CEEPUS stands for Central European Exchange Program for University Studies. This is a program of academic exchange started in 1993 for students, staff and researchers from Middle and Eastern Europe. It is based on an international agreement signed between Austria, Albania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Macedonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Serbia.

Student scholarships include tuition fees, accommodation, food and allowance. The allowance amount depends on the country the student is travelling to.

Applications are submitted online. Students should contact the CEEPUS coordinator in their country before submitting the application.

Additional information on the program and the contact of the National Coordinator for Serbia at the Ministry of Education and Science can be found on the Ceepus website: www.ceepus.info.

Erasmus+ is a program which supports cooperation and mobility in higher education through the promotion of top quality master and doctoral programs. The goal of the program is to improve the quality of higher education and intercultural understanding through cooperation with partner countries.

The program gives the students and staff from all countries of the world an opportunity to attend post-graduate studies at academic institutions of the European Union and vice versa, i.e. enables EU staff and student mobility to partner countries. More on the Erasmus+ program can be found on the website of Erasmus+ Foundation http://erasmusplus.rs/category/obrazovanje/.

Global Undergraduate exchange program for Serbia (Global UGRAD) awards talented undergraduate students full scholarship for spending one academic year in the United States. Global UGRAD is funded by the American people and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The scholarship covers tuition fees, international travel expenses, accommodation and food, health insurance, a small allowance and provision of books. Students attend courses in their field of studies, including American history and culture, and elective courses. The awarded students will take part in university campus activities, they will be integrated in the local American community through social activities and volunteering and gain practical experience within appropriate internships.

The program is administered by World Learning Serbia. More information on the program can be found at http://www.worldlearning.org.rs or http://serbia.usembassy.gov.

Erasmus+, KA2: FINancial management, Accounting and Controlling curricula development for capacity building of public administration – FINAC

Programme: ERASMUS+
Sub programme: Capacity Building in Higher Education
Subject area: Business and Administration

PROJECT: FINancial management, Accounting and Controlling curricula development for capacity building of public administration – FINAC

Reference number: 573534-2016
Scope: Regional
Grant: 893.033,00 €
Eligibility period start: October 15, 2016
Eligibility period end: October 14, 2019
Status: On-going
Website: http://www.finac.org.rs
Contact: office@finac.org.rs

Project Coordinator: Professor Sladjana Benkovic, full professor at Faculty of Organizational Sciences

PROJECT SUMMARY

FINancial management, Accounting and Controlling for capacity building of public administration” (FINAC) project contributes to labour market and society through modernisation and designing of five new curricula and modernisation of one the field of financial management, accounting and financial control for purpose of public administration capacity building in Albania & Serbia, and developing of three new trainings. For that purpose is used a good practice of EU partner institutions what contributes to quality and innovation of education programmes.

Project will contribute to the better quality of financial management, accounting and controlling in the public administration. That will be possible to measure through: knowledge/competencies of public administrators at positions of financial, accounting, auditing and control managers; precise and visible budget formulated in line with national legal framework; level of cash liquidity in public administration; financial management that defines responsibilities and power in public administration; accounting statements reflecting internal and external standards that are in line with policy documents in public administration and throughout financial control procedures that are in line with controlling policy for documentation in public administration. The project will contribute to the better controlling procedure and higher level of transparency of finance and accounting in public administration according to national priorities, as well principles of the EU accession of the regional countries.

OBJECTIVES

The central aim of “FINancial management, Accounting and Controlling for capacity building of public administration” (FINAC) project application is contribute to the higher quality of budgeting, money management, finance management, accounting and control, in Albanian and Serbian public administration. This aim will be achieved throughout meeting specific objectives:

• Designing and developing three new master degree programmes in Serbia and two new master degree programmes in Albania in the field of financial management, accounting and controlling for capacity building of public administration in Albania and Serbia,
• Provision of trainings at university centers/institutes for public administration employees in Serbia,
• Modernization of one master degree programme in the field of public financial management in Serbia.

