COLOURS university alliance
The European University Alliance COLOURS stands for COLlaborative innOvative sUstainable Regional univerSities and brings together nine universities with around 126,000 students and 12,300 employees in Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, North Macedonia and Latvia. Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University in Ukraine is also a partner of the alliance. The academic institutions are joined by 55 associated partners - regionally based institutions and organisations. Paderborn University is responsible for the central coordination of all Alliance activities.
The university alliance will be sponsored by the European Commission for four years from January 2024. This makes COLOURS one of a total of 64 alliances of European universities throughout Europe.
Are you interested in working with us in studies, teaching, research or administration? Please contact us at implementation.colours@uni-paderborn.de.
Goals and partners
The objectives of the European University Alliances are to strategically consolidate cooperation in research, teaching and transfer, improve international competitiveness, strengthen European identity and promote the mobility of students and researchers within Europe.
The name COLlaborativeinnOvativesUstainable RegionaluniverSitiessays it all: the core themes of "open innovation", "challenge-based teaching", "challenge-based learning" and "impact-driven research" are combined with regional "smart specialisation goals". In this way, the initiative aims to get social and technological innovations rolling and drive them forward. In addition, a multidisciplinary approach is to be developed in order to jointly tackle current social challenges.
COLOURS is not a "project", but a transformation process involving universities and regions.
To find out more, you can download the mission statement of the COLOURS alliance here.
In addition to UPB, the following universities are members of the COLOURS university alliance:
- University of Le Mans (France)
- University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)
- University of Ferrara (Italy)
- University of Kristianstad (Sweden)
- Jan Dlugosz University (Poland)
- Josip Jurai Strossmayer University of Osijek (Croatia)
- University of St Kliment Ohridski Bitola (North Macedonia)
- Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (Latvia)
Together, the partners want to strengthen their European network, increase their international visibility and promote mobility within Europe. They also aim to develop a multidisciplinary approach to tackle current social challenges together.
All COLOURS partners are closely linked to their regional socio-political and economic environment. Their approach therefore also focuses on strengthening cooperation between the respective regions and regional stakeholders.
The so-called Quadruple Helix serves as the basis for the selection of the Associated Partners: players from the four fields of research & education, business, public administration and society are to achieve a new dimension in research and innovation through the targeted interaction of their respective strengths.
The COLOURS university alliance co-operates with a total of 55 associated partners from the respective regions of the individual universities. Paderborn University's partners are the city and district of Paderborn, it's OWL, the Heinz Nixdorf Museums Forum, Paderborn überzeugt e. V. and the Paderborn Theatre.
COLOURS offers ...
Mobility and flexibility: Individualised curricula, participation in courses at partner institutions - face-to-face, online or hybrid
Joint degrees µ-credentials: Combined qualifications
Innovative learning: student-centred approaches, activities such as "living labs"
Development of 21st Century Skills: critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and entrepreneurial skills
International collaboration: working with peers from different countries, enriching perspectives
Inter-university campus: expanding opportunities for students, staff and researchers across Europe and beyond.
Transnational cooperation: Strengthening cooperation, sharing knowledge and infrastructure, synergies in higher education, research and innovation.
Increasing competitiveness: Increasing attractiveness on a global level.
Excellence and integration: Bringing together higher education institutions of all sizes and structures from across Europe, expanding the concept of excellence.
Central role: in the implementation of the European Higher Education Strategy and development of the European University.
Partner in strategic development: of shared governance models, flexible educational modules and programmes, including micro-credentials.
Professional development: seamless mobility, cross-institutional teaching and research assignments, job shadowing, exchange of best practice, training programmes within the alliances.
Access to transdisciplinary and transnational cooperation and highly qualified professionals from Europe
Participation in knowledge ecosystems: promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in communities, cities or regions
Challenge-based activities: hackathons and living labs with multidisciplinary teams on real-life topics
Development of innovative solutions for real-world problems
COLOURS-Week 2025 - Participate, move, change
Experience a week of collaboration, innovation and dialogue at Paderborn University!
From 24 to 28 June 2025, Paderborn University is hosting a series of exciting events as part of the European University Alliance COLOURS. During this week, students, researchers, teachers, experts and the public are invited to explore key topics such as sustainability, digital transformation and the future of education.
Get involved now!
Contact us
If you are interested in establishing co-operations in studies, teaching, research or administration with the COLOURS partners, please contact us!
Please send enquiries by email to implementation.colours@uni-paderborn.de.
News
COLOURS President
Vice President - Vice President for International Relations
Phone: +49 5251 60-4691
E-mail: heike.trautmann@uni-paderborn.de
Coordination and Support Office
Coordinator - Managing Director COLOURS Alliance
Office: TP6.1.305
Phone: +49 5251 60-4664
E-mail: annette.klinkert@uni-paderborn.de
COLOURS Financial Officer
Office: TP6.1.304
Phone: +49 5251 60-4663
E-mail: basel.myhub@uni-paderborn.de
COLOURS Quality Officer (on parental leave)
Office: TP6.1.304
Phone: +49 5251 60-4678
E-mail: marion.grote.kraft@uni-paderborn.de
Maternity Leave Cover COLOURS Quality Officer
Office: TP6.1.304
Phone: +49 5251 60-4687
E-mail: chris.schattka@uni-paderborn.de
CSO Assistant
Office: TP6.1.305
Phone: +49 5251 60-4651
E-mail: laura.hoelscher@uni-paderborn.de
Implementation Office
Maternity Leave Cover COLOURS Implementation Office Lead
Office: TP6.1.302
Phone: +49 5251 60-4686
E-mail: mouna.amhoud@uni-paderborn.de
E-mail: implementation.colours@upb.de
Coordinator - Implementation Office Lead (CIO-Lead) of the European Alliance COLOURS
Office: TP6.1.303
Phone: +49 5251 60-4674
E-mail: isabelle.leitloff@uni-paderborn.de
E-mail: implementation.colours@upb.de
Communication Manager COLOURS
Office: TP6.1.302
Phone: +49 5251 60-5718
E-mail: kamila.kolakowski@uni-paderborn.de
CoSpace Officer COLOURS Alliance
Office: TP6.1.303
Phone: +49 5251 60-4673
E-mail: cmhk@mail.uni-paderborn.de
Referent - CoSpace Officer COLOURS Alliance
Office: TP6
Phone: +49 5251 60-6303
E-mail: alena.diedrich@uni-paderborn.de