Coimbra Group

The Coimbra Group is a network of universities in Europe. Founded in 1985, it was officially established in 1987. It brings together 41 universities, some of which are among the oldest and most prestigious on the European continent. The group took its name from the city of Coimbra, Portugal, and its university, one of the oldest in Europe.

Objectives

The Coimbra Group is:

...an association of former European universities of international prestige dedicated to creating special academic and cultural ties to promote, for the benefit of its members, internationalization, academic collaboration, high quality in both learning and research, and services to society. It is also the purpose of the Coimbra Group to influence European education policy and develop the best techniques through mutual exchange of experience.

Coimbra Group

Activities

The group acquired its name from the Portuguese city of Coímbra and the university that is there. The University of Coimbra is one of the oldest in Europe and celebrated its 700th anniversary the same year the group was founded.

To achieve its objectives, the Coimbra Group intends to:

• Facilitate exchange of knowledge between the universities that constitute the group through the exchange of both students and teachers, so that they benefit from belonging to the Coimbra Group, while respecting the cultural and national identity of the universities and their self-determination in establishing their learning and research policies.
• Work hand in hand institutions of the European Union to participate in the policy of higher education and research, in order to benefit the members of the Coimbra Group.
• Contribute to the European Debate of the quality in higher education and promote quality measures at the universities of the Group.
• Become the for the creation and development of the European Higher Education Area and promote the academic knowledge of its members, as well as of the members of the European Research Area.
• Being recognized as a group specialized in education, able to give advice to its members and EU institutions on higher education issues, such as information and communication technologies applied to new methods of education and continuing education.
• Promote cooperation in cultural, social and sport activities among its members.
• Promote Coimbra Group global level as a source of academic excellence in Europe, with a view to attracting students from around the world to universities belonging to the Coimbra Group.

Members

Countries	Associated universities
GermanyGermany	University of Gotinga University of Heidelberg University of Cologne University of Jena University of Wurzburg
AustriaAustria	University of Graz
BelgiumBelgium	KU Leuven University of Lovaina
Czech RepublicCzech Republic	Univerzita Karlova Praha
DenmarkDenmark	University of Aarhus
SpainSpain	University of Barcelona University of Granada University of Salamanca
EstoniaEstonia	University of Tartu
FinlandFinland	University of Turku University Åbo Akademi
France	University of Montpellier Paul Valéry University of Montpellier University of Poitiers
HungaryHungary	Eötvös Loránd University
Ireland	Trinity College (Dublin) National University of Ireland, Galway
ItalyItaly	University of Bologna University of Padua University of Pavia University of Siena
LithuaniaLithuania	University of Vilna
Norway Norway	University of Bergen
NetherlandsNetherlands	University of Groningen University of Leiden University of Utrecht
PolandPoland	Jagellonic University
Portugal	University of Coimbra
United KingdomUnited Kingdom	University of Bristol University of Durham University of Edinburgh
Romania Romania	Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași
Russia Russia	St. Petersburg State University
SwitzerlandSwitzerland	University of Geneva
Sweden Sweden	University of Upsala
TurkeyTurkey	University of Istanbul