Erasmus + Success Stories

“THE ERASMUS+ MOBILITY GIVES US THE CHANCE TO KEEP AND UPGRADE OUR RELATIONS WITH VARIOUS EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES, TO TEST AND IMPROVE OUR TEACHING CAPACITY, TO EXCHANGE IDEAS CONCIRNING EDUCATION, TO BENEFIT FROM THE DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST TO ENCOUNTER DIVERSE CULTURES AND MAKE FRIENDS.”

Erasmus+ Period: 18/04/2018 – 20/04/2018

Erasmus+ Programme, starting 2014, currently combines all the EU’s outlines for education and training, youth and sport. The Erasmus+ Programme has a 30-year-old history at the Medical University of Sofia. A large number of student as well as staff mobility has been carried out during this period.

I would like to share my personal experience as I sincerely think this Programme provides excellent options not only for the students but also for the University staff. The Erasmus+ mobility gives us the chance to keep and upgrade our relations with various European universities, to test and improve our teaching capacity, to exchange ideas concerning education, to benefit from the different educational programs, and last but not least to encounter diverse cultures and make friends. Naturally, these contacts help our research contacts as well and are a basis for future scientific cooperation.

I had a mobility for teaching in Slovakia in 2018. I visited the Medical Faculty of the Bratislava Comenius University located in Martin. I would like to point out that although Martin is a comparatively small town it played a significant role in Slovak history. The Matica Slovenska (an analogue of our Academy of Sciences) was established in Martin. Currently here is based the Slovak National Library.

The Medical Faculty at Martin has a perfect infrastructure, it comprises a Centre of Excellence built with European funding. Martin is preferred site for study not only by Slovak students but also by numerous International students mostly from Scandinavian countries. I had previous long-term scientific contacts with the colleagues from the Physiology Department. This made my visit easy, I gave lectures in front of the Medical International students and I had a presentation for the seminar with the colleagues from the Physiology Department. I had both professional and personal contacts with the former head of the Department Prof. Dr. Kamil Javorla, the current Head Prof. Dr. A. Chalkovska and many other colleagues. I visited the student and the scientific laboratories and I was impressed by the scientific equipment. In addition to the professional benefit this mobility broadened my views and knowledge of the culture and history of Slovakia.

Comenius University in Bratislava is a modern European university which in 2019 is celebrating its 100th anniversary. It is the only Slovak university to be regularly ranked in the international rankings of the best universities in the world. With thirteen faculties, it offers the widest selection of study programmes (over 800) at three levels, and several of these study programmes are the only ones of their kind offered in Slovakia. There is a wide range of areas of human knowledge to choose from when studying, be it in medicine, the humanities and social sciences, the natural sciences, mathematics, theology, and much more.

Comenius University is a research institution that runs hundreds of domestic and international research projects. As a result, many of the students engage in important research during their studies and can actively participate in projects, grants, and professional internships (including abroad).

Every year Comenius University sends the highest number of students abroad out of all Slovak universities, and it receives the most international students, including from such places as Ger-many, Norway, Greece, Iran, Austria, and Iceland.