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Description
The project was needed to further expand the scope of University "Al. I. Cuza" of Iasi (UAIC) academic international cooperation mainly by attracting EEA students and staff to choose UAIC as their exchange destination, by offering students and staff from UAIC the possibility to study, teach or train in EEA institutions and by designing future projects and joint activities.
The main purpose is to develop and improve the cooperation between university and EEA HEIs through the promotion of academic excellence and institutional improvement, reduction of mobility obstacles, exchange of good practices and internationalization at home.
The EEA exchanges will provide students with specialized knowledge not only in their fields of study, but also on the cultures of all countries involved, meaningful experience and linguistic proficiency. The staff exchanges will lead to new curriculum design and teaching/assessment methods and implementation of good practices.
There are three categories of beneficiaries of mobility exchanges: students and staff from UAIC, students and staff from donor countries, as well as UAIC and EEA partner institutions as a whole.
Students will have the opportunity to adapt to a new environment (academic, cultural, social and linguistic), to improve their foreign language skills, to improve their academic skills and to develop a strong and responsible personality.
The academic staff will discover different teaching and assessment methods and different curriculum content.
The administrative staff will have the possibility of exchanging good practices with their colleagues from partner institutions and to improve their skills in organizing student services.
The project will increase the quantity and quality of the EEA mobility exchanges which are still expected to grow into cooperation projects of research of common interest.
The donor partnership could better connect different public and private actors across the EEA and Romanian territory.
Summary of project results
The main objective of this project has been to develop the cooperation with institutions from the European Economic Area through the academic mobility of students, as well as of teaching and administrative staff in order to exchange good practices, acquire new knowledge and valuable information on a large scale, and thus balance the disparities between Romania and the EEA countries.
The project has aimed to increase the number of beneficiaries, while ensuring the best conditions for study / practice / teaching / training as well as living at partner universities and institutions; to ensure transparency and equality of chances in all EEA actions; to increase the quality and volume of multilateral cooperation with academic institutions in the EEA, with the business, cultural and social environment of these three countries.
Although partnerships between the Project Promoter and EEA HEIs already exist, the project was needed to further expand the scope, both domain-wise and geographically, of UAIC academic international cooperation mainly by attracting EEA students and staff to UAIC as their exchange destination. In addition, this project has been a great opportunity to extend the collaboration with more HEIs in the EEA and also identify companies for student placement.
The EEA Project has been very successful among all the categories of participants (students and staff) of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, which is reflected in the number of mobility exchanges: 23 student internships, 19 study abroad periods, 5 teaching visits and 8 staff training visits (summing up 55 exchanges altogether). The number of incoming grantees was reached only partially with 6 incoming students carrying out a placement mobility in our university and 5 incoming staff (2 with teaching assignments and 3 on a staff training).
Summary of bilateral results
During the previous EEA projects, UAIC has witnessed a great desire for students to have academic experiences in the EEA outside the EU. This desire can be illustrated, for example, by the large number of students enrolled in the optional Norwegian language course and the large number of applications and mobilities in the former EEA Programme. The 2-year suspension of the EEA Programme has generated numerous reactions and questions from students and staff from UAIC and its partners, together with a significant decrease in the number of mobilities in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein (funded through other international programmes).The bilateral collaboration is planned to continue, both through the EEA Grants and through the Erasmus+ Programme.