About EduCare 5.0
EduCare 5.0 is a European University Alliance comprising ten universities and higher education institutions from Austria, Czechia, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain. The partners aim to create closer links between education, research and innovation and to develop innovative solutions to societal challenges, with a focus on health, digitalisation, sustainability and social participation.
Hochschule Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSBI) is one of the founding members of the alliance and coordinates the network.
The name EduCare 5.0 combines the terms Education and (Health)Care, underscoring the thematic focus of the alliance. The number 5.0 refers to the transformation of European organisations from 4.0, focused heavily on digitalisation and technology, to 5.0, which stands for sustainable, resilient and human-centred approaches.
Mission and Vision
Our mission
Our mission is to create sustainable improvements in healthcare through transformative education, research and entrepreneurship. By 2040, we aim to establish an integrated European higher education model that benefits students, researchers and professionals alike.
Our Vision
Promotion of excellence-oriented healthcare education and research
Development of sustainable, digitally supported solutions for healthcare delivery
Building a European healthcare ecosystem that empowers communities and addresses global challenges
Working with our regions
The member universities support the sustainable and inclusive medical and nursing development of their regions through international and multilateral cooperation. Current regional challenges are shared within the network and tackled jointly through innovative teaching, research and exchange formats. The work builds on the complementary expertise of the universities and their regional partners in health and care.
Mission and Vision
Education and mobility
The alliance works on educational innovation such as joint degrees, summer schools and flexible study paths. It promotes the international mobility of students, teachers, researchers and staff, with low-threshold formats that allow as many members of the universities as possible to gain experience abroad in Europe.
In 2026 the members ran Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programmes, among them a programme on dual use in medicine in July and a research management programme for staff hosted by the HSBI Research Academy in September. Through the DigiCare Innovation project, partners also offer free online courses, including the self-paced Digital Health and Entrepreneurship Course, worth 2 ECTS awarded by EIT Health.
Research and innovation
Joint research addresses topics such as chronic diseases, mental health and future healthcare systems, linking medicine, engineering, data science and the social sciences.
DigiCare Innovation, funded by the EU through the EIT Higher Education Initiative and supported by EIT Health, runs from April 2025 to April 2027. Its aim is “transforming higher education institutions (HEIs) into engines of innovation and entrepreneurship to address critical challenges in community healthcare”. The project has set up test environments for digital health solutions, among them a virtual reality application for mental health, a living lab for digital cancer care and the KogniHome, a smart research home developed with HSBI.
THRIVE (Transforming healthcare research into validated solutions through Alliance-KIC Cooperation), led by UIC Barcelona and funded under the EIT Higher Education Initiative, supports the EduCare 5.0 alliance in turning healthcare research into validated, market-ready solutions. Its first phase runs from September 2026 to August 2028.
Communities and health systems
The alliance works with health and care providers in its regions. DigiCare Innovation is developing a digitally supported community care model and builds bridges between universities, health management and social players; its consortium includes the Unidade Local de Saúde de Almada-Seixal, a local health unit in Portugal.
The Digital Health Challenge Lab, coordinated by CESPU within DigiCare Innovation, runs online from 30 September to 9 December 2026. Interdisciplinary teams turn a real health need in community oncology, mental health or chronic disease into a validated, responsible digital-health solution, supported by mentors from academia, healthcare and industry.
Our milestones
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February 2024:
The alliance submits its proposal to the European Universities Initiative under Erasmus+. -
June 2024:
The European Commission awards the proposal its Seal of Excellence, confirming the quality of the application. -
October 2024, Bielefeld:
First in-person meeting of the alliance at HSBI, with 22 representatives of all nine partners from eight countries. The consortium reviewed the evaluation of its application and planned the next steps for 2025. -
19–20 March 2025, Barcelona:
Second working meeting, at the Sant Cugat Campus of Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, with working sessions on knowledge transfer and research quality in health. -
April 2025:
DigiCare Innovation starts, funded through the EIT Higher Education Initiative and supported by EIT Health. -
13–14 October 2025, Ústí nad Labem:
hird working meeting of the alliance, hosted by Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (UJEP). -
2025:
Recognition of EduCare 5.0 as a European University. -
January 2026:
Diaconia University of Applied Sciences (Finland) and the Medical University of Łódź (Poland) join. The alliance now has ten members from nine countries. -
20–22 April 2026, Lisbon area:
Fourth working meeting at Egas Moniz School of Health & Science. Partners define the EduCare 5.0 Capacity Building through to 2028 action plan. -
9–10 July 2026, Maynooth:
The alliance takes part in the 4th European Universities Initiative Forum at Maynooth University, Ireland. -
September 2026:
THRIVE, led by UIC Barcelona and funded under the EIT Higher Education Initiative, starts its first phase. -
7–11 October 2026, Iași:
EduCare 5.0 Biannual Conference, hosted by the “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iași.
