Description
The objective of this project is two-fold: firstly, to organize exchanges of Hungarian and Norwegian students for one semester; and secondly, to organize short-term exchange visits (2-4 weeks) for teachers. The outcome of the project for students is the acquirement of curriculum from a different institute, the widening of their knowledge, experiences from a different educational system, and professional development. For teachers the main outcome of the project is to gain insight into the educational methodologies of the partner institutes and to establish future professional and scientific cooperation between the institutes. The project donor partners are the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Narvik University College (NUC). Their role will be to host Hungarian visitors and send exchange students to Hungary. The partnership will strengthen the cooperation between Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) and NTNU and between BME and NUC.
Summary of project results
Existing grant opportunities in Hungary can hardly support exchange visits with Norwegian institutes due to the relatively high living costs in the country. The objective of this project was two-fold: 1) to organize exchanges of Hungarian and Norwegian students for one semester; 2) to organize short-term exchange visits (2-4 weeks) for researchers. On long-term, the establishment of joint research topics was proposed. The project reached the goals. Altogether 26 mobilities were realized, 13 students (5 BSc, 4 MSc, 3 PhD for one semester, 1 BSc for internship) and 13 professors (2-4 week long visits). Most of the students could join ongoing research activities, moreover, new PhD topics were worked out and started by students. The exchange visits of professors yielded new joint research topics which will be implemented in future common projects.
Summary of bilateral results
The scientific cooperation among the partner institutes has already been active for long. However, no such official frame supported the cooperation as the EEA Grant Programme. The project contributed to strengthening the bilateral relations through the organization of 26 mobilities during the project period. Building on the long-term joint research activities with the Norwegian partners the continuation is ensured, however, the financial possibilities of the partners, especially the Hungarian ones are strongly limited. Therefore, there is a clear need for further project applications either on bilateral or on international level (e.g. within the Horizon2020 programme). The latter demands much wider preparatory and inter-institutional work though. The project contributed to establish new joint research topics in the field of hydro-engineering (e.g. development of novel riverine sediment transport measurement methods, development of computational flow models, eco-hydraulic research, etc.) and ensured to gain insight for Hungarian professors into the Norwegian higher-educational system, e.g. how to structure courses, operate a similar size department, or to develop state-of-the-art hydraulic laboratory. All the gained experiences can support the improvement of the Hungarian partner. The bilateral funds evidently contributed to strengthening bilateral relations, rather on the project level. For instance, a Hungarian master student could start his PhD research at NTNU, or a Hungarian bachelor student could start his PhD research at BME with the joint lead of NTNU. These results ensure the long-term influence of the project, too. The Norwegian partners were less active in during the project implementation, especially in informing students as only one incoming student mobility was performed. However, on the researcher level, the outgoing vs. incoming mobilites are much more balanced which indicates the motivation for stronger cooperation in joint research activities.