The Dubrovnik General Assembly produced visible results: a signed agreement, a validated research agenda, a student ambassador programme in the making. The Steering Committee’s job was to make sure the groundwork for all of that was in place — and to keep all partner universities coordinated across a five-day programme.
30 representatives met across four days to review progress, present financial figures, and align operational planning with the alliance’s research and education priorities.
Taking stock — together
One of the week’s first major sessions was a review of the alliance’s medium-term progress. Each Work Package shared where it stands, and partners discussed what’s working and where coordination needs to sharpen.
On Thursday, each partner university presented its financial overview for the first five quarters. The format was deliberate: institutions reporting to each other, not just to the funder.
Planning what comes next
A recurring focus was the ACT Pipeline — the alliance’s three-stage model for tracking how outputs move from joint development (Alliance Creation) through embedding in each institution’s systems (Campus Adoption) to use beyond the consortium (Transfer). The pipeline gives all partners a shared vocabulary for asking: where is this output in its journey, and what needs to happen next?
Bringing the alliance into alignment
The Steering Committee didn’t work in isolation this week. Two joint sessions brought it face to face with the people doing the alliance’s academic work.
On Tuesday, a conversation with Teaching & Research Hub leaders connected operational planning with thematic research. Hub members asked for a consolidated calendar, more structured working time at future assemblies, and better digital collaboration tools. The Steering Committee committed to addressing each point.
On Wednesday, a joint session with the Boards of Vice-Rectors focused on two areas where coordination and institutional commitment need to meet: the ACT Pipeline for institutional uptake, and the Virtual Campus. Przemysław, the leader of WP6 (Digital infrastructure) opened the session with a 20-minute overview of the Virtual Campus’s strategic vision and how partner institutions will integrate it into their own digital ecosystems.
The upshot
The Steering Committee also confirmed the calendar for the coming months. The medium-term periodic report to the European Commission, due in December 2026, will draw directly on the progress reviewed this week.
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