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Description
The cooperation between Bialystok University of Technology (BUT) with the Scandinavian countries was an area that required expansion. The possibility of implementing the project under the Education Programme made it much easier to start cooperation with Norwegian universities. The prospect of implementing student and staff mobility in Norway was to meet the needs of BUT students and employees defined during a survey on international mobilities conducted among the academic community before submitting the application for the project. The project assumed cooperation with two partner universities from Norway: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and University of Agder (UiA). The aim of the project was to carry out the following types of mobility: 7 student mobilities for studies and 7 staff mobilities from Poland to the Donor State, and 4 student mobilities for studies and 4 staff mobilities from the Donor State to Poland.
Summary of project results
The cooperation with the Scandinavian countries was an area that required expansion. The project assumed cooperation with two partner universities from Norway: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and University of Agder (UiA). The aim of the project was to carry out the following types of mobility: 7 student mobilities for studies and 7 staff mobilities from Poland to the Donor State, and 4 student mobilities for studies and 4 staff mobilities from the Donor State to Poland. Not all activities were successfully implemented. The first obstacle in the implementation of the activities was the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In academic year 2020/2021, 2 students applied for studies at NTNU, whose departure was canceled by the authorities of the Norwegian university, and 5 students interested in going to UiA resigned due to the uncertain situation related to the pandemic. Travel restrictions introduced in Europe made it impossible to implement project activities; partner universities proposed mobility planning for the beginning of 2022. In order to minimize the risk of project''s failure, the project implementation period was extended and the budget was modified in order to increase the number of staff mobilities. Student mobilities have not been implemented due to the lack of willing students to participate in the project. However, the project was successful in terms of staff exchange: 10 mobilities for teaching and 2 mobilities for training from BUT to NTNU, and 2 mobilities for teaching from NTNU to BUT were carried out. Cooperation with the second partner university was not developed due to UiA''s refusal to accept BUT employees for mobility (the reason was the lack of time opportunities on partner''s side to accept incoming teachers on the proposed dates). However, the activities carried out with NTNU result in the prospect of continuing and expanding the cooperation. An inter-institutional agreement within Erasmus+ Programme has been signed between universities, and we plan joint organization of the Blended Intensive Program, assuming short-term student mobility. Additionally, at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at BUT, where most mobility participants work, a didactic system used at visited Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, NTNU was introduced, which focuses on students'' own work and practical classes.
Summary of bilateral results
Before the project implementation, BUT has not had extensive cooperation with the Scandinavian countries. Establishing cooperation in the context of mobility opportunities with universities from Norway was a response to the need of the academic community defined after the survey on university mobility conducted before submitting the project application. Thanks to the joint implementation of the project, universities were able to learn about each other''s functioning and the way individual departments work. Teachers from BUT visiting NTNU implement NTNU''s teaching system at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, which relies heavily on students'' own work and practical classes, which perfectly works at the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering. The University of Technology was a site that could learn about many other good practices applied at NTNU, incl. in matters of managing the work of the international cooperation office. Additionally, the project has led to the collaboration leading to improved knowledge of the countries participating in the project. Further cooperation with NTNU within Erasmus+ Programme projects is planned.