2017-11-03 15:51:00

The "Info Day on Erasmus+ Centralized Actions in the Field of Higher Education" was held in the Conference Hall on the Sümer Campus and organized jointly by the EU Ministry, Center for European Union Education and Youth Programmes and Turkish National Agency.

The meeting was organized to inform and share experience on Joint Master Degrees, Capacity Building in the Field of Higher Education, Knowledge Alliances, Jean Monnet activities, Sector Skills Alliances, which are actions in the field of higher education and for which applications are collected by National Agencies within the scope of Erasmus+ Programme.

National and international academics, officials from YÖK (The Council of Higher Education) and Turkish National Agency joined the meeting which began after a moment of silence and recital of the National Anthem.

AGU Rector Prof. İhsan Sabuncuoğlu spoke at the opening and stressed the significance of internationalization in higher education.

Rector Prof. Sabuncuoğlu said, particularly for the last two years, it has been difficult to attract foreign academics and students to our country and this problem has had negative effects for universities.

Prof. Sabuncuoğlu added: "Our EU Ministry and National Agency has been working wholeheartedly. They are always in contact with YÖK and also with us.  They are helping us to overcome this kind of problems."

The 2% quota for international academics for universities must be lifted, said Prof. Sabuncuoğlu and added: "There should be both international students and academics in all my departments so that we can create a fully international environment in English language. Let communication be in English as a foreign language and this way we can become an institution which represents our country in the international arena strongly."

Hür Güldü, Higher Education Coordinator at Turkish National Agency, also made a speech and reminded that Erasmus+ Programme started in 2014 and will end in December 31, 2020.

Turkey benefits from centralized projects at a very low rate, stressed Güldü and said, the more grant Turkey receives from centralized projects, the more say it will have within such structures and the stronger its presence will be within policy centers.

Later on, some projects for Erasmus+, the grant programme of the EU in the fields of education, youth and sports, were presented.

Parviz Baghirov, Head of the National Erasmus+ Office in Azerbaijan, informed the participants about capacity building projects.

Pablo López Alonso, Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland, presented a capacity building project as an example.

Bevran Belgin Alhas, Higher Education Coordinatorship of Turkish National Agency, presented an exemplary project of Knowledge Alliances; Ercan Laçin, Higher Education Coordinatorship of Turkish National Agency, Asst. Prof. Uzay Karahalil, Karadeniz Technical University, and Dr. Deniz Eroğul, Ege University, presented some projects of Joint Master Degrees.

Bilge Kaan Özdemir, Council of Higher Education (YÖK), informed about national regulation and equivalence procedures of Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees (EMJMD).

The Information Meeting ended after the presentation of Bevran Belgin Alhas, Higher Education Coordinatorship of Turkish National Agency, about Jean Monnet actions which promote excellency in research and learning in the field of European Union studies.