Politecnico di Torino expands its collaborations with international university networks
Three EU funded projects sign a collaboration agreement to accelerate research and innovation. Together with its international partners, Politecnico is actively participating in the consolidation of joint efforts between aUPaEU (A University Partnership for Acceleration of European Universities) – which aims to accelerate the institutional transformation of university networks through the development of the Agora digital platform – CATALISI – which facilitates the transformation of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to embrace more sustainable research and innovation, ensuring alignment with societal challenges and European values – and Accelerate Future HEI – which unites nine testing higher education institutions and three testing partners in developing and testing acceleration services, to equip HEIs with the skills and capacity to drive institutional transformation towards becoming more entrepreneurial and innovative institutions.
Three sister projects, funded under the same EU funding program – HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ERA-01-51 - Acceleration Services in support of the institutional transformation of Higher Education Institutions – have been working closely for over two years to amplify their impact in Higher Education across the European Union. The Collaboration Agreement, which was signed by the partnership in September 2025, gives formal recognition to these efforts.
A shared commitment to transforming universities
Importantly, the agreement covers two major areas: joint efforts in dissemination activities and providing policymakers with insights and recommendations about the European research landscape. This shared commitment in dissemination will ensure the amplification of the respective projects' outcomes, beyond the individual project’s reach. A unified voice strengthens the evidence base, offering policymakers richer, more holistic insights into the European research and education landscape.
PoliTO is leading the aUPaEU project's dissemination and policy dimensions, with a commitment to ensuring that the results achieved have a concrete and lasting impact.
At the same time, it will support the projects’ sustainability, by exploiting the synergies among the three parties on the acceleration services developed, and their inclusion in the Agora platforms created by the aUPaEU project.
Shared events like the 2025 INORMS Congress, Interreg Europe workshop and CATALISI Conference, which is taking place in Amsterdam on 11 November 2025, will generate more impact from the three projects.
"This agreement strengthens the collaboration between our projects and allows us to generate a concrete and lasting impact on European universities – comments Alessandra Colombelli, professor of the Department of Management and Production Engineering-DIGEP and Scientific Director of the aUPaEU project at Politecnico di Torino – The work carried out by the Polytechnic University through aUPaEU expands our university's international connections, helping to promote research and innovation on a European scale".
