Alma Mater Europaea

Alma Mater Europaea
University

Latin: Alma Mater Europaea
Motto	European University for Leadership
Established	2010
President	Felix Unger
Rector	Werner Weidenfeld
Academic staff	260
Students	1300
Undergraduates	900
Postgraduates	300
Doctoral students	100
Location	Salzburg, Austria
Campus	campuses in Switzerland, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia
Colors	Blue, Yellow
Nickname	Alma Mater, AlmaMater, Almamater
Affiliations	European Academy of Sciences and Arts
Website	www.almamater.ch www.almamater.si www.almamater.hr

Alma Mater Europaea (Latin for "The European nourishing mother", i.e. university) is an international university based in the Austrian city of Salzburg, with campuses in several European cities. It was founded as an initiative by the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, a learned society of around 1500 prominent scientists,^[1] including 29 Nobel laureates.

History

Representatives of the academy meeting in Munich in 2011 to plan the activities of Alma Mater Europaea.

Since the early 2000s, the European Academy of Sciences and Arts has been planning the establishment of the university, occasionally with the subtitle of European University for Leadership.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Rector Werner Weidenfeld and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel

The 2013 graduation ceremony at the campus in Maribor

In 2010, Alma Mater Europaea was officially established, with leading Austrian surgeon Felix Unger being appointed as its first president, while the German political scientist Werner Weidenfeld became the first rector, and the Slovenian lawyer, university administrator and diplomat Ludvik Toplak the first prorector.

At a meeting in Munich in February 2011, under the patronage of the presidents of 12 member states of the European Union, the board determined which courses the university would provide. These were to be taught in various cities across the union, in several languages, including English, German, and Spanish.^[5] In line with the international nature of the university, students, teachers, and prominent European thinkers would meet at an international symposium at the graduation. It was also decided that Alma Mater Europaea would be incorporated in European and international networks of universities through cooperation agreements.^[6] At the meeting it was decided that in the first stage, Alma Mater Europaea would start three 2-year masters degree programs.^[7] The university board stated that Alma Mater Europaea would be based on three so-called "W principles": Wissenschaft, Wirtschaft, Wirken. In German, this means: Science, Economy, Effect.^[8]

In 2011, the university opened in Slovenia its first campus, located in the Slovenian city of Maribor. This campus enrolled about 500 students in 2011. In July 2011 the university also co-sponsored a summer school in St. Gallen, Switzerland.^[9] In the academic year 2012-2013, about 800 students were enrolled in Maribor, the campus in Croatian capital Zagreb was opened, and part of the masters degree studies were carried out in Brussels. In 2013, the Salzburg campus of Alma Mater Europaea was founded and about 1000 students were enrolled in various studies in Austria, Slovenia, and other countries in academic year 2013/14. In 2014, two higher education institutions joined Alma Mater Europaea. The first one is Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis (ISH), internationally renown graduate school of philosophy, with which Slavoj Žižek and numerous other world's leading philosophers had been affiliated. ISH was established in 1992. The other one is the Dance Academy, established in 2008. It is one of the few European institutions issuing government accredited degrees in dance arts. Also in 2014 the studies in Zurich started and in 2015 the Zürich campus was officially established. In 2015 New York based Global Center for Advanced Studies partnered with Alma Mater Europaea to start new masters and PhD degrees in humanities.

Locations and departments

Alma Mater Europaea headquarters at Sankt Peter Bezirk in Salzburg, Austria
The campus of Alma Mater Europaea – Evropski center, Maribor in Slovenia. Behind it is the old city hall of Maribor.
Old Meeting Room at the Alma Mater premises in Maribor

Currently, the university has premises in Salzburg, Ljubljana, Maribor, and Murska Sobota. While administration and offices are mainly in Salzburg and Maribor, lecturing takes place mainly in Ljubljana and Murska Sobota. Lecturing in Salzburg, as well as some other European cities, will start in 2014.

Department of Physical Therapy
Department of Nursing
Department of Social Gerontology
Department of Management and European Studies
Department of Archival and Documentology Studies

Programmes

European leadership program, producing future European thinkers; the studies focus in European leadership, culture, political sciences, law, and human rights.
European business studies, producing future European business leaders; This European MBA program would focus on political leadership and strategies, European identity and political culture, transformation and development of Europe, social reforms, sustainable development, globalization.
Theological studies, which would be studied at the newly set-up European Dialogue Center for Theological Studies. A network of dialogue between Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Islam would be formed with a focus on question "What do the others think differently?" ^[10]

Sources

↑ as of 2012
↑ Alma Mater Europaea der Europäischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und Künste
↑ EuroAcad → Organisation → Institutes → Alma Mater Europaea
↑ EuroAcad → Search → Alma+Mater
↑ Alma Mater Europaea Board meeting, Munich, Germany, 18 February 2011
↑ Alma Mater Europaea Board meeting, Munich, Germany, 18 February 2011
↑ Alma Mater Europaea Board meeting, Munich, Germany, 18 February 2011
↑ Alma Mater Europaea Board meeting, Munich, Germany, 18 February 2011
↑ Summer School Human Change Processes, St. Gallen, Switzerland
↑ Alma Mater Europaea Board meeting, Munich, Germany, 18 February 2011

External links

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