ERASMUS POLICY STATEMENT

UNIVERSITY OF PRIMORSKA

The University of Primorska (UP) embraces knowledge as its greatest and common value. We are aware of the world in which we operate and see an opportunity to make knowledge work for everyone.

At the core of each university are students, who deserve the best knowledge, opportunity and services. We teach them to become independent and responsible persons to succeed in their carrier in local, national or international environment. UP is open to all nationalities and actively recruit bright minds from abroad. Through individual work and international conferences and competitions, our students further develop skills for successful future careers.

Excellent studies are possible only with excellent internationally based research. UP creates an attractive environment for foreign staff, with strong support systems that provide a smooth transition into Slovene society. We are proud of our ability to recognise talent and provide an environment for students and staff to prosper.

Internationalization is a tool used by the university to improve the quality of education, research, and all working process.

In the UP Strategy for the Internationalization 2021-2027 UP encourages 5 objectives, that are: 

• UP will offer internationalization at home to create opportunities for multi- cultural experiences and competences
• UP will create high quality international research opportunities
• UP will have a high-quality partner network with global reach
• UP will have a highly efficient support system for international activities and experiences
• UP will be globally recognized for the quality of education and research

The Erasmus programme plays a key role in assisting UP in achieving the objectives outlined in our strategy.

Stimulating common higher education and research activities throughout the world 

Only through cooperation and collaboration can we be active participants in global education and research and achieve international recognition.

Research and pedagogic collaboration with colleagues from across the globe helps us keep on top of current developments and assures that we provide our students and graduates with skills and knowledge needed in a global economy and market.

UP supports initiatives aimed at fostering student and staff mobility for  education and research by actively promoting and early adoption of pioneering actions like European Student Card and Erasmus Without Paper initiatives.

Assuring equal participation and increasing opportunities

 UP is an open space welcoming all who want to learn, explore, or share the knowledge, regardless of their personal backgrounds. UP strives to attract students and staff from all parts of the world to create a diverse environment for study and research.

 There are more than 14% of foreign students currently enrolled at UP. We are actively finding opportunities to support different segments of our population, which includes scholarships for bright students, effect programs for identifying funds for international mobility and taking advantage of key opportunities that support international engagement.

 UP is open to all nationalities and is actively recruiting bright minds beyond its borders. Our students are encouraged to develop the skills needed for future careers through individual work and international conferences and competitions.

 UP strongly condemns any form of discrimination and assures equal opportunities for individuals with an interest in studying or working at UP. Support for foreigners smooths the transition, while additional funding and different opportunities for mobility enable participation to the disadvantaged.

Learning from each other

 Mobility is the driver of change. Incoming mobility and enrolment from abroad provide opportunities for UP to adapt our teaching methods and offer studies in foreign languages. UP’s study programme and subject offerings has been steadily increasing and will continue to expand for the foreseeable future.

Strong involvement of foreign professors and visitors in the pedagogic process expose all students to different languages, cultures and pedagogic teaching practices. This involvement provides students with intangible skills making them more open, curious, independent, and consequently employable.

At each moment we learn from each other. Not just in classrooms, but also in hallways. These experiences provide the foundation of life lessons. The Erasmus programme is the cornerstone most programme for student and staff mobility and is part of everyday life at UP. UP supports outgoing students and staff mobilities by providing financial aid and by creating opportunities for our students and obtaining the international partnership. Every year more than 130 mobile students visit the UP and more than 100 of our students go abroad.

We ensure full automatic recognition of all credits (based on the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System – ECTS) gained for those learning outcomes satisfactorily achieved during the period of study or training abroad.

We will continue our participation in all possible mobility flows of the programme. Under the Erasmus programme, participation will remain free and UP will charge no fees to incoming mobile students for tuition, registration, examinations or access to laboratory and library facilities.

Maintaining and improving partnerships

 Strong international engagement is possible only with strong partners. Our network of partners is constantly growing. More importantly, our collaboration with these partners are reaching new dimensions and improving our program quality and reach. Joint research, research infrastructure, innovation, pedagogic processes, student and staff exchanges, and other forms of collaboration bring us closer to one another. We have implemented joint summer programmes and are preparing for enhanced joint study programmes to move our partnerships to a higher level of collaboration.

The Bilateral Agreements with partners from all over the world are based on existing collaboration and the quality of the relationship with specific institution. Intense collaboration has been developed with all European countries and with the USA, China, Australia, Russia and Japan. Besides exchange partners, UP has developed strong cooperation with partners in various international networks such as UniAdrion, Danube Rectors Conference, Alps-Adriatic Rector Conference Research Committee and European University Association.

UP stimulates creation of new strategic partnerships and deepening of relationships with existing ones through involvement in capacity building projects, Jean-Monnet, European University, highly collaborative projects, and research bilateral projects.

Improving the services and diversifying funding

High quality services offered by UP make us an attractive environment. We place an emphasis on providing excellent services for foreigners and visitors. Our staff, in collaboration with other institutions in the area, supports them with administrative issues (visa, permit), accommodation possibilities and helps eases their transition through orientation days, free language courses by offering constant, prompt and useful support. UP’s services are constantly being upgraded to assure the attractiveness of the university.

Staff also works on securing funding for internationalisation of the university. Diversification of funding brings greater adaptability and less dependence on a single scheme. We are constantly working on identifying new opportunities for our own and visiting students and staff and utilise scholarships and grants from different governments. We also openly accept students and staff with grants from their institutions.

Making the knowledge triangle work

The university conducts pedagogic and research activities. UP is working in close collaboration with local businesses, which assures innovative solutions being used in the market. Our researchers work on solutions for companies in Europe, develop projects with businesses and mentor students for employment in private sectors.

Where study programmes expect students to participate in traineeships and internships, students are encouraged to perform these training activities abroad in one of the partner institutions, either through Erasmus programmes or through a collaboration agreement. UP works with companies and participates in projects, where students work as part of a team to provide solutions to company challenges under joint mentorship of university and company staff.

Working in the environment

We are active and present in local, European and international environments. Through organisation of renowned international conferences, congresses, workshops, symposia, (joint) summer schools and other events we increase our presence in international scientific community.

We are also working with different populations, to bring the research, innovation and education closer to those directly affected by specific challenges. Through organisation of workshops, lectures for semi-professionals and non-professionals, open days, thematic days and summer camps, our researchers inform the public about their research, progress in their fields and practical application of their research in society.

By collaborating with high-quality universities, UP provides a structure that results in successful incoming and outgoing students, staff and researcher exchanges.