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Description
The project involves five universities and a company: Politehnica University of Timisoara, three Norwegian institutions, one Icelandic university and one architecture company from Norway, and targets engineering fields, either classic or transdisciplinary, as well as management and architecture. The objectives of the project are:
1. All mobilities will aim to support the professional development of students and staff;
2. All mobilities will aim to increase the international reputation and visibility of the partners, and of the EEA grants programme.
3. At least 50% of mobilities will aim to develop the intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial skills of students and staff.
4. At least 40% of mobilities will aim to increase awareness of green career opportunities, exchange best practices or create modules on environmentally friendly approaches to industry.
5. At least 30% of mobilities will aim to improve the use of ICT tools in various applications and empower students and staff with innovative instruments to solve engineering problems
6. At least 20% of mobilities will aim to enhance the cooperation between higher education institutions and the economic sector.
For individual participants in students mobilities, the project is expected to support them in the acquisition of learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and competences) contributing to their personal development, increasing their employability in the international labour market.For individual participants in staff mobilities, the project is expected to support their professional development, their capacity to innovate and improve the quality of teaching and working, as well as their foreign language skills.
The student participants are envisaged to be mainly from the master and doctoral level with the aim of preparing future interdisciplinary topics for doctoral theses and guarantee an easier integration on the international labour market.
Summary of project results
he project involved six universities and a company: Politehnica University of Timisoara, the applicant organisation from Romania, four Norwegian higher education institutions, one Icelandic university and an architecture company from Norway.
The challenges the project set out to address were improving the professional skills of students and staff; increasing the international reputation and visibility of the partners and the EEA grants programme; developing the intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial skills of students and staff; increasing awareness of green career opportunities; improving the use of ICT tools; enhancing the cooperation between higher education institutions and the economic sector.
The project funded 13 outgoing mobilities: 3 student traineeships, 8 teaching mobilities and 2 staff training mobilities. There were no incoming mobilities. Each mobility contributed to reaching several project objectives. Each participant provided feedback upon return at UPT. The highlights include:
- One student reported that the EEA grants traineeship had a direct impact on getting a job upon return in Romania;
- Two students wrote scientific articles based on information gathered during their mobilities;
- Two teaching mobilities led to adding exchange flows in new fields to the EEA grants agreement;
- Several staff participants reported that they have already integrated in their activities with students techniques and information gathered through the teaching or training mobilities;
- The experience of the staff involved in the project was disseminated at staff meetings, through presentations to students, but also on social media (Facebook, Instagram);
All the students reported that equal treatment was ensured and that the traineeships had a positive impact on their professional and personal skills. All the staff members reported that the expected results as defined in their teaching or training agreement were met.On a long-term perspective the project facilitates the enhancement of bilateral relations between UPT and the partners from the Donor States. As more people become familiar with the EEA grants programme and the infrastructure, curriculum, best practices and vision of the partner institution, new cooperation projects in the fields of education or research can be developed. Also, through the integration of best practices and dissemination activities, the innovative aspects encountered during the mobilities are shared with students and fellow staff.
Summary of bilateral results
The donor project partners were selected based on their expertise in specific areas. This mobility project builds upon and expands what has been achieved in prior common projects.Reykjavik University hosted 6 participants (5 STA and 1 STT) in the fields of environmental sciences, renewable energy, and architecture. Their expertise in these fields has been very important, as their insights complemented the expertise of the Romanian participants. The training mobility focused on improving pedagogical skills and the curriculum for a Physics for Engineering course.The Norwegian University of Science and Technology hosted one student for a traineeship in the field of computer science. NTNU is the largest university in Norway, consistently ranked in the top of world’s universities, and well-known for its close collaboration with industry. The traineeship improved the student’s skills in Object-Oriented Programming, Java, JavaFX, Junit, and relational databases.The University College for Green Development hosted 5 mobilities (2 SMP and 3 STA) in the field of environmental sciences. Their expertise allowed for interesting exchanges on topics such as cultural landscapes formation and preservation, hybrid teaching, green development, green energy, sustainability and rural development, energy saving, climate change, or electromagnetic pollution.UiT the Arctic University of Norway hosted one staff mobility for training in the field of career services, as well as pedagogical training. The exchange of expertise was on subjects like integrating new students in the academic community, communication techniques, or minimizing school dropout.The collaboration led to improved knowledge and understanding, expanded the professional networks of students and staff involved, and increased the visibility of all the institutions involved.