Europe Day is one of the European symbols designed to promote unity and prosperity among Europeans. We, the representatives of the higher education institutions in the Republic of Moldova, being part of the European Higher Education and Research Area, are meant to promote European values in education, research, innovation, technology transfer, etc. The European Higher Education Area is a special opportunity for international collaboration for higher education institutions in the Republic of Moldova.
Many reforms in the higher education system of the Republic of Moldova are a result of collaboration with higher education institutions in Europe. The collaboration with European universities, carried out through various projects financially supported by the EU and intellectually – by European university partners, allowed the development and modernization of the academic and research activity within Moldovan universities, making them more compatible with the European system by strengthening quality assurance systems, but also more attractive at national and international level.
International mobility contributes significantly to the internationalization of the university. Financially supported by the EU, these are a source of inspiration and an example to follow. During the year, there were 77 mobilities for students (58 mobilities – cycle I, Bachelor; 14 – cycle II, Master; 5 – cycle III, Doctorate) and another 56 for academic staff.
Another learning resource is the Erasmus+ projects “Capacity Building in Higher Education”. In the 2019-2020 academic year alone, 7 projects funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ program are carried out at UTM: “Leadership and management of higher education in Moldova – MHELM”, “Strengthening research management and strengthening Open Science capacities in higher education institutions in Moldova and Armenia – MINERVA”, “Business-Based Problem-Based Learning for Academic Excellence in Geoinformatics – GEOBIZ”, “Determining the tools and objectives of the revision of medical education – SPRING”;, “Towards European University Lifelong Learning Model in Moldova – COMPASS”; the Jean Monnet project “Sustainable Industrial Development in the Context of European Integration” and “eTwinning Plus Partner Support Agency”.
The above-mentioned projects contribute to increasing the quality of higher education by implementing international best practices in university governance, modernizing curricula, implementing active learning and teaching methods, providing support for pre-university education, and capitalizing on scientific research.
Congratulations on Europe Day, dear academics!