Our mission
Rooted in advanced engineering education and research, CESAER is an international association of leading specialised and comprehensive universities with a strong science and technology profile that advocate, learn from each other and inspire debates. Our Members champion excellence in higher education, training, research and innovation, contribute to knowledge societies for a sustainable future and deliver significant scientific, economic, social and societal impact.
Aims of the association
- Advocate Members ́ interests by aiding policymakers and funders shaping European strategies, policies and programmes for research, education, innovation and university leadership;
- Learn from each other by sharing and spreading intelligence, knowledge and best practice in research, education, innovation and university leadership;
- Safeguard sustainable funding by advocating and shaping sustainable competitive and non-competitive funding streams to our Members from different sources at various levels;
- Lead debate on key issues by advancing reflection and understanding of the roles of science and technology in knowledge societies for a sustainable future;
- Amplify the Members ́ and Association’s strengths by supporting Members in displaying their excellence and distinctiveness in Europe and beyond.
We adhere to the following values:
- research integrity, academic freedom and institutional autonomy as laid down in the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, the European Charter for Researchers and a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, the Lima Declaration on Academic Freedom and Autonomy of Institutions of Higher Education, the Utrecht Declaration on Academic Freedom and the Magna Charta Universitatum (n.b., updated in 2020);
- sustainable peace and prosperity incorporating respect for the rule of law and human rights, democratic citizenship, evidence-based policy making and the free circulation of knowledge, as laid down in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
