Activities and Projects 2013/2014

SGROUP EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES' NETWORK A Gateway to Europe

SGROUP EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES' NETWORK 3 The SGroup is a network with over 25 years of experience in university collaboration within Europe and beyond SGroup members The SGroup European Universities’ Network (SGroup) is a non-for-profit organisation founded in 1989 composed of over 30 higher education institutions from 15 European countries. The SGroup is a dynamic platform for modern, internationally orientated universities with the aim of expanding collaboration opportunities in education and research through the transfer of knowledge and development of strategic alliances. Its mission is based on four core areas of co-operation – internationalisation strategy, academic collaboration, academic mobility, and transfer of knowledge.

SGROUP EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES’ NETWORK To reinforce international strategies of members To expand collaboration opportunities in education and research To improve the quality of governance, teaching, research, and administrative practices VISION

- Berkley Exchange Programme – USA - Alfa Puentes – Latin America - ICon – Intercontinental Academic Mobility Programme - STEP Programme – Placements for students SELECTED PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES Document Title Here same font size 14 Regional Collaboration & Mobility - Summer schools for Doctoral Students - Specialised workshops and seminars - United Nations Academic Impact Project Transfer of Knowledge - Collaboration with university associations and HEIs with Latin America (AUGM, FAUBAI, ASCUN) - Erasmus Mundus iDEA Project Strategic Alliances - Networking for EU funded projects - Assistance with internationalisation of Science and Technology - Specialised courses and workshops Strengthening Research Capacities

SELECTED SGROUP-CO-ORIDNATED MOBILITY PROJECTS The ICon Programme intends to facilitate mobility between the participating regions and institutions to enhance academic and research collaboration The ICon Programme is an international mobility initiative between higher education institutions belonging to the SGroup European Universities’ Network (SGroup) and their partner institutions overseas (from Eastern Partnership, Latin America, and China to SGroup members and reverse) The Programme aims at the exchange of knowledge and experience between regions through academic mobility at all levels: –Undergraduate students –Graduate students –Doctoral candidates SGroup role: Global Coordinator for Eastern Partnership, Latin America and China lots –Postdocs –Academic Staff –Administrative Staff 7

SELECTED SGROUP-CO-ORIDNATED MOBILITY PROJECTS The ICon Programme intends to facilitate mobility between the participating regions and institutions to enhance academic and research collaboration Benefits for ICon Programme for SGroup members: Privileged access to a wide range of reliable and recognised institutions; Structured information about diverse study offers available in Europe and LA; All types of academic mobility available; Visibility and promotion of partner institutions in both regions; Recognition of study and quality assurance mechanisms. Possibility of networking for new funding programmes; Facilitation of bilateral collaboration between individual universities as well as the associations of universities from both regions. 8

Alfa PUENTES - Building Capacity of University Associations in fostering Latin American Regional Integration The ALFA PUENTES project is an international cooperation initiative aimed to boost regional development of higher education in Latin America, managed and implemented by university associations in both LA and Europe. The project is designed to improve mechanisms for modernisation, reform and harmonisation of education systems in Latin America and to enhance EU-LA university partnership. The ALFA PUENTES supports three sub-regional initiatives (Mercosur, Andean Community, and the Mesoamerican Region) that focus on processes related to teaching and learning, mobility and internationalization, quality assurance (QA) and university governance. SGroup role: Partner institution Alfa Puentes is an international cooperation project between Europe and Latin America, aimed at improving and modernising the higher education system in Latin America and at harmonising curricula between the two continents. 9 CURRENT INTERNATIONAL EU-FUNDED PROJECTS

EGRACONS - European GRAding CONversion System The European GRAding CONversion System - EGRACONS proposes a practical approach to compare the grade conversion systems across Europe and to increase the understanding of the grading cultures by the academic and non-academic stakeholders. The project aims at designing and developing an IT tool for the conversion of grades to allow universities to ensure a fair transfer and recognition of grades of mobility students according to the ECTS Users’ Guide published by the European Commission in The project consortium representing almost 80 higher education institutions from 34 countries, and other interested parties are seeking to arrive at a common European approach to ECTS grading tables implementation. SGroup role: Joint-Coordinator with the Gent University EGRACONS aims at developing a user-friendly web-based tool for grade conversion that will be made available to all European HEIs on a voluntary basis enabling transparent interpretation of students’ accomplishments. 10 CURRENT INTERNATIONAL EU-FUNDED PROJECTS

IMOTION - Integration and Promotion of Staff Training Courses at Universities The main aim of the project is the creation of an online platform that will collect and display staff training opportunities at European level. This platform will help: –HEI organising staff training to promote their events; –HEI organising job shadowing to look for appropriate staff ; –HEI staff to find the appropriate training or job shadowing opportunities; –HEI to get feedback from the participants at staff training events SGroup role: Partner institution The platform will help academic and administrative staff of Higher Education Institutions in Europe find and evaluate staff training events in an integrated and systematic way. 11 CURRENT INTERNATIONAL EU-FUNDED PROJECTS

SELECTED INTERNAL SGROUP PROJECTS 2013/2014 SGroup facilities cooperation among its member universities by offering funding to bottom-up initaitves proposed by member universities for the Seed Money Programme. 4-5 projects are sponsored on annual basis each with up to 5000 Euros each on an annual basis. ProjectsInstitutions INTENT - Integrating Telecollaboration into your International Programmes Co-ordinated by the University of Leon in collaboration with the University of Le Havre R/EVOLUTIONS - Enhancing integration between young researchers from SG members through development of an international political research journal Lead by Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznan in collaboration with the University of Kent and the Malmo University EARTHə - Europe and Africa Resource for Transcontinental Higher Education Co-ordinated by Babes-Bolyai University in collaboration with the Sapienza University of Rome and Rovira i Virgili University Creation of a co-operation platform between European Careers Services with SG Network Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznan 12

More information about SGroup and the membership conditions you can find Associate membership – universities from non-European countries. Entry to this class of membership will be by invitation of the Executive Committee and endorsement by the General Assembly. Full membership – universities from across Europe which have signed the SGroup Charter. Entry to this class of membership will be reserved to universities offering PhD or equivalent degree courses and endorsement by the General Assembly. SGroup enables its members: –to network for EU-funded projects in education and research; –to exchange good practices; –to share experiences; –to participate in specialised work groups, seminar and training courses; –to access first-hand information about educational and research policies in Europe –to promote expertise and to increase visibility of its members –to identify opportunities for academic collaboration HOW TO COLLABORATE WITH SGROUP? 13

BENEFITS FROM MEMBERSHIP 14

BENEFITS FROM MEMBERSHIP 15

BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS International visibility Access to a large number of HEIs in Europe and overseas Expansion of research collaboration opportunities Exchange of knowledge and expertise Networking and participation in EU-funded projects Access to state-of-the-art IT tool to manage academic mobility INSTITUTIONS Access to academic mobility at all levels SG Doctoral Summer Schools Access to centralised platform for exchanges and collaboration Access to funding of innovative ideas Collaboration in EU-funded projects Networking opportunities for projects Visibility of individual expertise Participation in tailor-made workshops and seminars INDIVIDUALS

SG COMMUNITY We invite all academic community of SG member universities e.g. teachers, researchers, PhD candidates, and administrative staff to register at our platform made available at The SG Community enables: – to obtain information about our projects and collaboration opportunities – to join specific work groups or a database of experts – to interact with partners universities – to share expertise with SG members whenever appropriate To register please follow this link:

CONTACT SGroup European Universities’ Network Rue de Stassart 119 Brussels, Belgium