"Leadership is one of the important factors for successful universities" (T. Estermann, EUA)

"Leadership is becoming an important topic for universities and it’s sparking different initiatives. The Leadership Development Programme we have designed addresses key and core topics from a European perspective", declares Thomas Estermann, Director of Governance, Funding and Public Policy Development at the European University Association (EUA), in an interview with News Tank on 26/07/2024.

Designed by the EUA, which announced its launch on 16/07/2024, the Leadership Development Programme will start in April 2025 for 20 university leaders from EUA member institutions in its first pilot programme. It will cover four pillars:

• "core leadership topics,
• governance-related topics,
• management-oriented topics,
• and strategic foresight".

"There will be a strong European component: participants will get engaged with European policy and decision-makers from European institutions and we will bring them in contact with national representatives based in Brussels and partners we work with."

The goal is to compensate for the lack of leadership skills among university leaders, who "face many…