International Staff Week at the Silesian University of Technology
This is a great opportunity to establish new contacts, exchange experiences and draw plans for the future - the Silesian University of Technology once again hosted representatives of universities from abroad. Academic teachers, university authorities and administration employees took part in the International Staff Week.
Representatives of universities from various countries and continents appeared at the Silesian University of Technology, including those from Jordan, Mozambique, Bangladesh, Romania and Ukraine. – First of all, we would like to show how the Silesian University of Technology has been developing recently and how our priority research areas are being implemented – said prof. Marek Pawełczyk, Vice-Rector for Science and Development. – We also want to especially boast about our participation in the European University Eureca Pro, we would like to encourage cooperation, we will look for it in the new perspective of the development of the European University.
Rectors of Ukrainian universities present during Staff Week met with the Vice-Rector to open new fields of cooperation within Eureca Pro. The following people were present at the meeting: Mykhaylo Zagirnyak, Rector of Kremenchuk Mykhailo Ostrohradskyi National University; Oleksandr Kondrat, Vice-Rector, and Serhii Zikratyi, Vice-Rector for Education, Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas; Serhiy Lyeonov, Vice-Rector of Sumy State University.
Staff Week participants deliberated for a week focused on developing soft skills and communication. During the meeting, issues were discussed, among others, regarding the perception of studying and working in Poland by foreign students in an intercultural context and managing a multicultural team. There was also a meeting with students and PhD students for whom participation in the Erasmus + program became a ticket to a scientific career. Guests could also learn about Polish holiday customs during the Christmas reception.
– It's an opportunity to meet, exchange experiences and get to know each other. We try to invite new universities, but also those with which we cooperate regularly. In today's world, a lot can be done virtually, but you can't meet someone virtually, a face-to-face meeting changes that - said dr Eng. Grzegorz Kłapyta, head of the International Relations Office of the Silesian University of Technology, which organized Staff Week. – For our guests, it is an opportunity to get to know our University, but we also learn a lot about their universities because they willingly talk about them and look for common areas of cooperation.
- It is a great pleasure to be here again and feel at home at the Silesian University of Technology, we have a long, common history, we try to cooperate in various programs and I am very happy to see my colleagues from Ukraine here as well. We are always open to new initiatives and proposals, emphasized Lyudmila Kruhlenko from Pryazovskyi State Technical University. - We are still evolving, we have not stopped, we are developing our higher education and research.
– Such a meeting is fruitful, especially for us, administrative workers, we gain experience and then go home and implement certain solutions to make our work better – said Nelsa Matusse Lado from Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique – it is a very good opportunity to learn.
Staff Week participants also had the opportunity to visit the Fiat FCA Poland factory, which is managed by a graduate of the Silesian University of Technology. And those from the most remote corners had a unique chance to experience what real winter is like.
