XII Unite! Dialogue at Aalto University: A Week of Collaboration and Connection

Held on 6-9 October 2025, the XII Unite! Dialogue at Aalto brought together over 350 representatives from nine European universities. It was an inspiring week of collaboration, networking, and matchmaking. Some highlights of the event are recounted below.

An Opening to Remember

The Dialogue opened with a Finnish tango and warm welcomes from Aalto’s Key Learning Officer, Minna-Kaarina Forssén; Aalto VP of Education, Petri Suomala; Aalto President, Ilkka Niemelä; and Unite! President, Tanja Brühl. Unite! communities then showcased their latest achievements, setting an uplifting tone for the week ahead. The opening session concluded with the unveiling of Blooming Beyond Borders by Aalto student Suthasinee Naktnasukanjn. Now on permanent display in the Undergraduate Centre, the piece symbolises growth and cooperation across borders.

Leadership and Governance

A highlight of the Dialogue was the election of the new Unite! President, Vivien Quéma, President of Grenoble INP – UGA. Quéma succeeds Tanja Brühl, President of TU Darmstadt, who has served Unite! for six years. In her farewell message, she thanked her leadership team for their tireless work and reiterated that connected European universities are a powerful and crucial tool for a united Europe. 

Ilkka Niemelä also stepped down as Unite! Vice President, passing the baton to newly elected vice presidents, Anders Söderholm (KTH) and Arkadiusz Wojs (Wrocław University of Science and Technology).

Students Unite! for Representation and Empowerment (SURE!) also elected new leaders: President Marcel Sobecki (Wrocław), Vice President Matilde Godinho (Lisboa), Secretary Pau Morente (UPC), and Treasurer Laura Armando (Politecnico di Torino). 

Unite! Awards

As has become customary at each Dialogue, nine Unite! Awards were distributed. Dr Minna Söderqvist and the Unite! Doctoral Education Team, composed of Katri Eeva, Tiina Kotti, Kitta Peura, Essi Viitanen, and colleagues from Aalto Doctoral Education Services, received recognition for their sustained commitment to strengthening doctoral education and mobility within Unite!. Read more about the awards and other recipients here. 

Matchmaking Early-Career Academics 

Unite! also brought 32 early-career academics to the Dialogue. Aalto researchers hosted them. The aim was to connect researchers and encourage them to explore opportunities for joint teaching initiatives and collaborative research. As a result, some Aalto hosts reported that future collaborations and seed-fund proposals were discussed.

Looking Ahead

The next Unite! XIII Dialogue will be hosted by Politecnico di Torino from 9-12 February 2026, under the theme “From short-term E+ projects to long-term alliances: contributing to EU competitiveness.”