From 4th – 17th March 2018, a total number of 30 representatives from the 10 Kurdish partner institutions of the Erasmus+ TIGRIS Project travelled to Europe to participate in study visits to the European partner institutions.
Their journey led them half across Europe from Brno to Prague to Groningen to Leuven. At each destination, specially tailored programmes consisting of seminars and workshops awaited the Kurdish participants covering a broad range of topics and offering the latest know-how in internationalization of higher education in Europe.
At Masaryk University, the participants took part in a comprehensive training programme introducing the partners to the management of modern day international relations offices and offering practical training on related tasks such as project writing & management as well as international marketing.
The visit to the Global Impact Institute focused on familiarizing the Kurdish partners with the latest and future trends in transnational education offering an insight into the ongoing internationalization efforts worldwide while also addressing topics like internationalisation of the curriculum and developing international degree programmes.
At the University of Groningen, the participants were provided with an in-depth look at everything related to international academic mobility and internationalization at home with topics ranging from international recruitment and admission requirements to running an international welcome center up to the establishing of a university’s own Language and Culture Policy.
During the final visit to KU Leuven, the Kurdish partners gained valuable insights into the application of instruments for internationalization such as the establishing of English language programmes as well as Joint & Double Degrees while also being introduced to research-focused topics like the internal allocation of research and lobbying and alliances in a research driven business.
Overall, the study visits were considered a great success receiving high evaluation results by the participating Kurdish partner institutions. Here are some of their comments:
“The five days visit to Czech Republic where we visited Masaryk University and Global Impact Institute were extremely beneficial for the individual development and more importantly for the internationalisation of the university.” Excerpt from the report on the study visits by Erbil Polytechnic University (EPU)
“The study visits were indeed very helpful and informative. As University of Raparin, we learned a great deal of things which we had a faint idea about before then, especially about the significance of internationalisation and the management of an international office. Moreover, another very important aspect of the study visits was national and international networking […] The visits allowed us to see that in Europe […], there are networks which allow participating institutes to combine their strengths while moving forward respectively. By identifying the weaknesses of each and every partner, such networks allow more effective collaboration.” Excerpt from the report on the study visits by University of Raparin (UOR)
“The seminars […] have been valuable and informative, especially with regard to contemporary topics and technologies. And the most important thing we learned […] is that we are working as a Team to reach the goal […].” Excerpt from the report on the study visits by Sulaimani Polytechnic University (SPU)
Agenda of the study visit to Masaryk University (MU)
Agenda of the study visits to Global Impact Institute (GII)