EUTOPIA for Students

What does EUTOPIA do for students?

As well as the curriculum-based Connected Communities, EUTOPIA also provides extra-curricular opportunities for students, ranging from short-term intercultural or research programmes to international conferences.

Join the EUTOPIA Student Network

There will be many opportunities to get involved in EUTOPIA activities in the upcoming year - sign up to the network and we'll keep you updated.

Work with students from abroad
Improve your CV and acquire new skills and competences
Build a student network across Europe
Develop your intercultural and employability skills
Have the opportunity to get experience in working in an international team

What is the EUTOPIA Student Council?

The EUTOPIA student council is a governing body of the EUTOPIA alliance. It consists of 30 students, three from each university, who discuss current projects and how they can be shaped to suit the needs of students from every university, background and degree. EUTOPIA is, at its core, the creation of a European University; the student voice is vital to its success and continued development.

How are Warwick students contributing?

The Student Council brings student voices and perspectives to the management and governance of EUTOPIA and promotes their interests in this cross-university collaboration. Three Warwick students with a range of degree levels (Bachelors, Masters, PhD) share their perspectives of Student Council place during EUTOPIA Week at Ca'Foscari, Venice: Danae Macleod and Cyrine Mokrani.

Find out more about the student council

Skills and challenge

Paolo: EUTOPIA is giving me the chance to interact and learn from other students and scholars of different cultures. I have gained precious skills in debating and compromising.

Helena: I did not take a year abroad, but through EUTOPIA I have been introduced to a range of perspectives from across the participating universities and gained insights into the experiences of being a student at an international university.

Caitlyn: The interdisciplinary and international values and approaches that are central to Warwick university ultimately inspired me to join the EUTOPIA student council. Joining EUTOPIA is broadening my understandings of global systems, countries and cultures and there are international conferences taking place every 6 months in a different alliance member’s country. If this hasn’t convinced you, you will observe real change happening in real time.

Joining the EUTOPIA alliance

Caitlyn: I became aware of EUTOPIA when the academic I was a research assistant for mentioned a European student project. Without this prompt I would not have known about this incredible opportunity. I’d highly recommend that students just apply to any opportunities that arrive in your inbox!

Helena: I joined the EUTOPIA student council for three reasons. Firstly, my studies have shown me the benefits to European and broader international cooperation, as well as cross-university collaborative research. Secondly, as a research assistant in PAIS on the cross-university FRAMENET project, I have seen the benefits to inter-university collaboration among academics and students, so I was inspired to promote further collaborations. Thirdly, I strongly believe in the UK’s integration with the European continent - having lived both in the UK and in France - and in particular student mobility.

International networks

Paolo: I represent the student body of Warwick and this responsibility is benefiting my development. The skills I gain from being on an international student council are undoubtedly transferrable for my choice of career in diplomacy, as I am observing how international institutions develop and operate.

Helena: I am using the collaborative skills learnt from networking with EUTOPIA council members from different cultures and perspectives and with a range of management skills. I hope to use the negotiating and promotional skills I’ve learnt to promote students’ interests in the EUTOPIA sphere.

Caitlyn: The student council is finding solutions for complicated situations that are entangled by language barriers and cultural and contextual differences. This experience of problem-solving in a highly complex environment will prepare me for my future career. Finding common ground with individuals from different social, cultural and economic backgrounds is something that I am proud of.

EUTOPIA Innovation Challenge for Students

The EUTOPIA Innovation Challenge for students is a programme of week-long hackathons, hosted in turn by the different partners of the EUTOPIA alliance, in which students work in teams to solve challenges set by local SMEs. Below, we showcase testimonials from Warwick students and staff who have participated in challenges hosted by Babeș-Bolyai University, CY Cergy Paris Université, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Nov 2025)

From 17 to 21 November, 78 students from EUTOPIA and beyond gathered in Brussels for the VUB Innovation Challenge on the theme of “Challenges and innovations in multilingual societies".

Participants were put into small cross-institution and cross-disciplinary teams to work on a challenge of their choice and reflect on possible solutions.

Throughout the week, students benefitted from lectures and interactive sessions delivered by EUTOPIA academics members of the Connected Communities 'Multilingualism and Diversity' and 'Text and Discourse Analysis', who were able to provide insights into the opportunities that multilingualism affords but also the challenges it can pose.

On the last day, student teams presented their project through a 5-min pitch aimed at tackling the challenge they had chosen to work on. Topics ranged from multilingualism in healthcare or education to multilingual poetry and music.

"Visiting the Autumn School in Brussels was a wonderful experience, it was so well organized, and it was an amazing opportunity to hear from speakers from across the world. I loved the group work with students from other universities and getting the chance to explore a new city. Thanks to EUTOPIA I now have lots of fresh perspectives to apply to my university work!" (Harriet Pickering, MA in Translation student)

"It was an enriching week, full of people from all over the world. You can instantly gain different perspective from talking to people just like you. You will make new friendships and expand your knowledge through lectures, seminars and various open discussions. I highly recommend!" (Applied Linguistics student)

Universitat Pompeu Fabra (May 2025)

‘Our group’s user research showed that people generally don’t think AI or deepfakes could affect them, so we designed an interactive booth to demonstrate how easily your image can be manipulated and provided users with a digital toolkit to recognise and be safe against deepfakes. This was a real-life application of what I study, and the organisation that set the challenge were really impressed by our pitch. The whole event was so good – UPF have set the bar very high! There were ten universities represented, everyone had such diverse points of view and experiences, and the way they approached these topics was so different from us. It was very exciting to experience a different culture and see how students live in Barcelona.’ (Shaina Sharma, Behavioural and Economic Science).

