Erasmus+ goes International: AUTh’s experience DEEP-2015 © Erasmus+ Contact Seminar with the Western Balkans Testimonials on Organisation for International Cooperation Sophia Fourlari Dpt. of European Educational Programmes

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki HELLAS The oldest E.U. member state in S.E Europe ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY The largest University of the country dominates the city THE REGION 2 continents 7 countries 7 capitals THESSALONIKI THESSALONIKI The city is a center among centers of decision making SKOPJE SOFIA ATHENS ISTANBUL (CONSTANTINOPLE) TIRANA BELGRADE BUCHAREST 2 THESSALONIKI

International mobility in AUTh: Erasmus Mundus International Scientific Agreements Erasmus Mundus I.S.A. 250 incoming 17 outgoing 70 mobilities yearly (average) W. Balkans since 1992

ERASMUS+ INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY

Partnerships with Western Balkan under Erasmus+ Albania 2 Universities 3 incoming 3 outgoing Bosnia & Herzegovina 1 University 3 incoming 3 outgoing Serbia 4 universities 22 incoming 18 outgoing

Preparing to apply… Evaluation of existing/suggested collaborations More Contact with faculty staff Contact with international partners Existing collaboration AUTh international strategy Good perspectives of collaboration Erarmus+ International Supervising committee More Application: A joint venture Dpt. of Eur. Ed. Programmes Dpt.of International Relations Experienced staff International strategy of AUTh Invite our neighbours Optimize our experience

Preparing to apply… Erasmus+ International Advisory committee Background: Advisory committees: Important administration tool in AUTh May include the Rector, Deputy Rectors, faculty staff, administrative staff Erasmus+ International Committee: Required by Hellenic National Agency (IKY) Created out of the Erasmus+ committee Role: Advising on International Mobility in line with the Internationalisation Policy of AUTh Evaluation of the existing international cooperation Evaluation of proposals of collaboration Process

Preparing to apply… Evaluation of the existing international cooperation International Scientific Agreements 1977 – 1 st ISA ever with Bulgaria Western Balkans since 1992 Erasmus Mundus Consortia 10 EM Action 2 consortia in different areas 4 EM Action 1 Consortia Faculty staff cooperation/contacts All over the world Activity Reliability Willingness Argumentation Status of the institution Support mechanisms offered Final list of Universities Process

Success stories & difficulties in the application Fields of the application – Qualitative remarks + When long cooperation exists - Recent or no cooperation +/- Correlation with mobility except for EM partners - Similar for countries & geographical region Fields of the application – Technical remarks +/- Length restriction Good for the time frame Generic descriptions Budget + Automatic generated tables (extremely helpful!) - Hard work to allocate budget taking into account: Level (students/staff) Country Incoming/Outgoing Great reciprocal interest in certain countries

Preparing to apply… On - line form for the participating institutions Info needed for the application In line with the fields of the application Practical, easy to use and easy to update Contacts with selected universities: Mostly by ViewView full form

Implementation of the programme Bilateral agreements Interinstitutional agreements Under development Validated by the Erasmus+ International advisory committee Validated by the National Agency Flexible allocation of mobilities: “Max. of country” for each university Actual number to be decided upon demand from partners

Implementation of the programme Existing good practices and development of new ones Orientation 2 orientation weeks / year Language learning Free language courses (in situ, online) Social & cultural integration Close with ESN Celebrations/Parties Academic assistance Erasmus Mundus coordinators English-taught courses Generic courses for all incoming Mobility accreditation system for selection of grantees (outgoing) Recognition procedures aligned with ECTS (for difference systems) “ Post-mobility” assistance Transcript of records Grant issues Academic aspects

Implementation of the programme Existing good practices and development of new ones MOEBIUS ‘Home-made’ software Online applications Bilateral agreements Direct financial monitoring Mobility documents Administrative assistance Erasmus ID Card Visa Residence permit Mobility documents Grant transfer to back account Data and info for institutional evaluation or control procedures Statistics Dissemination Info – days within & out of AUTh Printed matter Exchange of meetings Management

Towards Erasmus+ International 2016 application and further Express more explicitly targets, goals and actions to be taken Evaluate current mobilities (as much as possible) Pursue further collaboration with Western Balkan countries Initiate new collaborations (e.g. Montenegro, Kosovo) Involve Erasmus+ International partners in other joint projects (e.g. Erasmus+ KA2 projects)

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