Led by the Secretary General who is appointed by the Management Board and located in Brussels, the Circle U. Office supports the long-term strategic development of the alliance and is in charge of the daily management of the alliance’s legal entity. More specifically, the Circle U. Office fulfils three main missions:
- Operational: the Circle U. Office contributes to the realisation of the ongoing EU-funded projects by ensuring that their outputs and results effectively contribute to the fulfilment of the vision and mission of Circle U. In this perspective, the Circle U. Office develops and implements the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning strategy. With the resources mutualized by the member universities, the Circle U. manages several calls and other funding schemes to foster bottom-up collaborations between academics, researchers, other staff members and students.
- Executive: the Circle U. Office support the well-functioning and efficient governance framework of the alliance, including the communication between member universities. The Circle U. Office supports the Circle U. President, the Chairperson of the Management Board and the key governing bodies of Circle U. It prepares the agenda, minutes and other meeting documents for these bodies to facilitate decision-making within the alliance.
- Strategic: By its operational and executive missions, the Circle U. Office supports the long-term strategic development of the alliance. At the request of the governing bodies, the Circle U. Office represents the alliance and its interests toward external partners, including the European Commission and other EU institutions, national and regional authorities, other alliances, university networks and stakeholders’ organisations.
As from 1st of April 2024, the Circle U. Office is composed of the Secretary General, the Communication Office, the MEL Officer and the Operations Assistants. Every semester, the Circle U. Office hosts a student from one of the member universities for a 3-month internship. The Circle U. Office is hosted by UCLouvain on Saint-Louis Campus at the very heart of Brussels.