The main objective of the project is to support the mobilities of students and teaching staff among the project‘ partners from the Czech Republic and Ukraine. The main project partners are the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU) together with the Sumy National Agrarian University (SNAU) and Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University (BTNAU).
In total, there will be organized 14 mobilities divided as:
Background:
International mobility has become part of a strategy for the training of young professionals. Trained workers can compete better on the international labor market. This project will contribute to the improvement of existing study programs and their modernization in line with EU standards, thus increasing the quality of education at the university.
Student and employee mobility between BTNAU / SNAU and the CZU is seen as a tool for strengthening existing co-operation. During the visits of experts from the CZU, the exchange of students and educators has been shown to play a key role in the development of administrative and educational processes at the university.
Mobilities:
The proposed mobility is mainly focused on the exchange of teachers (10-day stays) and PhD students (3 months) by the CZU distributed equally to the two Ukrainian universities. The aim is to increase pedagogical and research competencies of local educators. Mobility from the BTNAU and SUMA are planned as a bachelor's or master's degree (total 6 students per semester = 5 months), while students have the opportunity to study at the Faculty of Tropical Agriculture (CZU) in English to gain Approximately 30 ETCS credits per semester for successfully completed selected subjects. Teachers' visits from Ukraine to the CZU are also planned as 10-day stays where teachers will engage in teaching, but will also meet with CUL experts and will consult on joint research, joint international projects or research grants.
Selection approach:
Mobility will be realized through responsible persons for international relations at the faculties involved or directly through the foreign departments of the university. A Memorandum of Understanding will be signed between universities where the mobility conditions will be specified. The faculty management, together with the person responsible for international relations (Vice-Dean or Head of the Foreign Department) are responsible for selecting candidates for international mobility. Candidates will be selected in the summer term 2018. Candidates' submissions will be sent to the partner university of the CZU and Skype interviews with selected candidates will be organized. The final list of candidates will be agreed between the partner universities, the respective Ukrainian University and the CZU. The student's study plan or research plan will also be discussed and approved during the summer semester of 2018. The ECTS credits earned at the partner university will be transferred to the student's home study results.
Outputs:
Mobility participants within the project will gain experience not only in the field of education and science, but also experience in working with an international team, multicultural environment, teamwork and communication, increasing their planning and organizational competencies. During the realization of their foreign residence, their language skills will also increase, as all communication will be in English. For students, these gained experience and skills play a key role in gaining future employment, as today's international experience from employers is highly valued and preferred. Teachers who take part in a foreign internship can ensure a higher quality of teaching for other students, enrich their knowledge in the field, gain practical experience they can pass on to their students, thereby ensuring the so-called multiple effect. This will increase the "image" of the college at regional and national level. Mobility will also strengthen cooperation with partner organizations and bring more ideas for future projects.
In order to disseminate the results of the given mobility, participants will be invited to submit materials for promotion after their return, e.g. on the faculty and / or university web site, in the form of a university journal or Facebook. A meeting will be organized where students or educators share their experience with other applicants for international mobility at the faculty / university. Mobility project information will be placed in PR materials of the university (leaflets, promotional brochures of "international projects", university websites).
The main aim of the project International Credit Mobility: cooperation between the Czech Republic and Ukraine coordinated by the Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences is to exchange the students and staff among the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU) together with two Ukrainian universities: the Sumy National Agrarian University (SNAU) and Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University (BTNAU). There are six students from Ukraine hosted at the FTA and they shared their first impressions from studying in Prague:
Artem Riabushenko: “I was impressed by the clarity of organization and coordination, which made our adaptation as smooth and simple as possible. Also, this is an incredible opportunity to get acquainted with many people from different countries and learn about their culture and traditions.”
Vlad Pinkas: “Firstly I am impressed with the ability to change the schedule of classes. Secondly, I'm very pleased with the interaction with students of different cultures and countries.”
Anton Halieiev: “Most of all I was impressed with the university generally, how teachers impressively presented their subject during classes, how students and teachers work like one big and friendly team. As a result, lectures are very interesting and informative, which I want to visit again and again.”
