UNS Erasmus code: RO BUCURES11
ERASMUS CHARTER FOR HIGHER EDUCATION 2021-2027 – University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest
University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest (UPB) is taking the mission to prepare professionals in various technical fields, capable to use scientific, technical, and socio-cultural knowledge valuable for the progress of Romanian society and contemporary world. UPB ensures an efficient, developed and improved education implementation through a wide and various research activity according to the standards and means offered by the modern informational society; it promotes forms of training adapted to a competitive society requirement and at the same time fosters equity inside and outside the multicultural space of the European Community.
UPB understands the importance of engineers’ experience and training inside the European Education Area and intends to become an international collaboration hub in training versatile professionals for a European labour market, and the ERASMUS+ programme is an important tool in achieving these goals. Furthermore, UPB aims to consolidate its image and position regarding performance and interculturality as an international university.
With rich international experience, our university intends to create opportunities and build competencies which will increase the professionals number trained for the European labour market so that the training process results support a smart and sustainable (green) European Union.
Through the ERASMUS+ programme in UPB, we aim to improve the abilities of Romanian students for speaking at least one foreign language, namely the aim of mastering a second foreign language gained during exchange mobility abroad and interaction with the host country native people. Moreover, this interaction is meant to help students acquire and improve soft skills.
The teachers’ exchange experience through teaching mobility will help partner universities to identify continuously modernisation solutions and improvement in the curricula, potentially for a joint organisation on short-term education programs. The ERASMUS+ programme fosters the environment for the latest ideas to become practical applications and be disseminated so that UPB can find partners with common values in order to participate in European research programs.
The ERASMUS+ programme represents an opportunity for brilliant minds, especially those with limited financial possibilities or impairments to benefit and take part in an international experience, make contact with European values, become more aware of Europe’s diversity and its cultural heritage. We believe in enabling mobility and ensuring a fair environment for all students, especially those with social difficulties and a low rate of inclusiveness.
The ERASMUS+ programme is a part of the university’s internationalisation strategy. Thereby, UPB is developing and expanding its study programs in foreign languages year by year, participates in international master’s programs, establishes double-degree agreements, carries out diploma and dissertation projects in collaboration with partner universities, concludes joint masters and PhD collaborations, thus contributing to the development of science and technology within the European Community space.
The ERASMUS+ program will continue to be implemented in UPB with clear and transparent rules, which are offering the possibility to any student or teacher to be up to date with the actions and opportunities of this program. For this purpose, the university’s website, www.upb.ro, as well as the social media pages will be used to disseminate information.
The mobility of students, teaching and academic staff is already one of the indicators for measuring the international dimension in our university. Within this action, UPB will seek to raise its visibility on international education markets (an university strategic objective) in order to attract more foreign students using online and offline promotion campaigns and participating in educational international fairs. Strengthening and expanding the study programs in foreign languages and implementing joint degree programs with universities in the EU, are two important activities for the future programme.
UPB’s strategy for the next period includes the involvement in EU’s project „European Universities Initiative” – a program shaping the new model of European university.
The faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages (FILS), http://ing.pub.ro/en/ has an important role in the ERASMUS+ programme implementation in UPB. The study programs of FILS are managed in 3 foreign languages (English, French and German), allowing foreign students to find a wide range of subjects compatible with their home university ones. To extend the double-degree partnerships, the university has developed an online platform dedicated to students interested in such a programme. We hope this approach will bring benefits to the Erasmus Mundus projects and will enforce the university’s international reach.
As far as the scientific innovation is concerned, the university aims to capitalize on the infrastructure for research purposes by including the centers and laboratories in international projects, together with universities and companies from around the world. ERASMUS+ partners are invited to our university for exchange programs and debating on current and vital topics, with the purpose to create new research opportunities within Horizon 2020 projects.
Regarding higher education modernisation, UPB wishes to take part in the digitalisation process at European level and to develop digital tools that facilitate international cooperation. We believe these kinds of tools require widespread implementation. Also, the university’s presence as a stakeholder or associate in different European organizations stands proof that the university is interested in developing policies for shaping the European Education Area.
The ERASMUS+ programme is the most successful programme of the European Union in the education field, and UPB has benefited from the opportunities offered to establish valuable partnerships with universities and companies both in Europe and worldwide. Through these partnerships, the university aims to intensify the teaching mobility, to continue to match and adapt the curricula and the content of the disciplines to increase compatibility with its partners and to ensure a wider diversity of options for students.
The ERASMUS+ programme continues to be a bridge between teams of professionals from home and host institutions allowing them to expand collaboration in the field of research, for the joint realization of European projects and publication of impactful scientific papers. This collaboration result is quantifiable at the university level by the number of published papers and completed projects.
By participating in the ERASMUS+ programme, the university aims to increase the number of outgoing students who will perform at least one mobility during the three cycles of education (bachelor, master, PhD). To boost students’ motivation to be part of the ERASMUS+ mobility, the university offers additional financial support to the ERASMUS+ grant, in lei, meant to partially cover the transportation and/or living expenses.
Furthermore, UPB will attempt to continuously increase the number of incoming students as a strategy of internationalization. The large number of programs offered in foreign languages (English, French, and German), as well as the possibility to host these students in university’s dormitories, has led to an increase in the number of foreign students in UPB, and in the next 7 years, we want to maintain this upward trend.
UPB aims to become an important player on the market of educational services for the future engineers’ education and training within the European Community by participating in Joint Master Degree (JMD) programs, with curricula focused on priority research topics in areas such as sustainable development, digitization, electromobility, smart grids, nanotechnologies, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, etc. Throughout 2020, UPB has developed two JMD programs that are still ongoing. The experience gained is an impetus for participation in other KA2 actions.
For some employers who value international experience in the education process, mentioning ERASMUS+ mobility in the CV increases the chance of employment. Thus, the university aims to increase its prestige by cooperating with valuable and trustworthy companies that hire its graduates, therefore shall be seeking the best incentives offered to students and attract them to apply for an ERASMUS + grant.
For the multi-annual assessment of the mobility dynamics, the ERASMUS+ Office carries out and publishes statistics for all types of mobility. These statistics are being used to analyse each faculty’s performance and to take correction and stimulation measures.