Professor Ain Heinaru to Continue as Board Member of Coimbra Group
Professor Ain Heinaru of the University of Tartu was re-elected as board member of the Coimbra Group at the Group’s annual conference, which was held last week from June 2 to 5.
According to Professor Ain Heinaru, former UT Vice Rector for Research, membership in the Coimbra Group and representation in the group’s executive board offers the University of Tartu an excellent opportunity to mark its presence in the international academic community. Professor Heinaru regards the joint declarations made with respect to European education policies as the group’s most important achievement.
“The group’s voice in Europe has been heeded much more in recent years,” Professor Heinaru said.
At the European level, the Coimbra Group has earned an excellent reputation over the years, establishing itself as an important discussion partner for the European Commission.
The foundations for Coimbra Group were laid in 1985, when representatives from the universities of 12 venerable university towns met at the Catholic University of Leuven, one of the leading Belgian universities. The purpose of the meeting was to develop and strengthen research, cultural and educational cooperation between the universities.
Members of the Coimbra Group include many eminent and renowned universities such as Oxford University and Cambridge University (UK), the University of Lyon (France), the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), the University of Barcelona (Spain), and the world’s oldest, Bologna University, founded in 1088. The University of Tartu became a member of Coimbra Group in 2003. It is the only Baltic university which has been invited to join the group.
In 2006, the Coimbra Group held its annual conference in Tartu. At the conference, the group adopted its Tartu Declaration, which stresses the need for changing the policies governing the funding of Europe’s top universities and recommends specific actions to strengthen the position of European universities in the world.
Additional information: Ain Heinaru, UT Professor of Genetics, telephone +372 737 5012, ain.heinaru [ät] ut.ee and Sirje Üprus, Head of International Cooperation, telephone +372 737 5615, sirje.uprus [ät] ut.ee
Karin Volmer
University of Tartu
Press Representative
telephone: +372 737 5683
mobile: +372 5202807
e-mail: avalik [ät] ut.ee
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