Workshop A: INCLUSIVE AND SMART GROWTH IN THE SPIRIT OF LIFELONG
LEARNING
Moderator:
Edmond Girasek, Health Services Management Training Centre, Semmelweis University
Assoc. Prof. Nikolay Mihailov, University of Ruse, Bulgaria
Rapporteur:
Dr. Anikó Kálmán, Associate Professor, Institute of Applied Pedagogy and Psychology,
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Author:
Prof. DSc Hristo Beloev, Assoc. Prof. N. Mihailov, Ch. Ass. St. Smrikarova, Angel Kanchev
University of Ruse, Bulgaria
The experience of the University of Ruse in Lifelong Learning Programme
The international activity of the University of Ruse started to develop right after the
University’s foundation. During the first years it was expressed mainly in student exchange.
The most active period was from 1980 till 1989 when teachers performed many short-term
and long-term specializations and hosted colleagues from abroad, organized summer
placements for students. Of course, main partners were universities from East-Europe.
The aim of the present report is to analyze the state, the tendencies, and problems of
the diverse international activity after the socio-economic changes in 1989. After the
changes, the international activity has developed on a new quality level. For the first time
partnership with universities from West Europe developed on a large scale. The beginning
was marked by the first agreements under TEMPUS programme. The programme allowed
the updating of the study programmes, modernization of laboratories, improving the
qualification of the teaching staff in the strongest faculties of the university – the Mechanical
and the Electrical engineering faculties.
A substantional change in the international activity of the University occurred when the
LLP and its sub-programmes started. The two main reasons for implementing the
programme are well-known:
• A knowledge-based economy requires constant increase in the level of learning
abilities;
• The relatively unstable market, offering goods with shorter product life cycle.
Among the sub-programmes Erasmus, Comenius, Leonardo Da Vinci and Grundtvig,
the Erasmus programme has become the most important for the University. The University
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has adopted internal rules for academic exchange (selection, recognition, control, etc.) The
effectiveness of the programme is expressed in the number of students who have studied in
European higher education institutions – 129 students in 2010 alone.
The most attractive are the partners in Belgium, Germany and Sweden – they have
accepted 31, 18 and 11 students respectively. One of the underlying reasons is that the
study programmes are very much identical. However, there are cases when courses in the
learning agreements of the students do not have an equivalent course in our curriculum
because of differences in the contents. In such cases these courses are recognized by
entering them in the national diploma supplements of the students. The choice of the
subjects is done by the student and the departmental ECTS coordinator and they choose
equivalent subjects, on one hand, and on the other hand, subjects that widen the knowledge
of the student. The credits received are a proof of the student’s achievements when applying
for a job.
An increased interest towards the non-EU country Turkey makes an impression. Its
geographical closeness and the great number of Turkish speaking students, having relatives
in Turkey, are the key factors for the increased mobility.
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Fig. 1 Mobility of students to foreign universities in 2010 (number).
2
The University achieves one of the goals of the Erasmus programme – versatile and
sustainable partnership (Fig. 1 and 2). The statistics shows that the main faculties maintain a
positive trend in terms of number of outgoing students since 2007. It becomes clear that in
2010 the subject area of business and management has attracted the highest interest. The
figure shows that during all years the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Faculty has sent
the highest number of students. One of the reasons is that the interest towards the subjects
taught in this area is very strong.
2007
2008
2009
2010
N
50
40
30
20
10
0
Agrarian Mechanical Transport
Electrical Pedagogy Business
Health
Law
Silistra
Faculty
Fig. 2 Dynamics of student mobility by faculty (years 2007-2010)
The total mobility in the university in year 2010 has increased vastly in comparison to
previous years – 428 trips in 2010 and 300-350 trips in the preceding 7 years (fig.3). A
substantial increase in the duration of the mobilities is also observed. The comparison to the
results achieved in 2009 shows that the total number of students has increased from 92 to
129 in 2010. Nevertheless, a weak point is the small number of teacher long-term
specializations. In 2010 only 3 teachers have realized a long-term mobility.
