I am honoured and privileged to be the new Chair of UnILiON for 2026 – a very special year as we celebrate our 10th anniversary! We are a growing and dynamic network with over 60 member offices representing over 170 universities. Whilst at its core we are a European network – EU plus Norwegian, Swiss and British members (including my own, Coventry University)! – we also have members from Japan (Waseda University) and most recently South Africa (Stellenbosch University). Everything we do is about collaboration, sharing, and working together to ensure the relevance and impact of the universities we represent in the European policy and funding landscape. Our members are active in other bodies – like the European University Associaton, European University Alliances, ERRIN, and many more – and UnILiON is a well-known and recognised force for good(!) within the EU Institutions and wider R&I ecosystem in Brussels and beyond.
We will be present and engaged in the big topics on the EU’s agenda for 2026 – a very important year for the negotiations on the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), FP10, European Competitiveness, Erasmus+ and many more dossiers affecting universities. And we will be preparing a big celebration in the autumn – 19 November… hold it in your diaries! – to mark our 10th anniversary in style!
A big thank you to the UnILiON members for placing their trust in me, to my Secretariat colleagues for joining me on this journey during 2026, and to everyone who contributes so generously to our work. It’s going to be a great year
Gregg Jones, Regional Managing Director of the Brussels Hub Coventry University