Personally Tailored Exchange Opportunities at VMU Partner Institutions
Transform4Europe, an alliance of seven European universities, gives VMU students the opportunity to go abroad for academic exchange according to each student’s personal profile. Academic exchange abroad is not only an opportunity to gain knowledge in the most advanced institutions in the subject of study, but also an opportunity to get acquainted with different European cultures and to forge personal and professional relationships for the future.
IT and biology in Germany
The University of Saarland, a partner of Transform4Europe in Germany, is located in the extreme west of the country, just 10 kilometres from the French border. Due to the its location in the centre of Western Europe, Germany, the Benelux countries and Paris can be easily reached from the university campus.
The university, founded by the joint effort of France and Germany, has a particularly high level of interculturalism. More than 21 percent of all 17,000 current university students are of a foreign background. Thus Saarland is one of the most international universities in Germany.
However, the university is best known for science and studies: it has two internationally recognized science and technology centres. The cluster of computer research and advanced software has been funded several times by the prestigious German university excellence programme. In addition to classic IT studies, particularly high-level research allows the university to offer students specialized study programmes such as cybersecurity and entrepreneurship, visual computing, data science, and artificial intelligence.
Another NanoBioMed cluster focuses on interdisciplinary research in nanobiotechnology, human and molecular biology, molecular medicine, and modelling of biological systems. The aim in this area is to develop interdisciplinary collaboration in particularly promising field of medical, pharmaceutical, life sciences and bioinformatics research.
Entrepreneurship and management in Spain
The Transform4Europe network also includes the University of Alicante, located in a Spanish resort on the Mediterranean coast. Due to the large proportion of students among the population, the city of Alicante is known for its active nightlife.
Today, over 30,000 students study at one of Spain’s fastest-growing universities. The pride of the university is its strategically planned modern campus with all the necessary infrastructure concentrated in one location.
Entrepreneurship is one of the strongest fields of the university. Alicante has dedicated its focus on entrepreneurship in its “ua: emprende” programme, the main goals of which are to help students mature business ideas, launch market-oriented initiatives and spread entrepreneurial culture among university community. The university not only trains and provides business mentoring, but also rewards and financially promotes their most innovative and sustainable ideas of its students.
Another strength of the university is the institutional management. “Futurlab” is a special-purpose research centre whose main goal is to help public and private institutions become more competitive, proactive, innovative and forward-looking through the transfer of knowledge and the results of scientific research, training and benchmarking. The centre is distinguished by the fact that it also conducts research and applies it to solve actual institutional problems.
Fine and applied arts in Estonia
In addition to VMU, Transform4Europe in the Baltics also includes the Estonian Academy of Arts. Located in the heart of Tallinn, the academy is the country’s main venue for studies and research in the fields of visual and applied arts.
The academy has over a thousand students in various fields of art. The size of its community is one of the academy’s strengths. It leads to a thorough orientation towards internationality. Over 60 percent of all students participate in foreign exchanges, while the academy actively involves full-time and visiting lecturers from abroad. Also, due to the small number of students in the academy, the ratio of faculty to students is particularly low, allowing the institution to pay exceptional attention to the individual needs of students.
The main advantage of the academy is the opportunity to offer a wide range of art studies and research to students of ordinary universities. The Academy organizes studies in all branches of art, from applied and fine arts, design to art theory.
The academy has 50 well-equipped workshops for each branch of art, staffed by trained craftsmen ready to help students implement their projects. In addition to practice, art research focuses on cultural heritage, architecture and urban development, inclusive design and living environment innovation. Meanwhile, practice and theory are combined in the academy’s Sustainable Design and Material Laboratory.
Law and education in Poland
Transform4Europe’s partner in Poland is the University of Silesia, located in the south of the country. The city of Katowice, home to the university, is one of the largest agglomerations in Europe with a population of almost 2 million residents. There are several large universities in the city, so Katowice has a particularly high student population – almost every third resident is a student.
The university coordinates its activities in the context of the overall transformation of Silesia from an industrial area to a modern centre for sustainable innovation. The focus on law stands out from the broad profile of the university. There are as many as three research centres specializing in the field of contemporary law.
The Centre for the Law of Design, Fashion and Advertising employs artists, lawyers and academics who promote the interaction between the arts and business, drawing on the theory and practice of intellectual property law. The Research Centre for Public Competition Law and Sector Regulation deals with legal, economic, technical and social issues in economic competition. Finally, the Silesian Centre for Legal Engineering, Technology and Digital Competence, which focuses on cyber security, legaltech, fintech, the digital economy, artificial intelligence, blockchain and electronic identification technologies.
Another distinctive feature of the university is its focus on education. The Interdisciplinary Centre for Research on Humanistic Education combines insights from the humanities and glottodidactics to develop teaching methodologies for contemporary teachers. Meanwhile, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Staff Development researches and helps to apply human resource management frameworks for higher education professionals.
Heritage and political science in Bulgaria
Sofia University, part of the Transform4Europe Alliance, is located in the Bulgarian capital. Founded in 1880, the university is the largest and best higher education institution in the country. Both Bulgaria and its capital, Sofia, with a population of 1.5 million, are particularly affordable for study and research.
In terms of science and studies, the university stands out in the fields of heritage and political science. The Centre for Archaeometry and the laboratory of restoration and conservation specialize in analytical non-invasive research on archaeological materials, art monuments, and research on the reconstruction and restoration of archaeological artefacts. It is on the basis of this centre that the university is developing a centre of excellence in heritage research and application with the support of EU funding.
In the field of political science, the university’s profile is strongest in European affairs. Many faculties offer specialized bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral courses and modules in European public policy. It also hosts an international interdisciplinary cycle of doctoral summer schools for four years in a row to explore the idea of Europe and its borders in the social sciences and humanities. The university has also been working with the University of Saarland for more than 20 years, co-organizing EU study seminars and summer schools.
Physics and mathematics in Italy
Trasnform4Europe’s partner in Italy is the University of Trieste, a port in the north-east of the country. Trieste’s geographical location allows easy access to the nearby Alps, Venice, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria.
The university is located in a culturally diverse region, where Latin, Germanic and Slavic cultures meet. The city of Trieste is known for its high quality of life and more than a dozen diverse international research centres.
The university’s strength lies in the physical sciences. As the International Center for Theoretical Physics also operates in Trieste, the university works closely with the most advanced researchers in the field. Among the strongest areas developed by the university and the centre are research on particles, cosmology and astral particles, condensed matter, and statistical physics.
The university is also advanced in the field of mathematics, the latter being rated by the Italian ministry of education as having the highest academic potential in the country. The university’s faculty of mathematics and geosciences works closely with the International School of Advanced Research in Trieste. The school is active in mathematics, physics and neurology and offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses and gives students at the University of Trieste access to powerful supercomputers and the well-outfitted laboratories.
Study Exchange and Traineeship Opportunities for Students
All information on all on-going competitions for Study Exchange and International Traineeships can be found here.
Still wondering where to go or apply?
On March 1–3 join Erasmus Days’22 during which you will be able to find out more about exchange opportunities. The events will allow you to get to learn more about the mobility opportunities, hear about experiences of other students, and join various interesting and meaningful initiatives. During these three days full of both online and on-site events, students will share their experiences, and will learn more about mobility.
