First ever Czech-German Erasmus+ Staff Week successfully completed

After more than a year of joint preparations, the International Offices at the Technical University of Liberec (TUL) and HSZG welcomed their guests last week to Europe’s first cross-border Erasmus+ Staff Week. From May 13 to 17, 2019, representatives from partner universities in ten different countries exchanged ideas on organizing study abroad programs during workshops, informal meetings, and lab and campus tours. Colleagues had traveled from Spain, Poland, Turkey, Italy, Russia, and even Japan, among other countries.

Under bright sunshine, the two vice-rectors, Prof. Mokry and Prof. Heidger, warmly welcomed the guests to TUL on Monday. In the workshops held over the following days, discussions focused in particular on various forms of mobility management, how to handle risk scenarios, and ways to increase Erasmus mobility numbers.

“It’s wonderful to finally meet our partner university and the people with whom we’ve already been in frequent contact via email or phone in person for the first time. Erasmus+ Staff Weeks are also an excellent opportunity to forge connections with international colleagues from different cultural backgrounds but with similar areas of work,”

emphasizes Olga Gaidova, head of the International Office at UNECON St. Petersburg, one of the HSZG’s partner universities in the field of economics.

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the faculty members from Liberec, Zittau, and Görlitz, the representatives from the partner universities were able to see for themselves the high quality of teaching and academic programs: The laboratories for manufacturing measurement technology, production engineering, and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science opened their doors to the group for this purpose, as did the Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technology, and Innovation at TUL, and, last but not least, the language lab in Görlitz. During the Erasmus+ Student Mini Fair at the Blue Box in Görlitz, the university representatives then answered questions from interested students.

Together with students from the Bachelor degree programme in Tourism Management and their instructor, Prof. Falk Maiwald, they then discussed ideas for further promoting the Erasmus program, as well as the opportunities and challenges of studying abroad, during the “Marketing Strategies” workshop. Following a brief introduction by Prof. Maiwald, the students—after working in small groups—presented their findings in an impressive manner and in fluent English; these findings had been compiled in collaboration with the international university representatives.

The program was rounded out—following two lighthearted crash courses in Czech and German—by an evening restaurant visit at an altitude of over 1,000 meters on Mount Jeschken, as well as campus and city tours in Liberec, Zittau, and Görlitz.

After a walk across the Old Town Bridge in Görlitz, Thursday evening concluded on the Polish side of the Neisse River, where participants received their certificates in a festive ceremony during dinner and were able to casually reflect on the work week during a campfire session.

Together with TUL, this collaboration will certainly continue, whether as a Staff Week and/or as part of other, similarly collaborative formats. The positive feedback from the participants certainly supports this:

"We have just returned from the Erasmus+ staff training week full of great experiences and in high spirits. The program was fascinating; I would like to thank all your cross-border team members for the tremendous effort you put into organizing this event. You did a great job! We look forward to continuing and expanding our cooperation in any area of mutual interest."

The Erasmus+ Staff Week was made possible only through the collaboration of many individuals not named here: The members of the organizing team from the International Offices at TUL and HSZG would therefore like to take this opportunity to once again express their heartfelt thanks to all those involved for the wonderful support they received at both universities before, during, and after the event!

A follow-up on a current topic: Early last week, the EU published two studies showing that participation in the Erasmus+ program gives graduates an edge when entering the workforce and helps them quickly adapt to intercultural contexts.