In 2017, six universities with several longstanding bilateral ties of cooperation and a focus on Polytechnic education, formed the Global Partners European Alliance that was renamed in 2022 as the Global Polytechnic Education Alliance (GPEA).  

The GPEA set out to address distinctive, highly impactful polytechnic educational opportunities throughout Europe and North America to collaborate on the proper resources, skills, and stakeholders among its members.  

The founding members of the GPEA are Coventry University, Coventry, UK; Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt, Germany; Technological University Dublin, Ireland; Lucerne University of Applied Sciences & Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland; Purdue University, Indiana, USA; and the University of Wisconsin – Stout, Wisconsin, USA. In 2023 Utah Tech – Utah, USA joined the GPEA. 

The GPEA came together to focus on the comprehensive relationships and global strategic collaborative opportunities for polytechnic higher education through academics, applied research, professional development, and community outreach activities. Each Member brings unique strengths to the overall membership in creating an alliance addressing increased effectiveness, professionalism, and performance of our institutions while promoting broad and positive global societal impact. 

GPEA believes that leveraging the advantages of international collaboration can bring meaningful benefits to our students, our faculty, our staff, our universities, and to our respective communities. The GPEA works towards providing potential solutions on a national and regional scale in relevant cross-cutting areas.  

In compliance with each Member’s governing policies, GPEA Members pursue opportunities through formal mechanisms such as: 

• Hosting annual conferences/symposiums with approximately 200-300 attendees 
• Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects 
• Student mobility programs (short and long-term) 
• Faculty mobility/visiting scholar programs. 
• MSc and PhD student co-advising 
• Post-doc programs 
• Dual/double/joint degrees (undergraduate and graduate levels) 
• Research collaborations 

Polytechnic Summits (2017-2023):

• 2023 Summit | Utah Tech University
• 2022 Summit | Hochschule Darmstadt
• 2021 Summit | Technological University Dublin
• 2019 Summit | University of Wisconsin-Stout
• 2018 Summit | Universidad De Ingenieria Y Tecnologias
• 2017 Summit | Purdue University

Active Members:

• Hochschule Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt, Germany
• Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, Lucerne, Switzerland
• Purdue University, Indiana, USA
• Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
• University of Wisconsin – Stout, Wisconsin, USA
• Utah Tech – Utah, USA