BABEL Newsletter 2013-12 En

8/13/2019 BABEL Newsletter 2013-12 En

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Project funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views of the author only,and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

SECOND CALL FOR APPLICATIONS OF THE BABEL PROJECT

The second call for applications for BABEL project ended on 15 December. As in the previous call for appli-cations, there have been hundreds of students, researches and professors who presented their proposalsfor a study or work period in one of the European partner institutions.

In this call for applications, the scholarships will be granted to undergraduate, master and PhD (mobility)

students, postdoctoral researchers and also to academic and administrative staff. Some of these scholar-ships will be also granted to unrelated people to the partner institutions.

The results will be published during the first half of 2014 and all the applicants, including those who arenot selected, will be informed by email of the results of their applications.

The mobility flows will initiate between August and October 2014.

Good luck to all applicants!

º 5 / D e

c e m b e r

2 0 1 3

If, in research, the participation ininternational projects in a stronglycompetitive environment was aninductive factor of strong develop-ment and improvement in science,also in education the increase of

the attractiveness and competi-tiveness of the programs offeredby the universities has been moreand more associated with theirparticipation in international con-

sortia.

Through these consortia oneseeks the integration of the bestcapacities and resources availa-

ble in each university, potentiali-zing or complementing the levelof teaching that each university,

individually, is able to offer. Thus, (i)synergies are created that foster ex-

cellence, benefiting from the potentia-

lity of each participating university; (ii)education and research in frontier areas

are stimulated; (iii) advanced formationof human resources is promoted; and (iv)

the attraction of international students and

scholars is encouraged.

Such has been the path taken by Europe inthe frame of Erasmus Mundus Program Ac-

tion I (European Masters and Joint Doctorates)

and that it will continue to follow in the frame ofthe new Erasmus + Program, to start in January

2014, which will create good conditions to stimulate joint programs.

We know, however, that the quality of education, the

excellence of research and the reputation of the univer-sities also depend on the quality of the students, scholars,

and international researchers attracted by the universities.Therefore, in their efforts towards internationalization, the

universities must draw a lot of attention to this issue. A good

reputation takes a long time to build, but can be lost in a trice. If

the universities do not value these aspects, in the future they willnot have people or institutions interested in cooperating.

António Marques BABEL Project Coordinator



UFRJ SCIENCE PARK CELEBRATES 10 YEARSAS THE BEST IN BRAZIL IN 2013

The Science Park of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, now 10

years old, is located in the University City, the main UFRJ campus, inan area of 350.000 m2. From 2003 to 2014, around 450 million dollarshave been invested in the UFRJ Science Park, recently elected as thebest science Park in Brazil.

At least twelve large-sized enterprises are in the Science Park (BakerHughes, BG, BR Distribuidora, EMC, FMC Technologies, GE, Georadar,Halliburton, Schlumberger, Siemens, Tenaris, Vallourec), as well as

four labs of our Graduate School of Engineering (COPPE), nine small--sized enterprises, and 22 startups installed in the COPPE/UFRJ Busi-

ness Incubator. Three thousand researchers are expected to be workingthere very soon.

“Besides inspiring entrepreneurialship among the students, this innovation

environment grants the enterprises special access to laboratories, high qua-lified professionals, and creates new opportunities for business and cutting

edge research”, emphasizes Maurício Guedes, Executive Director of the SciencePark, upon arrival from Recife, where he received, on behalf of the Science Park,

the prize of Best Science Park in 2013.

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EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTDAYS IN BRUSSELS

Organised by the European Commission, the eighth edi-tion of European Development Days (EDD) took placeon November 26 and 27, 2013 in Brussels. It is Europe’spremier forum on international affairs and developmentcooperation: world leaders, business, civil society and in-ternational organisations came together to debate pover-

ty eradication and the future of sustainable developmentafter 2015, the deadline for achieving the Millennium Deve-

lopment Goals (MDGs).

Under the thread of this year’s edition – ‘A vision for the post-2015 agenda’ – this year’s forum was structured around four

themes: - Scaling up our work towards basic living standards

- Upholding human rights & ensuring equity and justice - Promoting the drivers for inclusive & sustainable growth

- Towards a new partnership for development

This work should provide further impetus for the development of a fra-mework that would offer a coherent and comprehensive response to the

universal challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development inits economic, social and environmental dimensions.

Among all the sessions that took place, it is noteworthy those concerning edu-cation:

- What Role for Development Education in the post-2015 Context?- Public-Private Partnership in Achieving Quality Education for All

- Inclusive & Sustainable Education Systems

For more information http://eudevdays.eu/

EU-LAC AWARDS

The EU-LAC Foundation (European Union-Latin America and Caribbean Foundation) aims at

transforming the strategic partnership between the European Union, Latin America and theCaribbean, into a strengthened and visible reality in which the respective societies participateactively. The Foundation has 62 members: the 33 states of Latin America and the Caribbean, the28 members of the European Union, and the European Union institutions.

It has been launched its EU-LAC Awards, with the deadline on the 4th of March 2014. These awar-ds are organized by the EU-LAC Foundation together with other partners, with the aim of pro-moting visibility, mutual knowledge of models of good practices and innovation among regions.It is with this purpose, that the EU-LAC Foundation invites societies of these regions to nominatecandidates for the annual awards, to acknowledge projects made in any of the Member States ofthe European Union or CELAC.

