The Advanced Technology Higher Education Network Alliance (ATHENA) will continue pursuing its mission towards further developing the European University initiative. ATHENA Executive Board is committed to continuing joint action independently from the external funding available.

"During the first phase of ATHENA, we created a fully-fledged governance structure for coordinated action and expanded global partnership by including associations of higher education institutions - CONIF (Brasil) and RUFORUM (Africa) - and associated partners universities in Austria and Ukraine. We developed a pool of joint education offers, including thematic clusters, COIL and training courses and Blended Intensive Programmes facilitated by the international student and staff mobility. We created ESN ATHENA , the first ESN Section for European University alliances to facilitate joint student initiatives. By now, ATHENA has fully developed a joint research infrastructure and a firm basis for further collaboration of research teams within the alliance. Throughout ATHENA, we created stronger links with industrial stakeholders to support and enhance our local and regional ecosystems, boost R&D and technology transfer initiatives, and contribute to the development of the talent pool. Moreover, a network of dedicated academics and students willing to work together has been built, which is the main prerequisite and motivation for further collaboration", says Assoc. Prof. Dr Asta Radzevičienė, coordinator of the ATHENA alliance at VILNIUS TECH. 
   
"We believe that ATHENA will become a vibrant international university campus that inspires local communities and delivers significant added value to the ambitious developments of the European Higher Education and Research Area and the digital transformation of society in general. We share a joint vision, a dedicated executive team and fully engaged communities to succeed together", says Dr Konstantinos Petridis, ATHENA European University Secretary General.

What is ATHENA?
 
The ATHENA European University alliance brings together Porto Polytechnic Institute (Portugal), University of Maribor (Slovenia), University of Orleans (France), University of Siegen (Germany), Hellenic Mediterranean University (Greece), Niccolò Cusano University (Italy), Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania), Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (Poland), and University of Vigo (Spain). 

ATHENA also has three HEIs as associated partners: Carinthia University of Applied Sciences (Austria), Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (Ukraine), and Lviv Polytechnic National University (Ukraine). 

ATHENA is active in all key areas of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH): studies, research, and university-industry cooperation. The latter activity is directly linked to the creation of social and technological innovation.