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Mobility of higher education students and staff supported by internal policy funds (KA131-HED) - Coordinator: SCUOLA SUPERIORE PER MEDIATORI LINGUISTICI

2023-1-IT02-KA131-HED-0001162382023Mobility of higher education students and stafffinalized
Countries: IT|BE|FR|DE|IE|LV|MT|RO|ES|UK · Grant: €109,074

Objectives

The Scuola Superiore per Mediatori Linguistici (SSML), Pisa focusses on training experts in applied languages, primarily for the corporate world, as well as translators and interpreters. The school offers five specialised curricula in the 1st cycle programme (Marketing and Communication, Fashion and Luxury Export Management, Sustainable Tourism Management, Multimedia and Audiovisual Translation, and International and Diplomatic Relations) and two curricula for the second cycle (Conference, Institutional and Congress Interpreting, and International Communication, Business and Marketing). All our degrees are focused on the acquisition and practical application of the two main languages studied. For this reason, studying or completing a traineeship abroad in a country where the languages studied by our students are spoken is of fundamental importance. Taking part in an Erasmus+ programme allows our students to develop an understanding of the culture underlying their language of study, the history of the country where it is spoken, and to immerse themselves in the academic and professional world of the country where their chosen language is used on a daily basis. As is evident from the titles of the SSML Pisa curricula, all our specialisations are intrinsically connected with the international sphere. These include communication, export, tourism, and diplomacy. SSML Pisa aims to prepare our students for today’s job market in which most companies, including small and medium-sized Italian businesses, already or aspire to operate on a European or global level. Participation in the Erasmus+ programme affords SSML students the opportunity to be part of this internationalized world and find employment more easily. However, SSML Pisa has other objectives beside this. We believe that student, faculty, and staff mobilities contribute to creating among participants a sense of belonging to Europe, to the European Union and to its values and achievements. Their stories and the actions inspired by their mobility experiences have the potential to reach many more people and have lasting long-term effects. Since the academic year 2013/2014, the Erasmus+ project has been an integral part of SSML’s educational structure, its educational strategy, and its mission for the internationalization of education. For a small institution like ours, the project is essential because, beyond enriching each individual participant, it allows SSML Pisa to embed itself within the European Higher Education Area. The Erasmus+ project represents real added value both for SSML as an institution and for its staff (teaching and administrative), as well as for the educational and personal training of each participant, first and foremost the students. Even those who cannot take part directly benefit from the programme as concrete links with partner institutions developed during mobilities are brought back and enrich the life of the school. Internationalization is also achieved through incoming mobilities (faculty, staff, students) who bring with them to the SSML their cultural, personal, and linguistic background, thus enriching the institution and the people with whom they interact in tangible ways. With regard to faculty mobility, internationalization takes the form of acquisition of new teaching methods, new technologies used for teaching, reciprocal exchange, and network-building. All this is reflected in classroom teaching, both at SSML Pisa and with our partners. Best practices in teaching can be shared while non-teaching staff mobilities contribute to developing best practices in project administration. With the signing of eight new inter-institutional agreements during the academic year 2024/2025, SSML Pisa is expanding the mobility opportunities it can offer to more and more students and staff. It is our conviction that every qualifying person who wishes to participate in the Erasmus+ programme should have the opportunity to do so. SSML Pisa encourages all its members to apply for Erasmus+ mobility because it firmly believes in its positive and lasting effect—both for the individual and for the community to which that individual belongs, as well as for the institution itself.

Project partners (1)