THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH WEST EUROPE

Scientific Orientation


The University‘s future orientation identifies the institution as a multicultural university with intercultural education programmes, offering both professional and acdemic programmes in the newly created area of science called “Integration Science” and “Integratology” , with a focus on national and transnational extension.

The cornerstone of all educational programmes, the integration science based concept was created on the grounds of research studies on European education. Based on these outcomes the university was facing a new educational mission and built its institutional philosophy around such visionary goals. Beside several professional curricula of study which lead to new qualifications, the University administers programmes of study in English, French, German, and Dutch through several distinct Faculties, Institutes and Centers leading to undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications and degrees.

The qualification scheme and all academic programmes offered by the University are compliant with the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) and the Bologna Process.

The University‘s scientific orientation was influenced by the key note (cited below) of a Europeanwide research study, and an institution of equal opportunity was established ready to deal with the immense diversity and to promote the mutual understanding among all cultures.


“With the enlargement of Europe the number of countries, cultures and populations has grown. Educational Institutions are required to serve an increasingly diverse clientele. With a view to concept of the European basic freedoms and mobility an even wider range of expectations of the functions and missions of educational institutions emerged, in relation to their contribution to regional development, innovation and more generally to economic growth, employment, and socialisation. Increasingly, however, these trends are taking place in the context of globalisation which leads to fiercer competition for human, economic and financial resources across the borders of nations and continents.”

Source: v.d. Wende, Rankings and classifications in higher education: a European perspective, Enschede, 2007


This led to the cognizance that a strategic lifelong learning process, incorporating the components of an open university entrance, i.e., based on the assessment of formal, informal and prior (experiential) learning, innovative academic programmes and flexible educational delivery models were needed in order to meet the increasingly diversified demand of a growing and more diverse population on labour markets and in society in large.