PARTNERS

University of Belgrade, SRB Project coordinator
Singidunum University, SRB
State University of Novi Pazar, SRB
University of Kragujevac, SRB
Centre for Education Policy , SRB
Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Government, SRB
Masaryk University, CZE
Guglielmo Marconi University, ITA
University of Split, HRV
European University of Tirana, ALB
“Luigj Gurakuqi” University of Shkodra, ALB
Matej Bel University, SVK

Programme: Tempus
Sub programme: Joint Project-Higher Education and Society

PROJECT: Improvement of partnership with enterprises by enhancement of a regional quality management potentials in WBC – EQIWBC

Reference number: 543662-2013
Scope: Regional
Grant: 701.367,75€
Eligibility period start: December 01, 2013
Eligibility period end: November 30, 2016
Status: finalized
Website: http://www.eqiwbc.ac.me/

Project Coordinator for the University of Belgrade:
Professor Jovan Filipovic, full professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences

PROJECT SUMMARY

In the area of WBC the need for a higher level of quality in all aspects of business and life is even higher than in the EU. Long-lasting political instability in the WBC countries has left the region for behind the fast developing EU countries. There are indications that accession countries enjoy lower subjective well-being than is predicted by objective indicators in comparison to EU member states (Project EEA/RNC/03/0014).
No. of other documents and reports from WBC show that these societies recognize the need for fast improvement of quality in all aspects of the economy, life and society. It is a fact that improvement of quality is responsible for an increase in income, a reduction of costs, and has an influence on competitive abilities of companies as well as productivity and profitability. Environment protection creates healthy food brands; therefore companies will have easier access to the world market. This will increase quality of life (QOL). Organizations that have realized these needs are a relatively small number in this region. The wider objective of this project is to improve regional quality in order to increase competitiveness of the regional economy and to improve QOL. A specific objective is the development of a new quality infrastructure, a network of University centers and different org. in the field of quality management, that will provide training and services for enterprises in quality assurance, quality management and preparation for standardization (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22000 HACCP, CE mark, ISO 17025 and/or ISO 17020). In the scope of the project, each partner country will have a specific focus based on the general basis of (ISO 9001): MNE – quality in tourism, SRB – quality and food safety and quality of of services, and BIH– safety and the CE mark. This will eventually secure and enhance competitiveness of WBC enterprises by continuously improving productivity and process quality based on close university – enterprise relations.

OBJECTIVES

The wider objective of this project is to improve regional quality in order to increase competitiveness of the regional economy and improve quality of life. The specific objectives of the project are the development of training programs and consulting services for quality improvement (through training and services for enterprises in the field of quality of products and services, quality assurance, CE mark, ISO standards and quality management systems) in regional enterprise; improvement of regional cooperation and cooperation with enterprises and providing feed back for improvement of University courses in the field of quality. The realizing of these objectives should improve the level of quality and business competitiveness in business in the region of the selected Western Balkan Countries (WBC). The goal is securing and enhancing competitiveness of WBC enterprises by continuously improving productivity and process quality based on close university – enterprise relations.

PARTNERS:

1. University of Montenegro, MNE – Project coordinator
2. Technical College of Applied Studies in Kragujevac, SRB
3. University of Belgrade, SRB
4. University of Kragujevac, SRB
5. Business innovation centre LLC Kragujevac,
6. SRBAssociation for Quality and Standardization of Serbia, SRB
7. Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, SVK
8. Paulo & Beatriz – Consultores Associados, Lda, PRT
9. City Development Agency East Sarajevo, BIH
10. University of Girona, ES
11. University of Minho, PRT
12. Cracow University of Economics, POL
13. University of East Sarajevo, BIH
14. University of Zenica, BIH
15. European Organization for Quality, BEL

Programme: LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME
Sub programme: TRANSVERSAL

PROJECT: Grading Soft Skills – GRASS

Reference number: 543029-LLP-1-2013-1-RS-KA3-KA3MP
Grant: 394.662,00 €
Eligibility period start: January 01, 2014
Eligibility period end: December 31, 2016
Status: on-going
Website: http://grass.fon.bg.ac.rs

Project Coordinator for the University of Belgrade:
Professor Vladan Devedzic, full professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences

PROJECT SUMMARY

The GRASS project develops innovative pedagogical approaches and ICT tools and services to support:

• continuous development, measurement, assessment, grading and recognition of learners’ soft skills, spanning different ages and educational levels, based on the idea of digital badges (digital credentials)
• monitoring on the long run the accumulation of one’s soft skills, in their own ecosystem
• embedding measurement and recognition of soft skills, competencies, and achievements in educational practices at all educational levels (not only to support employers)
• peer assessment of soft skills that is social, transparent and participatory, and “works more like the Web”, rather than in teacher-in-control-only way

OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of this project is to create mechanisms that enable to continuously support, monitor, assess, and acknowledge development of learners’ soft skills with the help of state-of-the-art ICT tools.

