Students and Staff at the Heart of ACE²-EU
At the 2nd ACE²-EU Annual Congress, the Student and Staff Advisory Boards turned the Alliance’s strategic questions into recommendations for Year 3.
Târgu Jiu, Romania, 28 October 2026
After the Annual Assembly set out where the Alliance stands at the end of Year 2, the second day of the Congress turned to the people who live ACE²-EU every day: its students and staff.
At Universitatea Constantin Brâncuși (UCB) in Târgu Jiu, the Alliance’s two advisory boards met in parallel sessions and then came together for a joint meeting.
Student Advisory Board
The Student Advisory Board brings together students from each partner university. Its role is to make sure the student voice is heard in the Alliance’s strategic development. In Târgu Jiu, members gave feedback on mobility, learning programmes and educational opportunities across ACE²-EU.
Staff Advisory Board
The Staff Advisory Board gathers staff members from each partner institution. Its session focused on professional development, staff mobility and stronger staff engagement in the Alliance’s strategy.
A shared agenda
Both boards worked on the same key points:
- discussing the strategic questions posed at the Annual Assembly, together with relevant survey data
- electing their representatives to the Governing Authority, the Alliance’s main review and approval body
- meeting in a joint session to bring student and staff perspectives together
- preparing recommendations for Year 3, to be presented at the Congress closing session
Looking ahead
The recommendations of both boards will feed into the closing session of the Annual Congress and into the planning of the Alliance’s Year 3 activities. They ensure that ACE²-EU continues to grow with one shared goal: an Alliance shaped by the people it serves.
From Formation to Impact: ACE²-EU Alliance Reviews Year 2 Progress at its Annual Congress in Târgu Jiu
The 2nd ACE²-EU Annual Congress brings governance, management and advisory bodies together to take stock of a year of results and set the course for Year 3.
Târgu Jiu, Romania, 28 October 2026
The ACE²-EU European University Alliance opened the main programme of its 2nd Annual Congress on 28 October 2026 with the Annual Assembly, a joint plenary held in the Senate Room of Universitatea Constantin Brâncuși (UCB) in Târgu Jiu. Under the theme “From Formation to Impact and a Sustainable Future”, the session brought together the Rectors & Presidents Steering Group, the Management Board, and the Alliance’s Student, Staff and External Stakeholder Advisory Boards.
The Congress was officially opened by Luminița Popescu, Rector of UCB, which hosts this year’s edition from 27 to 30 October. Ruaidhri Neavyn, Strategy Advisor to the ACE²-EU alliance, then presented the context of the meeting: the Alliance is completing the second year of its Operational Delivery and Development Phase and preparing for Year 3 and its Mid-Term Review.
At the heart of the morning, the leaders of the alliance’s eight Work Packages presented the progress achieved during Year 2. Together, their reports showed an Alliance moving from building foundations to delivering measurable results for students, staff and communities across its nine partner universities.
The Assembly also looked ahead. Ruaidhri Neavyn set out a series of strategic questions for the Student, Staff and External Stakeholder Advisory Boards to address in their own sessions later in the Congress. Their input will help shape the next steps of ACE²-EU, including its long-term sustainability and its collaboration with the nine regions associated with the alliance. A Q&A session followed.
The Annual Assembly was closed by João Moutão, President of the Polytechnic University of Santarém.
The Congress continues with meetings of the advisory boards and governance bodies, which are expected to address key milestones for the alliance: the pilot legal entity for the ACE²-EU e-Campus, the Quality Assurance Framework, the first joint degree programmes and preparations for the Mid-Term Review.