On 18 January 2022, the European Commission published a communication on a European Strategy for Universities and announced an EHESO to be set-up in 2023.
Our association has been contributing to the follow-up through efforts led by our Task Force Benchmark. This included the publication of our position ‘Design principles for European Higher Education Sector Observatory’.
To further contribute to the shaping of EHESO, our Board of Directors on 7 November appointed Peter Elspass as our association’s EHESO Envoy until the end of 2023.
Peter has the full support from our association and is mandated to represent our association in relation to the development of EHESO.
Commenting on their appointment, Peter Elspass said:
“Data-driven approaches are vital for supporting benchmarking, learning and development ranging from the institutional to the European levels. At the same time, there is an ongoing fundamental discussion for how to best measure and analyse performance and quality to ensure it supports universities to assume their societal roles and responsibilities, including as elaborated in our association’s white paper ‘Next Generation Metrics’ and in the proposed design principles.
“With the creation of EHESO, we have an opportunity to take this effort to the next level, and we stand ready to fully support these efforts.”
Peter can be reached at Peter.Elspass@zuv.uni-hannover.de. For more information or enquiries, please contact our incoming Secretary General Mattias Björnmalm.
Peter Elspass is Head of the President’s Staff Department of University Development & Controlling at Leibniz University Hannover (Germany). He started his professional career at the EU Liaison Office of Leibniz University Hannover in 1997. In 2001, he completed his doctorate in economic geography, focusing on the impact of European research policy on German universities. From 2001 to 2003, Peter joined Forschungszentrum Jülich, a major national research institution within the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, where he conducted research on the economic impact of a large-scale research institution at the European level. After returning to work for Leibniz University Hannover in 2003, he specialised in higher education management. At the same time, he continued his education in that field at the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer. Since 2005, Peter has been responsible for university planning and institutional research at Leibniz University and is advisor to the university’s Presidential Board. In 2019, he was appointed to a working group on the overall 2031 strategy of his university.
Peter is the Chair of Task Force Benchmark 2022-2023.