world.

The European Universities are transnational alliances that will become the universities of the future, promoting European values and identity, and revolutionising the quality and competitiveness of European higher education. Mainly funded under the Erasmus+ programme, the European Universities Initiative is one of the flagship activities introduced by the European Union in its ambition to build a European Education Area. 

Following a first call for proposals, in June 2019 the European Commission selected 17 European Universities involving 114 higher education institutions from 24 member states. A second call in 2020 selected another 24 European University alliances consisting of 165 higher education institutions from 26 member states.

Watch a student interview about CIVICA following the launch of the European Universities Initiative: