ABOUT PROJECT

The project name is Cross border educational exchanges in European Studies - favourable framework in the diminishing of the border effects at the eastern frontier of the EU and is situated in Priority 3 „People to People Co-operation”, Measure 3.2 – Educational social and cultural exchanges, from the Joint Operational Programme Romania-Ukraine-Republic of Moldova 2007-2013.

The partners involved in the project are:
• Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi – Centre for European Studies, Romania (Lead Partener)
• Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova - Centre for European Integration Studies, Republic of Moldova (Partner 1)
• Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine (Partner 2)

Total duration of the action: 18 months (15 April 2011 –14 October 2012)
Budget: Total budget of the project is 164.582,64 Euro out of which 148.082,.64 Euro represents EU grant.

Objectives
• Creating a favorable context in the three university for development of joint programs in European Studies;
• Improving knowledge and skills in the field of European Studies of target groups through cross-border transfer of experience;
• Promoting cross-border mobility for the target groups through complementary actions targeting both for education and research and training;
• Capitalizing the cross-border cooperation in the field of European Studies to reduce the border effects to the eastern frontier of the EU in reducing disparities in knowledge, educational exchanges and nearing educational systems.

The overall objective of the project is the development of cross-border educational exchanges in European Studies as basic premise of promoting a process of convergence of tertiary education systems in neighbouring countries and the diminishing of the border effects at the eastern frontier of the EU.
At Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, the project is complementary to the programs implemented at the Centre for European Studies and will be part of the specific area of activity of the Centre. The project will be linked to activities from the CES programs that are developed in present: Jean Monnet courses modules, Jean Monnet Chair European economic and political integration, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary European Studies.
At the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, the project will support the recent initiative to establish a Centre for Studies of European Integration (for the moment there are only necessary approvals, it is not functioning properly because of the lack of resources and specific programs), and in Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine project will be build on the interest level of management to create a similar centre.

The target groups have been selected on the basis of perfection potential interest criteria in the specific field and of the needs created by the expertise transfer. The project’s actions are directed to the following target groups:
    TG 1 – students of the social-human sciences who are interested, by their professional domain, in the development of their competences and their general knowledge, in different areas of European studies;
    TG 2 – young researchers - the group will be composed by candidates for PhD degree or PhD involved in educational and academic research programs, who desire to self improve themselves or are interested in theme of research regarding areas of European Studies;
    TG 3 – professors interested in the European Studies field who will establish activities of teaching of some courses modules in the visiting professor programs framework.

The final beneficiaries of the project are:
    1. the three partner universities from the project (direct beneficiaries) by the development of competences in the field of European studies, the improvement of educational offer and complementary programs, the growing of visibility in the local, regional, national and European academic environment, supplementary opportunities for developing new partnerships and participating to European programs;
    2. the public and private business environment (indirect beneficiaries) by the professional services of the future specialists in the European studies field, capable of dissemination effects and multiplication of knowledge regarding the laws, economics and European institutional environment;
    3. civil society, in a indirectly way, by the effects of Europeanization potential on the long term (transformative potential processes in the familial and social environment of the target groups’ members, in the contact area generated by the promotion and inform campaign);
    4. European Union, by the reduction of educational and cultural barriers, at its Eastern borders and by the growing of European values transfer potential, beyond the Eastern border (the reduction of borders effect)