CONSIDERATIONS ON UNIVERSITY ALLIANCES: MOTIVES, RISKS AND CHARACTERISTICS

The main emphasis of this study has been to explore the phenomenon of creating alliances between universities. Alliances are a response to a hardened international competitive climate. An examination of ten alliances during the recent years is carried out, and the motives behind as well as the outcomes of them are analysed. The analysis indicates that there are threats and risks at play side by side of large opportunities. An alliance should be able to increase the interface between the universities on many levels and also create more opportunities for establishing powerful forms of cooperation to compete for international grants, programmes and corporate funding. Some policy implications and recommendations are given in the end.