Focussing on the idea of the research-driven or research-intensive university in Europe creates an opportunity to discuss the changes that are taking place in and between European universities, following the emergence of the European Research Area, the rise of postgraduate and researcher mobility across Europe, the importance of Framework and ESF funding, and the intensifying effects of citation indices and university rankings. Speakers Dr. John Smith has worked at the EUA since September 2004 with responsibility for its activities in the fields of research and innovation. Previously, he worked in the field of science administration and policy at the Economic and Social Research Council, London, UK (1976-84), and the European Science Foundation, Strasbourg, (1985-2000). Based in Vienna from 2000-2003, he was Executive Director of the Institute for Human Sciences until December 2001 and then worked as a Research Consultant on several commissioned studies, including those for the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Culture; the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research; and the European Commission Directorate-General for Research. David Livesey is the Secretary General of the League of European Research Universities. He is a Life Fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. From 1992 to 2003 he was the Secretary General of the Faculties, the University's principal adviser on academic policy. He spent the year 2000 on secondment as the initiating Cambridge Director of the Cambridge-MIT Institute. Sverker Lindblad became Professor at the Department of Education, University of Gothenburg in 2004, previously he held the University of Uppsala Chair in Education He is a member of the University Centre for Research on Europe and the Board of the University of Gothenburg Research Commission. He was one of the founders of the Nordic Education Research Association and was president of the European Educational Research Association 1999-2001