ERUA Day 2025 at the Viadrina: Two days of European community, commitment and celebration
On 11 and 12 December 2025, the European University Viadrina celebrated ERUA Day together with its international partners - for the first time over two days, at two locations and with large participation from all status groups. Students, lecturers, researchers and administrative staff came together to experience and celebrate European university cooperation.
The ERUA Day began on Thursday, 11 December, with a joint campus walk from the Viadrina campus to verbündungshaus fforst, an associated ERUA partner. The student-focused programme started in the early afternoon with plenty of space for exchange, encounters and personal initiative. Formats such as the Wish Box, the Shared Humanity Experience (SHE) and open speed networking were very well received and provided valuable inspiration. The day ended with an informal networking event - supported by an open, lively atmosphere that was also visible beyond the circle of participants.
Friday, 12 December, was all about the European community within the ERUA alliance. The day began with a hybrid online opening in which all eight partner universities took part. John McCourt (University of Macerata), Chairman of the ERUA Board of Rectors, officially opened the ERUA Day and highlighted ERUA as a living European community: as an alliance that is created on the edges of Europe, in lecture halls, libraries, laboratories and in dialogue between students and staff - and which consciously focuses on openness, cooperation and trust in times of social polarisation.
ERUA Day 2025 at the Viadrina
In the subsequent format "United Voices: Rector's Corner", the Presidial Boards of all eight partner universities welcomed to ERUA Day in short, multilingual video messages. The student greetings were provided by Javier Martín Rodríguez (ULPCG), member of the ERUA Student Board, and made it impressively clear how strongly ERUA is now being thought about and shaped from a student perspective. The central keynote speech by the new ERUA project coordinator Maxime Cacciutolo Heidel (Paris 8) then used figures, examples and experience reports to show how much the alliance has developed over the past two years from a project into a sustainable European community - in studies, teaching, research and in dialogue with society.
At 11 a.m., the local programme began in the Logensaal with the "Wake up! It's ERUA" brunch, the centrepiece of ERUA Day at the Viadrina. In a relaxed yet festive atmosphere, members of all status groups got to talk to each other. The joint singing of international winter and Christmas carols, led by Frankfurt artist Peggy Luck and accompanied by local team member Niki Kasis on the violin, was particularly well received - a moment that made the European idea musically and very directly tangible. These programme items were complemented by insights into learning, teaching and research with ERUA, a Wall of Ideas, short impact impulses as well as exhibitions on the partner universities, student projects, ERUA events and the DAAD Research Week.
The official conclusion of ERUA Day in the afternoon was the online award ceremony of the ERUA Creative Expression Contest, initiated by the ERUA Student Board and hosted by Nicole Marut (Viadrina) and Clémentine Pourbaix (Paris 8). The competition received a great response and impressively emphasised the creative diversity within the alliance. The following were honoured:
- Reel/Video: Maria Samprakou (University of the Aegean)
- Poetry: Dimitreli Lydia (University of the Aegean)
- Photography: Erik Semashkin (Paris 8)
- Drawing: Daniiella Kyrylovets (European University Viadrina)
All winners will receive an ERUA merch package put together by the local Communication Officers. The recognition of the work and the international nature of the competition made it clear how strongly students are already helping to shape ERUA.
The day was concluded by an online concert stream from the New Bulgarian University (NBU) and an informal finale. In total, more than 35 students took part in the local programme at the Viadrina on Thursday and more than 75 participants on Friday.
The local ERUA team would like to thank everyone for the great interest and active participation in this festive event. Special thanks go to the ERUA Ambassadors, the Student Engagement Coaches and all the students involved, who contributed to the success of ERUA Day with their great commitment, initiative and organisational efforts - including providing their own catering, kindly financed by the AStA. The Viadrina was also emphasised at Alliance level for its noticeably open and welcoming atmosphere. ERUA Day 2025 thus impressively demonstrated how firmly ERUA is now anchored at the Viadrina - and what potential can be further developed in this European community.
Translated by DeepL and edited
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