This wider objective encompasses the following specific objectives:

• to develop novel pedagogical approaches to support continuous development of learners’ soft skills
• to incorporate these approaches in daily practices, at multiple levels of education
• to develop a rich, structured set of soft skills metrics to collect from learners’ activities as dynamic indicators of the learners’ ability to apply, develop and improve their soft skills
• to develop the corresponding new model and ICT framework for measuring, assessing, benchmarking, and evaluating learners’ soft skills used in their activities, and generating appropriate feedback
• to develop, as part of the new model and framework, specific mechanisms for acknowledging, grading, awarding and recognizing learners’ achievements in developing their soft skills, clearly reflecting their different education levels
• to develop incentive policies for teachers for initiating and maintaining the practice of monitoring development of learners’ soft skills at all levels of educational institutions and across these different levels

PARTNERS:

1. University of Belgrade, SRB – Project coordinator and contractor
2. Project coordinator and contractorFirst Grammar School of Kragujevac, SRB
3. KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE
4. University of Limerick, IRL
5. University of Zagreb, HRV
6. Vasby New Gymnasium, SE
7. Landsurveying school, HRV
8. Kieran’s College, IRL

Programme: Tempus
Sub programme: Structural Measures-Governance Reform
Subject area: Economic development. Economic growth

PROJECT: Towards Sustainable and Equitable Financing of Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia – FINHED

Reference number: 530550-2012
Scope: Multy-country
Grant: 919.209,81 €
Eligibility period start: October 15, 2012
Eligibility period end: October 14, 2015
Status: finalized
Website: http://www.finhed.org/

Project Coordinator:
Professor Nevenka Žarkić Joksimović, full professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences

PROJECT SUMMARY

The project aims to contribute to ensuring a more efficient, effective and equitable financing of higher education in the Western Balkans through (a) gathering and analysing fundamental and essential evidence on system-level and institutional financing and equity in higher education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia; (b) introduction and implementation of the EUROSTUDENT survey in the three countries of the Western Balkans; (c) strengthening local expertise in developing policies on financing and equity in higher education; (d) development of a policy framework for an efficient, effective and equitable higher education systems in the three countries; (e) development of university financing models based on sensible diversification of income streams and strengthen universities’ capacities to implement these models; and (d) the establishment of Regional Resource Point with the
purpose to sustain results and disseminate them across the region.
Conceptualised in the manner above, the project would be the first to simultaneously strengthen local capacity for adequately addressing the core issues of higher education financing and equity in three countries of the Western Balkans. Moreover, by introducing and implementing one of the most relevant indicators of social dimension across Europe recognised by the Bologna Process – the EUROSTUDENT survey, the project would enable gathering unique evidence on the social dimension of higher education in these countries and at the same time enable their comparison with the rest of Europe. This synced with an enhanced financing model sensitive to the issues of equity and transparency, on one hand, and the universities embracing a more entrepreneurial and dynamic approach to their funding policies, would undoubtedly contribute to more developed, fair, efficient and consequently effective higher education systems – the sine qua non of the knowledge-based economy.

OBJECTIVES

• Gather and analyse evidence on system-level and institutional financing arrangements and equity in higher education in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro;
• Introduce and implement the EUROSTUDENT survey in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro;
• Strengthen local expertise in developing policies on financing and equity in higher education;
• Develop policy framework for securing more efficient, effective and equitable higher education systems in the three countries;
• Develop university financing strategies for sensible diversification of income streams and train university leaders to implement these models;
• Establish Regional Resource Point with the purpose to sustain results and disseminate them across the region.

