The Portuguese STARS EU partners got to know the research facilities of their Swedish colleagues

Five deans from the Portuguese Institute Polytechnic of Bragança (IPB) recently visited University West (Sweden), as a part of the development of the STARS European University alliance but, also not least, the joint bilateral collaboration between both universities.

The visiting deans were welcomed by acting Vice-Chancellor Jan Theliander and representatives from the departments. This was followed by discussions on possibilities, in particular a new form of short mobility called Blended Intensive Programs (BIP’s) within Erasmus+, integrated into the host university’s study programs.

Visits around campus

The visitors from IPB were shown the technical and pedagogical facilities of University West on campus like Open Lab, Active Learning Classrooms (ALC) and their hybrid classrooms to inspire and see those possibilities during the first day.

The second day started with a very informative visit to KLC (Clinical Learning Center), where methodology and techniques used for the training of nurses were presented.

The visit at KLC was followed by a visit to Production Technology Center, where Professor Joel Andersson showed all technical equipment and possibilities in the research and collaborations being conducted there.

The visit was hosted by Senior Advisor for Internationalisation, Gunnar Peterson, and staff from all departments at University West participated. As a follow up to the visit, a smaller group of Professors in Engineering Science from IPB will come to PTC within a month and a visit to IPB by Vice-Dean William Jobe from the School of Business, Economics and IT is also being planned. The on-site visits will be combined with a digital follow-up meeting to set up future joint activities.

About STARS

University West is a part of the STARS EU Alliance, which aims to gather nine regionally established universities in order to build together a future-oriented European University that will work to achieve several goals.

The partner Universities are linked in their desire to have a continued positive impact on the regional and local communities where they are situated while, at the same time, building a strong transnational collaboration.

An application to become a European University has been submitted. A decision on whether the application has been approved by the European Union is expected by June 30.