One year after the inaugural meeting in Kuopio, EU4Dual , Rectors of the nine higher education institutions met in Graz to discuss the operational aspects of the strategic goals of the Alliance. The key objective of the project is to create a European Dual Studies University in which industry will play a key role in the provision and awarding of post-graduate degrees. MCAST through its Principal/CEO Professor James Calleja is playing a key role in this alliance.

The network is made up of nine participating Universities namely, MCAST, Mondragon University in Spain, FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences in Austria, Ecole Superieure des Technologies Industrielles Avancees in France, Koszalin Technological University in Poland, Duale Hochschule Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany, PAR University College in Croatia, Savonia University of Applied Sciences in Finland and John von Neumann University in Hungary.

The meeting in Graz saw the completion of initial process of this initial phase with the appointment of the advisory board and the industry consultative council. MCAST nominees the former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Education Evarist Bartolo and the President and CEO Michael Seifert of Seifert Systems have been elected on the Advisory and Industry Councils respectively. Marisa Xuereb another MCAST nominee was also elected on the Regional Council. All Councils are made up of distinguished persons coming from the academic and industry worlds to give strategic directions so that the alliance can create a new brand of higher education qualifications.

The meeting also launched a Centre of Excellence on Dual Studies, and appointed Professor Georg Nagler as its director, with the intention of setting up a world-class cluster of expertise in the field.

In Graz Rectors also agreed to set in motion the following three milestones:

• EU4Dual will launch its course catalogue, giving opportunities to study with the alliance for the first time. 5 Joint Masters Degrees, and over 120 micro-credentials are in various stages of planning, with the first Masters degree a tranche of 50 micro-credentials and a summer & winter school due to launch in time for next September;
• 10-11 April will see the organisation at MCAST of the first European dual studies conference in Malta. With over 50 papers submitted and over 200 participants confirmed at this time, the conference will bring academics, policymakers and industry together to set the agenda for the alliance. The EU4DUAL Governing Board and Councils will also meet in Malta for the first time.
• Define on the basis of the intercultural and institutional experiences of Rectors in their respective partner countries, strategic priorities for the future of the Alliance in the context of dual education and the important role that employers and their Chambers will play for the sustainability of the European University of Dual Studies

During the Graz meeting, Rectors have also appointed a working group to start design work on an the first European Joint Industrial PhD. The working group will spend the next few months working with Heads of Studies and Industry Leaders across the continent to propose a model for a multi-country work-integrated programme that can prepare students to manage, research and create innovative findings at the highest levels across the continent. It is mandatory in the alliance that research is industry-driven

Rectors are committed to being standard-bearers for the dual-education model globally and have begun planning an outreach strategy to work with other HEIs and governments to strengthen this as a new pillar of Higher Education in Europe.