University College Roosevelt (UCR) is pleased to announce that Dr. Alexei Karas, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation, has successfully obtained a grant through Utrecht University’s Call for Interdisciplinary Education Projects 2025. The two-year, €75,000 project will directly support UCR’s ongoing curriculum reform.

The project, Merging Tracks into Clusters: Responsive and Sustainable Education at UCR, underpins the transition from more than 30 disciplinary tracks to six larger interdisciplinary clusters. This new structure is designed to foster collaboration among faculty, enhance students’ interdisciplinary learning, and increase the efficiency of resource allocation while maintaining the depth and rigor of disciplinary study.

A central element of the project is the development of so-called responsive courses. These innovative courses will be designed around pressing societal challenges, offering students opportunities for interdisciplinary and community-engaged learning. To make this possible, participating faculty members will receive training in interdisciplinary course design and teaching. Over the next two years, five new interdisciplinary courses will be developed and embedded into the curriculum.