Hacettepe University Enhances Its Visibility in the European Higher Education Area by Joining the First EUA Thematic Peer Group Focused on Quality Assurance
Hacettepe University has joined the first thematic peer group of the European University Association (EUA) focusing on quality assurance. The group, which includes Hacettepe University Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Sibel Aksu Yıldırım, aims to develop joint solutions on issues such as quality assurance in international joint education, institutional alignment, and the comparability of evaluation processes. Chaired by Ireland and composed of senior administrators from Albania, Cyprus, Germany, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine, the group strengthens Hacettepe University’s visibility in the European Higher Education Area.
Hacettepe University has been strengthening and sustaining its activities within the framework of the European University Association (EUA), of which it has been a member and one of the founding members since 2001. In this context, Hacettepe University Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Sibel Aksu Yıldırım has been accepted into the EUA Thematic Peer Group on Quality Assurance in International Partnerships.
The thematic group, which held its first meeting on 3 December 2025, holds the distinction of being the first thematic working group of the EUA dedicated to quality assurance. Focusing on international joint education activities, the group will address how internal quality assurance processes can be coordinated for higher education institutions that experience alignment challenges due to differing legal frameworks, evaluation methods, and quality cultures in areas such as joint programs, dual degree processes, and multi-stakeholder international collaborations. In addition, the group will open discussions on how learning outcomes, assessment criteria, and grading policies can be made more comparable across institutions, as well as how data obtained from different institutions’ information and quality management systems can be integrated, with the aim of developing common solutions.
The thematic working group brings together a wide diversity of experience from various European countries. Institutions represented by senior administrators include RCSI – University of Medicine & Health Sciences from Ireland, which also chairs the group; POLIS University from Albania; Cyprus University of Technology from Cyprus; the University of Bonn from Germany; Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice from Slovakia; the University of Burgos from Spain; Stockholm University from Sweden; and Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics from Ukraine. This diversity enables the group to conduct in-depth evaluations of shared themes and to comprehensively address the implications of the topic across Europe.
Hacettepe University’s participation in the first EUA thematic peer group focused on quality assurance is regarded as a strategic achievement that enhances the University’s visibility in the European Higher Education Area. This participation will contribute to strengthening Hacettepe University’s integrated approach that combines education and training, societal contribution, research, internationalization, and quality culture, while also paving the way for the University to play an active role in shaping the future of the European Higher Education Area.