Vladislav Zubko, Ph.D., assoc.prof., Head of the "Tractors, Agricultural Machines and Transport Technologies" Department, Sumy National Agrarian University:
“Participation in the exchange program for teaching staff called „International Credit Mobility: cooperation between Czech Republic and Ukraine” helped me be acquainted with the teaching process and scientific approaches in one of the leading modern universities - Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU). This is a valuable experience for my colleagues and me. This knowledge is essential for the process of education transformation and most importantly, for preparing highly qualified specialists in the agricultural sector in Ukraine. Additionally, we exchanged our scientific opinions with colleagues and discussed plans for the joint research work in the near future.
Working with professionals is always a pleasure. I would like to thank especially to Petra Chaloupkova, Oksana Zamora, David Herák, Jana Mazancová and Hynek Roubík.”
During our stay in the Ukraine (Erasmus mobility grant) in the first two weeks in October, we visited the national agricultural universities in Sumy and Bila Tserkev. The main objectives of our visits were to give lectures on selected issues of agricultural policy for students and to establish potential research cooperation with the faculty.
The National Agricultural University of Sumy is located in the North-Eastern corner of Ukraine about four hour drive from Kiev. We hold our lectures for about 40 students of the engineering and economic faculties. During the stay, we had numerous very interesting discussions with our counterparts on the development of agriculture in the region, particularly the increasing adoption of precision farming techniques at large scale. We also had the chance to meet with farmer at the so called “field day” - at which occasion farmers and agricultural input suppliers met and discussed new production trends and experience with technological innovations.
We visited the central fresh food market in Sumy too. We were especially impressed by the large farmers’ meat market section. We were told that while Sumy inhabitants do still more their food shopping in supermarkets, the quality products they look for at the local market or through relatives living in the countryside.
Photo 1: Farmers’ market in Sumy
At the end of our stay in Sumy, the university celebrated the teachers‘ day. The students organized a cultural event and performed traditional and modern Ukraine dances and music.
The Agricultural University Bila Tserkva is smaller university than the one in Sumy. Bila Tserkva is located 90 km south west from Kiev. Similarly as in Sumy, our course on Agricultural policy was attended by about 40 bachelor and master students of the economic faculty. Beside teaching, we learned about the university history, achievements and problems and discussed with the dean and lectures. We visited the university farm cultivating about two thousand hectares of agricultural and forest (1700 ha and 300 ha respectively) land. Further, the host organized an excursion to a grain storage and processing business (Skvira) where we learned about their struggle to switch the export market from Russia towards EU since 2014. Also, in Bila Tserkva we had an opportunity to attend a cultural event; this time a fest of the Kozak day. The students of the economic faculty organised a charity market accompanied with dancing and singing performances celebrating Ukraine and her traditions.
Photo 2: Kozak day
"I got a great opportunity thanks to the Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences (FTA) of Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU) to participate for the period of three months from October to January at International Credit Exchange Mobility program which will be held in Sumy, Ukraine. The partner University of CZU and the place where I will have my stay is Sumy National Agricultural University (SNAU). Sumy National Agrarian University was founded in 1977. It has gone from Sumy branch of Kharkiv Agricultural Institute named after V.V. Dokuchaev. Nowadays there are around 11000 students at the university, as local the same international students. I was very impressed by the university campus. You can find there cozy alleys surrounded by the trees and flowers where people walk. In the middle of the campus is beautiful Orthodox Church.
At my first day I went to visit the university canteen. The canteen has the lowest prices in the town and very delicious food. People are very friendly and the University lectures and staff where treating me very well. I am sure this exchange will bring me a valuable experience and I am looking forward to see and explore more about Sumy and Ukraine."
Author: Cristina Conea
The Erasmus+ program was an absolutely unique opportunity for us to exchange knowledge, ideas and experience in related fields of knowledge. Thanks to which students of the Faculty of Economics of Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University study at such a prestigious institution Czech University of Life Sciences Prague. With great enthusiasm in the Bila Tserkva, students also listened to lectures by Miroslava Bavorová and Tomas Ratinger. And today we besides having the opportunity to get acquainted with the sights of one of the best cities in the world, Prague we will familiarize you with your system of training in order to further implement your experience of training specialists. We hope that the Erasmus Project will be the start of the further cooperation of our universities, not only in the educational activities, but also in the scientific. After all, our goals coincide in the direction of improving and borderline support for the agrarian sector of the economy. We would also like to continue our cooperation in obtaining dual diplomas from students.