‘I would never have thought I was a person who could have this kind of experience, but now I’m thinking about studying and working abroad in the future. I made so many friends from other countries. Watching their presentations, I kept thinking, “These ideas could really be implemented, I hope someone develops this!” We weren’t just exploring questions, we were trying to do something that would have a real-world impact.’ (Fiyinfolu Thomas, Philosophy & Psychology)

‘I went into this event having never worked in an intercultural team, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I enjoyed it so much, it was genuinely so much fun, and our team was amazing. There were STEM students and Social Science students mixing together, coming up with different ideas. I really saw the benefits of working in different cultural contexts, and would be interested in exploring that direction in terms of future employment. I made so many friends in Barcelona - it was an incredible experience, and I still can’t get over it!’ (Serena Cai, Sociology)

‘It’s great that Warwick is part of this programme! It was so much fun to think about something that isn’t directly related to my degree: I’m always so focused on my discipline and the career I want to pursue, but it was really inspiring and provoking to explore something different. It made me realise there are so many other topics I’m passionate about. I felt very grateful for the support we received from Warwick, and Charles Turner did a great job of looking after us while we were in Barcelona.’ (Katrin Hirtenlehner, Health & Medical Sciences)

‘I loved the format of the competition: having to create an idea in such a short time meant we had to work well with our team-mates, do research and learn on the spot, think about real-world applications… It teaches you the importance of a design mindset. I’ve always wanted to work in Europe, and that intention has intensified thanks to this event: cross-cultural collaboration really is everything it’s cracked up to be. The month after the Innovation Challenge, I participated in the Council of Europe's Hackathon, Democracy's Firewall, with EUTOPIA students I met in Barcelona (see Ca' Foscari's interview with two of these students). I wouldn't have been able to attend this event without the EUTOPIA Innovation Challenge.’ (Alasdair Emmett, History)

‘This was a very well organised event. The overall challenge was well defined and broken down into more concrete problems that the students took on with alacrity. In so doing they showed enthusiasm, good humour, and, in their final presentations, no little skill. They also took every opportunity to meet people from different countries and learn something about a major European city.' (Charles Turner, Reader in Sociology)

CY Cergy Paris Université (November 2024)

‘My experience in the EUTOPIA Innovation Challenge in Paris allowed me to apply the skills and knowledge from my course in a real-world example enhancing my product, deepening my understanding of the field. The experience not only allowed me to collaborate closely with others from different countries and universities but also gave me a glimpse of what it would be like to live and work abroad, broadening my perspective on both professional and cultural levels.’ (Kayla René Pascal, Education Studies).

‘The EUTOPIA Innovation Challenge was a great opportunity to connect both personally and academically with students from different European universities, including my own. What made it stand out for me was its interdisciplinarity. As a student, these kinds of experiences are usually limited to your own field or department, but this challenge brought together people from all sorts of disciplines which was incredibly enriching. For example, I, coming from a social science background, was teamed up with a brilliant architecture student from Slovenia. Her distinct perspective, shaped by her field, was completely new to me and even months later, I try to approach projects with a more mathematical mindset, much like she did.’ (María Bobo Alonso, Politics & International Studies)

Babeș-Bolyai University (April 2024)

‘The EUTOPIA Innovation Challenge at Babeș-Bolyai was incredibly rewarding. Travelling to Romania, exploring a new culture, and meeting new lifelong friends, while also developing professional skills, was the best possible opportunity for my personal development and I would easily recommend it as one of the best opportunities at Warwick.’ (Arshia Tabatabaee, Politics)

EUTOPIA Ideas Club 2024 'Climate Change Challenges'

The EUTOPIA “Ideas Club”, a student-led debate program to raise awareness of European values through knowledge and awareness about intercultural differences, transcending local and regional and national identity-pegs, with the objective of developing and training European identity and inclusive citizenship competence and skills through knowledge about values, human rights, models of representation and participation, took place in Venice, between 23-24 April 2024.

The second edition of the Ideas Club, organised in cooperation with the EUSTT (Eutopia Students Think Tank), will delve around a core concern of our Century: “Climate Change Challenges”

"For Warwick’s role in EUTOPIA, the university supported a fellow student, Iman, and I, to spend a couple days in Venice for the Eutopia Student Think Tank (EUSTT) “Ideas Club” on the topic of climate change. During the trip we were able to explore freely as tourists when not in a timetabled event, we spent half a day at the stunning Ca' Foscari University, first sharing our ideas and thoughts on climate change, having a great lunch, then hearing a talk hosted by a local activist from Venice Calls, before walking through the heart of Venice to visit the Biennale Library; finishing by meeting the next day to reflect on our findings. The experience was a great opportunity, allowing myself to meet fellow students from all across Europe with different backgrounds, who gave great, insightful discussions around the topic of climate change. It was brilliant to be able to see the beautiful city of Venice with my European peers, having the free time to explore and enjoy the city together, whilst also offering a strong reminder of the topic we convened for. The event provided me with further knowledge on how climate change should be dealt with which will offer me greater depth for post-graduation work in the field of sustainability; at the same time, the trip improved my cross-cultural communication and debating skills, a strong asset for future endeavours. The trip has also provided me with an expanded lifetime network. Overall, the Ideas Club in Venice was a fantastic experience and I encourage all students to take part in the next EUTOPIA opportunity that comes their way!"Josh Smith, PhD Fellow, School of Engineering