Implementation of the Erasmus+ mobility program at the Department of Software Tools of ZNTU

With the support of the Erasmus+ KA1 mobility program – International Mobility for Staff teaching and training activities (KA1 2016-1-BE02-KA107-017264), representatives of the Department of Software Tools of ZNTU, the head of the department, Dr. of Engineering Sciences, Prof. S.O. Subbotin and Professor, Ph.D. of Engineering Sciences, Assoc. Prof. G.V. Tabunshchyk, from March 8 to 18, 2017, paid a visit to the Catholic University (KU) of Leuven (Belgium), where the postgraduate student of the Department of Software Tools O. Gladkova and students M. Zakharova and P. Shynkarenko are already studying at the De Najera campus. General goals of the mobility – gaining teaching experience in an international context and preparing for future cooperation.

KU Leuven is the leading and largest university in Belgium. It is among the top ten universities in the world. Having significant scientific and educational potential, KU Leuven, within the framework of Erasmus+ KA1 mobility, provides teachers and students of ZNTU with the opportunity to join its educational programs, scientific projects, and material and technical resources.

Mobility participants got acquainted with the structure of KU Leuven, modern technical means and educational approaches, educational materials developed at KU Leuven, and the educational process in accordance with the Bologna system. The mobility of ZNTU staff included such elements as lectures, internships, seminars/workshops, student research supervision, distance learning/online courses, problem-based learning/thematic studies, own research activities, advertising and further monitoring of Erasmus+ mobility, joint training of teachers, joint events and meetings, planning of future Erasmus+ cooperation, cultural events.

During the visit, ZNTU teachers and students participated in numerous joint events:

Participation in the Job Fair on March 11, 2017, which was attended by more than 80 leading companies from Europe and the world, allowed ZNTU representatives to familiarize themselves with the practice of organizing cooperation with enterprises at KU Leuven, to establish new contacts with representatives of leading IT companies. Representatives of European companies expressed great interest in the employment of graduates of the department both in the countries of the European Union and in Ukraine.

Participation in the International Days of KU Leuven and the College of Thomas More ( http://www.iiwkuleuven.be/denayer/international-days-2017 ), which took place on March 15-17, 2017 at the de Naire campus under the slogan "Universal Human Rights through the eyes of the younger generation", was hosted by representatives of Israel, France, Germany, Ukraine, the USA, Lithuania, Slovakia, the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, Turkey and China. This allowed teachers and students to familiarize themselves with scientific research and course materials from leading universities in the world, as well as to gain practical experience in communicating in English. Significant organizational support for the visit was provided by KU Leuven professors D. Van Merode and P. Arras, who visited ZNTU in the fall of 2016 as part of the Erasmus+ academic mobility.

Prof. S.O. Subbotin gave lectures on intelligent systems of technical and biomedical diagnostics to students of KU Leuven and partner universities who participated in the International Days: 13.03.2017 – on the Leuven campus, 16.03.2017 – on the Gil campus and 17.03.2017 – on the de Nieuws campus of KU Leuven. Also, within the framework of inter-project cooperation and synergy of the Tempus and Erasmus+ programs of the European Union, issues of work with young scientists and scientific research work of students were discussed, in particular the experience gained at ZNTU during the implementation of the project "Centers of Excellence for Young Scientists" (CERES).

Prof. G.V. Tabunshchyk conducted practical classes on using the Python programming language for the Raspberry Pi hardware platform for students of KU Leuven and master’s students of the double degree program in embedded systems of the University of Applied Sciences in Dortmund (Germany), who underwent block training at the De Nieuw Campus from March 13, 2017 to March 17, 2017. As part of the international days for students and postgraduates in Information Technologies, she conducted lectures on «Quality of Information Systems». To expand the possibilities of future partnership, Tabunshchyk G.V. held a presentation of Zaporizhzhia National Technical University, the university’s scientific schools and new master’s programs that will be taught in English and will be implemented in the educational process thanks to the cooperation of ZNTU with the British Council.

Significant attention was paid to the issues of reforming higher education in Europe and organizing new joint educational and scientific projects with the participation of ZNTU within the framework of the Erasmus+ program (KA1 and KA2), as well as the "Horizon 2020" program.

An important result of the implementation of joint Tempus and Erasmus+ mobility projects is the establishment of a long-term international partnership between ZNTU and KU Leuven.

Mobility participants also expanded their cultural experience, visited numerous excursions, and gained experience in informal communication with foreign colleagues.

Sergiy Subbotin

Head of the Department of Software

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