The university network of the ITA-CET Committee currently comprises 27 official members working in universities or other higher education establishments worldwide. These members come from 20 different countries,: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, the UK, the USA and Vietnam.

The network also comprises other university contacts, notably in Mexico and Malaysia, who are not official ITA-CET Committee members, but have collaborated with the ITA-CET Committee either for the organization of training sessions or for the development of university master’s degrees.

A prime objective of this university network is knowledge-sharing amongst its members. The fact that they are spread around the globe considerably complicates the organization of meetings, thereby hindering the exchange of information and the development of collaborations. With this in mind, the ITA-CET Committee has recently set up a closed group on Linkedin entitled “ITA-CET University Network”.

The aim of this group is to provide an exchange platform for the Committee’s university network, enabling its members to interact and share information and practices on university education in tunnelling and underground space. However, to be of benefit to its members, this Linkedin group needs regular fresh input. All university network members are therefore invited to join this group and to post information or start a discussion. Examples of use include but are not limited to:

 - information on new or planned Master courses

 - discussions on Master course content and teaching methods

 - invitations to other members to act as a guest lecturer (via video-conference or in person)

 -  the promotion of specific initiatives conducted by a university (research or other)

 - the advertising of professor vacancies

 - the organization of student exchanges.

It is hoped that this initiative will strengthen relations between the university network members and foster new collaborations.