University-business cooperation (UBC) is currently one of the key strategic challenges facing higher education in Europe. It holds implications for support for graduates’ career success, international mobility, modernisation of curricula and the more practical orientation of higher education in general. In a survey among 700 enterprises and enterprise associations in Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and other countries, the EMCOSU consortium sought answers to three interrelated questions: i) which are the most relevant modes and results of cooperation; ii) what determines cooperation; and iii) which are the future developmental needs? The most general factors that facilitate UBC are common goals in terms of mutual benefits, needs and aims, commitment of the ‘right people’ starting from the leadership and involving all levels, and communication that includes open dialogue and a shared understanding of the challenges. The EMCOSU project’s main findings are presented according to the following headings: diversification and mutual facilitation of modes of cooperation, the centrality of tacit elements, bureaucratic obstacles, the development of competencies, companies’ expectations of universities, the importance of work experience, future surveys, the role of employers’ associations, own consortium experiences, and future challenges.
of the project are now accessible.
