A new community of European universities called the Aurora, a network of nine dynamic universities united by a shared commitment to high-quality research, social responsibility and helping solve global challenges. The University of Iceland is a founding institution in the network. Aurora Rectors and other representatives from the universities gathered at the University Council 11 and 12 May to discuss further collaboration and how the universities can contribute to their respective societies.
Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector of the University of Iceland, said it a great honour for the University of Iceland to be chosen to take part in founding this dynamic network. "The University of Iceland has had remarkable results in diverse fields in the last years; reflected in extensive international science collaboration and high ranking on international ranking lists over the best universities worldwide. Being a part of the Aurora network is an important recognition of this result; opening numerous opportunities for even further advancements for the University of Iceland and Icelandic society," says Jón Atli Benediktsson.
Furthermore, a large group of scientists along with other University employees take part in workshops on chosen collaborative projects, including diversity, research impact, communication of science and digital teaching. "The Aurora network is a new kind of collaboration between universities and provides a unique opportunity to communicate and learn best practices at each member university, and also combine forces to go further together than they could alone. Only one university in each member country was invited to be a founding institution in Aurora, creating trust and collaboration that reaches further than traditional university networks.”
There was a symposium organised during the meeting, „Roles and responsibilities of universities in a post-truth/alternative facts society“ discussing the roles and status of contemporary universities. Forces denying scientific knowledge have surfaced all over the world recently, trying to mislead public discourse. "This entails challenges for society as a whole and universities that build their work searching for scientific knowledge and authenticated data. Universities are to be a source of new knowledge and ideas have had a great responsibility in enlightened and democratic and social discourse," said Jón Atli.
The chair was Guðmundur Hálfdánarson, Dean of the School of Humanities.