The Network of Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA) is a network of 44 universities, gathering major higher education institutions in the European capital cities. It was founded in 1990 on the initiative of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. The mission of the network, which has a combined strength of over 120,000 staff and 1,500,000 students, is to promote academic excellence, integration and co-operation among its member universities throughout Europe. It also seeks to be a driving force in the development of the Bologna process and to facilitate the integration of universities from Central and Eastern Europe into the European Higher Education Area. The office of the network is located in the University Foundation in Brussels.