Cluster Meeting of Erasmus+ CB HE Projects Held

The Cluster meeting of Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education project of modernization and development of study programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina was held on 27 November 2019 at the Rectorate of the University of Banja Luka. 

Vice Rector for International and Interuniversity Cooperation of the University of Banja Luka Professor Biljana Antunovic, PhD, said that the University of Banja Luka has 89 successfully implemented TEMPUS projects, as well as six Erasmus Mundus, while currently 15 Erasmus+ CB HE projects are pending.

„In the last call for proposals, three projects of ours were approved, and in today's meeting we will share experiences with colleagues who have modernized certain study programs“, she said.

According to the Director of the National Erasmus+ Office in BiH, Suad Muhibic, CB HE EU-funded projects are a great opportunity to improve the capacity of universities, but also to facilitate the exchange of students and professors with universities in Europe.

Muhibic said that 12 projects relating to the modernization and development of study programs will be presented in the Cluster meeting.

„Our goal is to exchange the experiences and see which segments need to be improved, in order to have as efficient projects as possible“, Muhibic said.

He noted that the call for proposals for new projects was opened a few weeks ago, and that they expect new proposals in the next few months.

„This is a great opportunity to improve the capacities of universities with the project-related activities, as the budget for Erasmus + projects for the Western Balkans has doubled, and we have many opportunities to modernize our universities in line with best European practices, but also to enable our students to study in Europe“, Muhibic said.

He said that the budget for an Erasmus+ CB HE project, in which about 10 project partners from seven countries participate, amounts from half a million to a million euros.

„Opportunities are great, both in regard to the procurement of equipment for universities to expand their capacities and the exchange of students and professors“, Muhibic said.

Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Banja Luka Darko Golic, PhD, who is the coordinator of the project „Strengthening Capacities for Higher Education of Pain Medicine in Western Balkan Countries", says that this project aims to improve undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in pain medicine.

„Pain as the most common symptom is not sufficiently represented in the syllabuses of universities and during specialization, and the fact that only five classes have been dedicated for the study of this symptom is very alarming“, Golic said.

He pointed to the fact that funds have been allocated within the project for the purchase of equipment for the simulation center, and that the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Banja Luka received state-of-the-art equipment for all interventional pain therapy procedures, valued at approximately 45,000 euros.