Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ) is joining eight other schools to form the European Engineering, Learning Innovation and Science Alliance (EELISA) with the aim of promoting "European Union values" in higher education.

İTÜ is set to become a founding member of the alliance, the university announced yesterday.

In a press release, İTÜ said members of a university delegation, led by Rector Mehmet Karaca, had met in Madrid with representatives of several European universities on Jan. 29 to "benefit from their teaching and research potential."

According to the statement, EELISA is aimed at finding solutions to social issues and reinforcing the "values" of the European Union in the field of higher education.

It also seeks to adapt university strategies to bring them into line with the goals of sustainable development and encourage the mobility of engineering students and academic and administrative staff.

The statement also refers to gender equality, pointing out that women should enjoy the same rights as men in the engineering profession.

The meeting was attended by representatives from Madrid Polytechnic University (Spain), Budapest Technology and Economy University (Hungary), Bucharest Polytechnic University (Romania), and Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nurnberg (Germany).

Representatives of several prestigious engineering schools including Chimie ParisTech, Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees ParisTech, ENSTA ParisTech, and Mines ParisTech, were also in attendance.