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Description
This project aims to address three challenges regarding Politehnica University of Timisoara (UPT), as an important regional player connecting the academic, social and industrial environments, and as member of the European Universities initiative - E3UDRES2 (Engaged and Entrepreneurial European University as Driver for European Smart and Sustainable Regions). As such, it will involve, beside UPT, four universities and a company from the donor partner countries.
In a general way, the project will address the above-mentioned challenges (digitalisation, entrepreneurial activities and sustainable regional development, and transdisciplinary approach of climate change issues) by enhancing the cooperation among the partner universities through teaching and training activities for staff, as well as study and placement mobilities for students. In order to address the challenge-related objectives of the project, it is essential to educate and train highly dedicated experts with transdisciplinary skills that can bridge educational, technological and societal perspectives for sharing the expertise and knowledge and developing new ways of education. The general objective of the project is to enhance the collaboration and to facilitate the skills and knowledge transfer between UPT and its partner universities, in the fields of digitalisation, entrepreneurship and wellbeing, and interdisciplinary approach of climate change issues.
The project will support students participating to mobilities in the acquisition of learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and competences) contributing thus to their personal development. Each institutional partner will promote the project, select the participants according to the rules of the programme, support their incoming and outgoing participants before, during and after their mobility, as well as disseminate and valorise the results.
Summary of project results
The project was needed to enhance the cooperation between Politehnica University Timisoara, the applicant organisation from Romania, and six partners: four Norwegian universities, one Icelandic university and a Norwegian architecture company.
The project set out to address three main challenges: digitalization, entrepreneurial skills of students and staff members and eco-friendly solutions to industry in the context of climate change. The objectives of the project were:
1. All mobilities will support the professional development of students and staff and will increase the international reputation and visibility of the partners, and of the EEA grants programme;
2. At least 20% of mobilities will aim to contribute to the digitalisation process;
3. At least 50% of mobilities will aim to increase the entrepreneurial skills, the awareness of green career opportunities, and to exchange best practices on environmentally friendly approaches to industry;
4. At least 30% of mobilities will aim to improve the interdisciplinary skills of students and staff and to solve engineering problems in relation with the climate change issues;
5. At least 20% of mobilities will aim to enhance the cooperation between higher education institutions and the economic sector.
The project funded 20 mobilities: 6 incoming staff (3 for teaching, 3 for training), 2 outgoing student traineeship and 12 outgoing staff mobilities (7 for teaching, 5 for training). Each mobility contributed to one or several project objectives. 80% of the project objectives were reached.
All the students reported that equal treatment was ensured, that the academic outcome has been very good, and that they were very satisfied overall with the quality of their mobility.
All the staff members reported that the expected results as defined in their MA were met, that they have learned from good practices abroad, and that they have reinforced the cooperation with the partner institution.
In the long-run, the project has contributed to the consolidation of bilateral relations between UPT and its partners. As more people have become familiar with the infrastructure, curriculum, best practices and vision of the EEA partner institutions, new cooperation projects in the fields of education or research are planned. By integrating best practices and dissemination activities, the innovative aspects encountered during the mobilities are shared with students and fellow staff beyond the project implementation period.
The impact of traineeship mobilities on the student participants was high from an academic, cultural and personal development perspective. Participants reported that their intercultural skills, language skills, self-reliance, independence and self-awareness improved during the mobility.
The impact of teaching and training staff mobilities on the participants was high as well: 100% state they learned from good practices abroad, 89% that they gained sector-specific or practical skills relevant for their current job and professional development and 77% that they improved their organisational, management or leadership skills.
At institutional level, the impact of the project was proportional to the number of mobilities. While it would have been desirable to use more than 56% of the budget, it is worth noting that 80% of the project’s objectives were met.
Developing international mobility of students and staff via the EEA Grants program is part of the strategy of internationalization of UPT. Several measures foreseen in the strategy to reach this objective were implemented through this project. For example, to offer a larger palette of opportunities for exchanges, we signed an EEA agreement with a new partner; to increase the number of outgoing mobilities to create promotional materials in hard copies and electronic format and to encourage former participants to disseminate their experience.
The highlights in terms of impact were the increased visibility of the partners and of the EEA grants programme, the exchange of good practices, the expanding network of professional contacts of the participants, as well as innovative elements to be introduced in the teaching materials and methods of the participants.
Summary of bilateral results
The donor project partners contributed to the project based on their expertise in specific areas.Reykjavik University hosted 8 participants from UPT (2 SMP, 3 STA and 3 STT) and sent out 4 participants (3 STT and 1 STA) in fields such as civil engineering, architecture, or renewable energy. Their insights have been deemed extremely valuable by the participants, and the interest for mobilities to/from this institution is increasing. The participants have expressed interest in joint research cooperation.The University of South-Eastern Norway hosted 2 participants (2 STA) and sent out 2 participants (2 STA) in the field of translation. This new partnership allowed us to open the project for the Faculty of Communication Sciences students and staff. For the future, we can explore the possibility of signing an Erasmus+ agreement, as well as adding several new fields (and campuses) to the current agreement.The Norwegian University of Science and Technology hosted 3 mobilities (2 STA and 1 STT) in the field of computer science. NTNU is the largest university in Norway, well-known for its close collaboration with industry. The participants described their experience at NTNU as “transformative”, “invaluable”, “incredible”, “interesting”.The University College for Green Development hosted 1 mobility (1STT) in the field of management. The participant identified best practices regarding green energy, circular economy, combating pollution and respect for the environment on which to capitalize in her future work.There were no mobilities based on the agreements with UiT the Arctic University of Norway or Moderno AS. Interest for continuing these two partnerships seems to be fading on both sides.The project increased the visibility of all the institutions involved and of the EEA Grants, and helped us identify two new universities from Norway with which we could cooperate in the future. We plan to continue working with all the active donor project partners.