Three years with Erasmus+: International Credit Mobility

Since 2015, the Erasmus+ programme has also expanded to countries outside Europe, making it possible to generously support departures, and especially arrivals of students and teaching and non-teaching staff. Erasmus+: International Credit Mobility, as the program is called, is a bit more elite compared to classic Erasmus. The project application, which is written very specifically with selected institutions, is strictly evaluated due to its limited grant, and it is not easy to get support for the given cooperation. However, in the Call 2019, which just ended this semester, our university succeeded and we implemented mobilities with five institutions: Aleksandër Moisiu University of Durres from Albania, International Burch University from Bosnia and Herzegovina, University of Montenegro from Montenegro, Tafila Technical University from Jordan and Kazakh-British Technical University from Kazakhstan.

The mobility part of the program itself began in September 2019, but its implementation was soon affected by covid, which made travel much more difficult, especially outside the borders of the European Union. The situation calmed down a little with the academic year 2021/2022, when most of the planned trips took place. During a three-year period, we sent students to Albania for a practical internship, while at the university we welcomed Kazakh, Jordanian, Albanian and Montenegrin students who spent at least one semester studying here. Employees also travelled in both directions, whether their goal was teaching, establishing closer cooperation in studies or research, or participating in International Week. In total, 72 mobilities were carried out during this three-year program period, for which almost EUR 160,000 was spent on scholarships, almost 58,000 EUR on 49 business trips and approx. 102,000 EUR on 23 study stays.

It is still possible to participate in the programme, the deadline for project applications is every year in February. We are currently awaiting the results of the Call 2022, in which we are applying for cooperation with nine institutions.