Enhancing efficiency is becoming crucial for the sustainability of universities due to changes in modalities and significant cuts in university funding in many systems across Europe. The USTREAM project proposes a new way to address the question of efficiency in university management by adapting the concept of efficiency to the specific nature of university activities. It will examine three dimensions of efficiency: efficiency in academic matters, in administrative processes, and through strategic governance.The focus will be to identify operational efficiency measures that do not harm, but rather contribute to enhancing the quality of universities’ activities by releasing resources for the core missions of universities in the fields of teaching, research and societal impact. Thus the project will showcase "smart" ways to use public funding that universities are entrusted with, delivering better value for society and also strengthening accountability.The project adopts an innovative approach by combining the input of the national university associations, which are best placed to analyse the characteristics of their national higher education system, and the feedback of university leaders and managers and policy-makers from across Europe via peer-learning seminars and pilot national policy dialogue events.The outcomes of the project, widely communicated notably through the dissemination of an efficiency self-evaluation tool and a final publication including recommendations to policy makers and university practitioners, are expected to result in the development of bespoke policies and strategies and the taking-up of innovative practices enhancing efficiency in university management, both at system level (via public authorities and enabling regulatory frameworks) and at institutional level.