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Mobility of higher education students and staff supported by internal policy funds (KA131-HED) - Coordinator: UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI VERONA

2022-1-IT02-KA131-HED-0000654022022Mobility of higher education students and staffongoingGood practice
Countries: IT · Grant: €1,429,569.8

Objectives

The University of Verona promotes international cooperation and the participation in mobility programmes for the entire University community and has for many years identified the Erasmus+ Programme as a strategic asset for the pursuit of its objectives related to internationalisation. It is also, and above all, thanks to its participation in the Programme that the University has been able to steadily increase its international outlook, recording significant achievements for all the internationalisation criteria. The international approach is also reflected in the University's integrated strategy, which identifies a number of key objectives that are closely linked to the very essence of the Erasmus+ programme and the KA131 action. Since the beginning of its participation in the Programme, the University of Verona has endeavoured to fulfil its commitment to the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE), respecting its principles and fully implementing them. Specifically, the key objectives are as follows: 1) to increase the number of students participating in mobility activities (both outgoing and incoming students), especially after the drop caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the overall number of outgoing mobilities as well. The Final Report of the 2018 call recorded a total number of 745 participants, which is the highest number of participants under the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ Programme. Unluckily the following years activities (2019 and 2020 Final Reports) were affected by Covid-19 and the total number of participants dropped to 737 in 2019 and to 704 in 2020. The call 2021 was highly affected by Covid-19 and the overall number of participants fell to 666. Therefore the first aim of this project was to reach at least 2018 number of mobilities. A very similar dynamic shaped the outlook for incoming mobilities from 2018 to 2021 as well, even though the figures are smaller compared to outgoing mobility flows (record of incoming students under the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ Programme: 346 participants for the Academic Year 2018/2019); 2) to increase the internationalisation of third-cycle programmes: the synergy between Erasmus mobility and third cycle remains a fundamental cornerstone for achieving one of the objectives of the university's internationalization strategy, which aims to increase the level of internationalization of doctoral courses and increase the international mobility of doctoral students. Traineeship mobilites, especially, are a precious opportunity to strenghten the level of internationalization of our doctoral programmes; 3) to increase the total number of courses taught in English: the University of Verona is committed to the internationalization of its study programmes and it is interested in increasing its international attractiveness. For this precise purposes, from 2015 on, the University started to offer programmes entirely taught in English, especially at Master's Degree level, which are oftern related to double-degree programmes. The courses thaught in English are available to incoming students and are a powerful tool to attract students from abroad; 4) to establish and/or strengthen collaborations with other universities in Europe and beyond: the Erasmus+ Programme is an incomparable ally for the improvement of the international relations of European universities. The University of Verona is strongly committed to this improvement and it has to be underlined that the main part of its international mobility partners are institutions established in the Programme Countries (more than 80% of the total).

Project partners (1)