One of the priorities of Caucasus International University is to ensure high-quality teaching and research, which is impossible without international partners nowadays. The University has been effectively implementing international cooperation and the process of internationalization for years. Academic staff, students and administration have been engaged in this process.
Svetlana Kirakosyan, University International Relations Officer supervises exchange programs. We contacted her for detailed information.
- How much has the university partnership network increased?
- The university, at this stage, has signed an agreement of collaboration with about 65 foreign universities. This number is increasing annually. We are permanently working on attracting new partners, and strengthening relations with the existing universities. Collaboration involves the implementation of the exchange program and the recruitment of lecturers from partner universities, and vice versa, the sending of our professors. Various research and educational activities planned and implemented jointly are an important part of the partnership.
- Mainly, universities of which countries collaborate closely with CIU?
- Ratings vary from year to year. Currently, we have the closest partnership with Polish universities. In addition, we are actively collaborating with Baltic universities: higher institutions of Lithuania and Latvia. We have established a partnership with Spanish universities and we implement joint projects with four top rating universities. We cooperate with the universities of Slovakia and Italy in the field of viticulture and winemaking. The latest news is partnerships with South Korean universities.
- How much does the university fund when a student goes to a partner university for an exchange program?
- There are several types of exchange programs: First, this is Erasmus plus, which is a program funded by the European Commission. In this case, in cooperation with the partner university, we submit a single application for funding. Then, the funding is renewed annually by the European Commission. Such kinds of exchange programs are fully funded.
Second, - these are university programs, which are in most cases co-funded when the university provides certain benefits for the student or offers partial funding.
Third – it is an exchange program based on a bilateral agreement.
- How often do students use exchange programs?
- We have exchange programs on a semester basis and we implement at least four. We have a different quota for each of them. However, some universities do not have quotas at all, and we can even send more than twenty students ... If vacant places are limited, quotas are set in advance before each exchange program is implemented.
- Which universities are the most popular among universities?
- This also varies according to faculties. Judging by the numbers, there is more mobility in old partner universities. The University of Lodz in Poland should be distinguished.
- Does the student semt by the exchange program have any further privileges later?
- Of course, he or she does. An exchange student becomes more confident and independent, which helps a lot in professional or personal growth. The education obtained abroad gives students the ability to perceive and evaluate events differently. As for employment, young people who have studied abroad are privileged.
Prepared by the students: Mariam Midelauri and Julieta Okruashvili
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