As a long-term perspective, it is needed to achieve a better quality of international
mobility. Through Erasmus exchange, teachers and doctoral students should be encouraged
to more actively participate in research projects which will help their scientific growth. It is of
great importance to preserve the policy of flexibility when recognizing study periods abroad,
in spite of the lack of complete equivalency of subjects.
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N
400
350
Staff and Students
300
250
Bachelor, Master
students
200
150
Doctoral Students
100
50
0
2007
2008
2009
2010
Fig. 3 Dynamics of total mobility in the university (years 2007 – 2010)
In 2010 the agreements with new partners continued to rise (fig.4). The Erasmus
bilateral agreements available in 2010 are more than 150, signed with 130 partner
universities and companies from 26 European countries. During the last year, 49 of the
agreements have been fulfilled, which means that most of the agreements are not utilized or
have been signed with no serious intention. A positive trend is the students’ increased
interest towards placement in leading companies dealing with nanotechnologies, computer
science and renewable energy sources.
4
Country
Belgium
Denmark
Estonia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Latvia
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Spain
Sweden
Turkey
UK
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Number
Fig. 4 .Erasmus Bilateral agreements signed in 2010
A weak point is the low degree of reciprocity of mobility which is a main idea in the
international partnership. In 2010 the incoming Erasmus teaching staff mobility was realized
by only 13 teachers. Three Erasmus Mundus projects have contributed to a rise in the
student incoming mobility - 22 students and teachers from Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaidjan have visited our university. Incoming student mobility, according to their country
of origin, is shown on fig 5.
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44'
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Fig. 5. Incoming exchange students
Among the main reasons for the small number of incoming mobility are the difference
in the life standards and the insufficient number of courses in the English language. For
years, a main problem for the participants in Erasmus mobility has been the size of the
grants. Bulgaria has the lowest GDP per inhabitant in the EU and that means our students
need more financial means in order to study in the rest of the countries. In spite of the longlasting talks with the governments of Bulgaria, a national contribution to the grants has not
yet been applied. Another persistent problem has been the insufficient foreign language
abilities of engineering students which hinders the growth of the mobility rate.
The students are encouraged to undertake an Erasmus mobility through the issuing
of the European Diploma Supplement (DS). The University of Ruse issues the DS since
2004 when it was legally adopted by the Parliament. It is an important addition to the national
diploma and does not substitute the national supplement. The DS is issued to every student,
free of charge, in Bulgarian and/or in English.
The University has a great success in participating in Erasmus Thematic Networks. In
2010 the university was a partner in 15 projects. During the last 9 years the university has
been a coordinator of three consecutive thematic networks with at least 65 partners each
from 31 European countries. The subject area of the networks is computer science. The first
network aimed at creating of recommended study programmes and curricula for bachelor
and master degree, and the second dealt with computing in doctoral degree programmes.
The first two networks served as a base for the third one which title is Teaching, Research
and Innovation in Computing Education and is being executed now. The theme covers the
topic of today’s conference - KNOWLEDGE TRIANGLE - TEACHING, RESEARCH AND
INNOVATION. The general objective of the network is to introduce research and innovations
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in the field of Computing education and training, and to establish the principles of effective,
high quality relation between: Teaching, based on innovative educational technologies;
Research, based on scientific methods, included in the education of students in all the three
cycles of study; Innovations through close cooperation with companies and small and
medium size enterprises in the field of Computing. The main problems occurring during the
project implementation are connected to the huge administrative burden while coordinating
all partners and at the same time the relatively low budget. A great advantage of the projects
is that many bilateral agreements had been signed with the partners and a significant
number of students performed mobility. The University of Ruse actively participates in the
other sectoral programmes of LLP, too.
In conclusion, it should be said that the University of Ruse has an overall successful
participation in LLP characterized by full transparency of academic exchange. The EC has
awarded the university the label ”Partner in Europe” for successful coordination of the
European Thematic Networks even before our country became member of the EU. Also the
Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science has awarded the University the “Pythagoras”
prize for its active international activity. We are convinced that the only path to the
University’s further development on European level is the constant widening of its
international activity, both in study and research area. Thus we will improve the quality of the
study process and we will achieve higher scientific results.
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