The EU-LAC Awards are presented annually and its prizes depend on each specific category,which consists of: Journalism, Entrepreneurial Innovation, Public Management, and Citizens’Initiatives.The nominations for the Awards shall be adequately documented and should thoroughly ex-

plain the manner in which they fulfill the established criteria for the respective award.

For more information, http://eulacfoundation.org/awards



We can say that EXPERIENCE is the practical action of living ex-

periences yet unknown. Within this context I will describe some

of the experiences I went through thanks to the mobility period

within the framework of the Erasmus Mundus BABEL Project at

Universidad de Valladolid.

The possibilities of getting to know new researchers, their fiel-

ds of study, as well as to discover new references and to find

current bibliography makes us understand the value of scien-ce and new knowledge. The attendance to researcher groups,

seminars and debates enables us to coexist and acknowledge

that work issues are smaller than we can imagine. Moreover,

I was welcomed by the professors and other members of the

academic community; they also provided me the working con-

ditions in Universidad de Valladolid. But not everything is work

and research in a young scientist life. Experimentation has a

dimension that also involves other areas of life related to areas

outside the university. This has also been very positive.

The opportunity to meet people and places makes us think

about infinites aspects and processes of cultural constructionand thus, about ourselves. Thereby, I believe that my Eras-

mus Mundus BABEL – Universidad Valladolid experience will

change my life forever as well as the future fields where I will

develop as researcher and citizen. I also hope this interaction

to be reciprocal and be able to generate in some point positive

changes at the Geography Department of Universidad de Valla-

dolid and in all the people I got to know during this period. All

in all that the differences and diversities of this world exist so

we can understand and respect each other in order to build a

better world.

Doctorate student

Uni versidade Federal do Rio de Jan

eiro (Brazil)

Uni versidad de Valladolid (Spain)

I G O R R O B

A I NA

HOW T HE Y E X P E RIE NC E D BABE L



GETTING TO KNOW BETTER:National University of Itapúa (Paraguay)

The National University of Itapúa (UNI), foundedin 1996, has experienced a fast growth and ex-pansion in a very short period of time, serving

the higher education, research and extensionneeds of a huge area in southern Paraguay.

With over 6,600 students, 700 professors, 24 un-dergraduate careers, and 12 graduate careers,distributed among its 7 colleges, the institutionhas also become the leading University in the

Department of Itapúa, one of the most thriving areas of Paraguay. Besides,UNI is also very well recognized due to the high standards of quality it keepsin all its academic offers.

With its headquarters in the city of Encarnación, the National University ofItapúa has also campuses in the cities of María Auxiliadora, Natalio, MayorOtaño, Coronel Bogado, San Pedro del Paraná, and General Artigas, coveringstrategic geographic areas of the Department of Itapúa.It is important to highlight the fact that this University is living a rapidly in-creasing internationalisation process, which will be very beneficial to its edu-cational community and to the whole region of its hinterland.

In fact, the University is gaining increasing expertise in several exchangeand mobility programmes of undergraduate and graduate students, and aca-demic and administrative staff. A very important experience is given to thisInstitution by the Erasmus Mundus Programme with its following projects:Mundus 17, Mundus Lindo, BABEL, and Preciosa.

In the context of MERCOSUR and South America, this University is part ofthe MERCOSUR Mobility Programme (funded by the European Union) as well

as the mobility programmes that belong to the Asociación de UniversidadesGrupo Montevideo and Red ZICOSUR Universitaria.Due to all these factors, alongside the permanent interaction with the com-munity and its systematic research policy, the National University of Itapúahas become an important educational landmark in this part of South Ame-rica.

http://www.uni.edu.py/



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The Kingdom of The Netherlands is most commonly known as the Ne-

therlands. The vast majority of the constituent country is located in Eu-

rope, with the exception of its three islands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius,

and Saba) that are located in the Caribbean. Popular etymology holds

that Holland is derived from “holtland”, meaning the wooden country.

The Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces: Drenthe, Flevoland,

Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, North Brabant, North

Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland and South Holland.

In the beginning of the XIX century, under the reign of Louis Napoleon,

Amsterdam was declared the capital and it still is nowadays. The Hagen

is the seat of government and the Queen Beatrix’s place of residence.

The Netherlands has an estimated population of 17 million, being one

of the most densely populated countries in the world.

The Netherlands has a moderate maritime climate, with cool summers

and mild winters. Winters are moderately cold, but there may be sharpdrops of temperature. Springtime tends to gather a little more

precipitation than the other seasons.

In terms of culture, the Netherlands has had many well-known

painters: Vincent van Gogh, Piet Mondiran, Rembrandt, Ver-

meer…, so if you are going to go sightseeing around the Nether-

lands don’t forget to visit some of the most famous museums

(Van Gogh, Rijksmuseum, etc.). But its culture is also important

because in the Netherlands were born renowned artists such as

the philosophers Hermans, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Spinoza, Des-

cartes, John Locke or the famous Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl

who wrote in a diary while she lived during the Nazi invasion. You can

also visit her house.

Finally, in the Netherlands there are different popular festivals that

you should enjoy, being the most important of them the Koninginnedag

(“Queen’s Day”) on April 30, a national holiday to commemorate the

birthday of the country’s Queen. It is by far the most widely celebrated

holiday in the Netherlands. If you go, you will see all the people dressed

in orange, parties, street markets, concerts and other special events.

During that day is also celebrated the vrijmarkt (literally ‘free market’)

which is a nationwide flea market, at which many people sell their used

goods on the streets without a permit.

COUNTRY IN FOCUS: NETHERLANDS

BABEL Newsletter 2013-12 En

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