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Higher education student and staff mobility project
Start date: Jun 1, 2014, End date: May 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

One of the essential elements of the development strategy of the University of Opole (hereinafter referred to as UO) is to increase the level of internationalization of the institution. The particular attention is paid to the intensification of attempts connected with both acquisition and implementation of new projects which ultimately are carried out in cooperation with both EU partners and non-EU partners. One of such projects, viewed as a priority in our institution, is the mobility project for higher education students and staff carried out with Programme Countries. In the financial agreement embracing the financial period between June 1, 2014 and May 30, 2016, all of the mobility categories were included. The final numbers of outgoing mobilities were as follows: Student Mobility for Studies – 84, Student Mobility for Traineeships – 26, Staff Mobility for Teaching – 59, Staff Mobility for Training – 12. Among the participants of the project there were also students in difficult financial situation. In order to be able to complete those mobilities, the University of Opole obtained additional funds within the framework of ESF Programme Knowledge Education Development which enabled to finance 12 outgoing mobilities. One of the objectives of the following project was to improve the quality of functioning of the UO as a HEI by participation of its staff members in foreign mobilities. During those mobilities they not only increased their own professional skills and language competence but they also benefited from being a part of the international work environment using that experience for intensification of acquiring external funds for the realization of future projects. Among others, staff members had an opportunity to learn innovative teaching methods as well as to compare organization of education systems of respective institutions, to exchange good practices, and also to get to know means of work organization connected with effective management of the HEI. Staff mobilities, realized according to the principles of UO Erasmus+ Programme Policy, helped to improve the standards of teaching and academic research both in home and host institutions. There was a significant increase in interest in the implementation of international projects, and extremely dynamic actions were conducted towards the further development of a network of contacts with foreign partner institutions, with which at the moment a multi-dimensional and intensified cooperation in the scientific, educational and artistic fields is carried out. Thanks to the participation of staff members in foreign mobilities the number of courses taught in foreign languages has significantly increased recently. Efforts to launch more degree study programmes taught in English have also been made. Mobility of students aimed at making them spend a study period at a foreign partner university was to raise their educational, linguistic and intercultural competence. Students of all specialities taught at the University of Opole were invited to take part in the mobility programme.The perfect complement to this offer were traineeships abroad, which gave students the opportunity to apply their academic knowledge in practice and to increase their competitiveness in the domestic and international labour markets. A particular success reflecting the determination of the University to fully implement the overall strategy of the UO for the years 2014-2020, in which a significant increase in the number of outgoing students for traineeships had been planned, is the realization of as many as 26 outgoing traineeships though, in the initial phase of the project, the financial agreement provided for the implementation of only one mobility of this kind. Also the number of incoming trainees significantly increased. Foreign traineeships at the UO were carried out by 9 trainees as compared to 5 trainees in the previous academic year. The number of incoming teachers who conducted classes also increased significantly reaching the number of 30. In order to meet the demands of coordinating the project, and above all with a view to further improving the quality of services provided for students and staff members, the number of staff of the Office of Research and International Relations, which coordinates the activities carried out within the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme at the UO, has been raised. The big change was the employment of a person from Afghanistan, a former Erasmus+ student, whose knowledge of Turkish facilitates communication with the growing number of students coming from Turkey, and collaboration with partner institutions from this country. The implementation of Erasmus+ Programme had a positive impact on the increase of the level of internationalization of the University, helping in improving the attractiveness and competitiveness of its offer, developing its research, as well as deepening the integration on the European and global scale.
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