PARTNERS:

1. University of Belgrade, SRB – Project coordinator
2. University of Novi Sad, SRB
3. Singidunum University, SRB
4. Student Conference of Serbian Universities – SKONUS, SRB
5. Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, SRB
6. Centre for Education Policy , SRB
7. Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Srpska, BIH
8. University of Ljubljana, SVN
9. University of Jyvaskyla, FIN
10. University of Ghent, BEL
11. University of Bath, UK
12. Student Union of the Republic of Srpska, BIH
13. Federal Ministry of Education and Science B&H, BIH
14. Ministry of Education and Sports of Montenegro, MNE
15. University of Mostar, BIH
16. University of Banja Luka, BIH
17. University of Montenegro, MNE

Programme: Tempus
Sub programme: Joint Project-Curriculum Reform
Subject area: Interdisciplinary Studies

PROJECT: Incoming Interdisciplinary Curricula in Computing to Meet Labor Market Needs – INCOMING

Reference number: 530155-2012
Scope: Multy-country
Grant: 730.582,64 €
Eligibility period start: October 15, 2012
Eligibility period end: October 14, 2015
Status: finalized
Website: http://tempus-incoming.eu/

Project Coordinator for the University of Belgrade:
Professor Vladan Devedzic, full professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences

PROJECT SUMMARY

The wider objective of this project is to strengthen international orientation of HE in Serbia, increase employability and students’ and teachers’ mobility.
Specific objectives, within the aforementioned wider one, include:

• to initiate capacity building for interdisciplinary studies in computing offered both in English and in Serbian, at all three levels of study (BSc, MSc, PhD) and in at least one of the following three modes of study: face-to-face mode, distance learning, and blended mode.
• to develop, accredit, implement and evaluate the following interdisciplinary study programmes related to computing to be taught in English and in Serbian: 1. Management and Computing (BSc) 2. Intelligent Systems (PhD) 3. Social Sciences and Computing (MSc) 4. Information technology for E-Business (MSc) 5. ICT for Governance and Administration (MSc) 6. Computer Games (BSc)
• to increase employability by targeting Serbian labor market needs in interdisciplinary computing field

The expected outputs and outcomes of the project include:

• analysis of the state-of-the-art of relevant policies, related practices, legal regulations, and labor market needs related to interdisciplinary study programmes at the Serbian universities and at EU universities
• development, accreditation, implementation and evaluation of interdisciplinary study programmes specified above to be taught in English and in Serbian as either campus-based, distance learning, and/or blended mode delivery
• increased mobility of students who complete such an interdisciplinary degree study programme
• increased employment opportunities for students who complete developed interdisciplinary degree study programme

OBJECTIVES

The first objective is to initiate capacity building for interdisciplinary studies at Serbian universities, offered both in English and in Serbian, at all three levels of study (BSc, MSc, PhD) and in at least one of the following three modes of study: face-to-face mode, distance learning, and blended mode.
The second objective is to develop, accredit, implement and evaluate the following interdisciplinary study programmes in computing to be taught in English and in Serbian. The programmes (with levels of study indicated in parentheses) are:

1. Management and Computing (BSc)
2. Intelligent Systems (PhD)
3. Social Sciences and Computing (MSc)
4. Information technology for E-Business (MSc)
5. ICT for Governance and Administration (MSc)
6. Computer Games (BSc)

The third objective is to increase employability by targeting Serbian labor market needs in interdisciplinary computing field.

PARTNERS:

1. Tallinn University, EST
2. Project coordinatorMetropolitan University, SRB
3. University of Novi Sad, SRB
4. University of Kragujevac, SRB
5. University of Belgrade, SRB
6. Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, SRB
7. ComTrade IT Solutions and Services d.o.o, SRB
8. Business Association “Union Cacak 2000”, SRB
9. Mihailo Pupin Institute, SRB
10. National Council for Higher Education of the Republic of Serbia, SRB
11. University of Aberdeen, UK
12. Technical University of Crete, GRC

Programme: Tempus
Sub programme: Structural Measures-Governance Reform
Subject area: Open and Distance Learning/ Life- Long Learning Activities, Quality Assurance Mechanisms

PROJECT: Enhancing the quality of distance learning at Western Balkan higher education institutions – DL

Reference number: SM 511126-2010
Scope: Regional
Grant: 713818.93€
Eligibility period start: October 15, 2010
Eligibility period end: October 14, 2013
Status: finalized
Website: http://www.dlweb.kg.ac.rs

Project Coordinator for the University of Belgrade:
Professor Vladan Devedzic, full professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences

PROJECT SUMMARY

The DL@WEB project has been designed to improve the quality and relevance of distance education (DL) at Western Balkan higher education institutions and to enable easier inclusion of partner country institutions into European Higher Education Area. The main project objective is to improve, develop and implement accreditation standards, guidelines and procedures for quality assurance of DL study programs at national system levels in WB countries. Those standards will assimilate the quality of DL courses offered by higher education institutions in WB countries. Developed standards would be incorporated into existing legal and sublegal acts at the national levels and also at the HE institutional levels, in University regulatory documents.
In order to provide solid base for the implementation of newly developed accreditation standards, the DL@WEB project will build the necessary capacities trough establishing a framework for improving eLearning methodology and DL quality assurance at HE institutional level, which will be incorporated in University regulatory documents in Western Balkan beneficiary countries. Furthermore, the DL@WEB project will provide extensive training for all levels of staff involved in accreditation or delivery of DL study programs, from teaching staff, trainers, evaluators, official accreditation reviewers and HE public authorities from each beneficiary PC.
Quality Control and Monitoring of project activities and results by internal and external mechanisms will be realized continuously throughout the whole duration of the project and evaluated at several levels. The project is aimed to make a wide impact on the national accreditation systems in WB partner countries, and thus the synergy of Western Balkan higher institutions and national Ministries of Education, National Councils for Higher Education and Commissions for Accreditation from Serbia, Montenegro and FYRM is the best guarantee of the sustainability of project results beyond its life time.

OBJECTIVES

• To improve, develop and implement accreditation standards, guidelines and procedures for quality assurance of distance education study programs according to EU practices at national level in Western Balkan beneficiary countries
• To establish the framework for improving DL quality assurance and eLearning methodology on HE institutional level in WB countries
• To provide training for relevant members of HE educational and public authorities responsible for accreditation and evaluation of DL programs and trainers involved in DL from each partner country
• To promote the reform and modernisation of higher education in the partner countries
• To enhance the quality and relevance of higher education in the partner countries
• To build up the capacity of higher education institutions in the partner countries and the EU, in particular for international cooperation and for a permanent modernisation process, and to assist them in opening themselves up to society at large
• To foster the reciprocal development of human resources
• To enhance networking among higher education institutions and research institutes both in the partner and EU countries
• To enhance mutual understanding between peoples and cultures of the EU and of the partner countries Introduction of quality assurance

PARTNERS:

1. University of Belgrade, SRB
2. University of Nis, SRB
3. University of Kragujevac, SRB
4. National Council for Higher Education of the Republic of Serbia, SRB
5. Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, SRB
6. The European Foundation for Quality in eLearning, BEL
7. Paul Cézanne University Aix-Marseille III, FRA
8. University Macerata, ITA
9. Ministry od Education and Sciences, Macedonia , MK
10. FON First Private University, MK
11. Council of Higher Education, Montenegro , MNE
12. Ministry of Education and Sports of Montenegro, MNE
13. University Mediterranean, MNE University of Montenegro, MNE
14. University of Primorska, SVN

Programme: Tempus
Sub programme: Joint Project-Higher Education and Society
Subject area: University-Industry Links, Training Courses for Institution Building – Training for public services, professional associations, social partners, University Strategic Planning

PROJECT: Improvement of Students’ Internship in Serbia – ISIS

Reference number: JP 510985-2010
Scope: National

Grant: 621.117,01 €
Eligibility period start: October 15, 2010
Eligibility period end: October 14, 2013
Status: finalized
Website: http://www.isis.kg.ac.rs/

Project Coordinator for the University of Belgrade:
Professor Jovan Filipovic, full professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences

PROJECT SUMMARY

Number of European declarations (Bologna and Bon), reports of EU commission and national reports (Serbia 2009 Progress Report; Linking the worlds of work and education through Tempus; Revised and Extended National Program for Integration of Republic of Serbia in EU) states importance of university – enterprises cooperation. Universities and enterprises cooperation could be straightened through: internship and trainee exchange, joint research, LLL.

The general objective of this project is better interaction between universities and enterprises for timely preparation of the university graduates for the labor market.

This project will contribute to improvement model of students’ internship in social sciences, humanities, business and management, natural sciences and technologies and to enhance communication channels between Universities and enterprise through which transfer of know-how from universities to enterprises in the particular fields will be achieved.

This project will work on definition of models for students’ internship in selected fields based on experiences of EU partners. In the following steps all necessary steps in all target groups will be performed (trainings and improvement of capacities) for preparation of students’ internship according to the enhanced model. Students’ internship will be organized, on developed basis and models, carefully monitored and evaluated in order to provide feedback for further improvement. Finally University – enterprises communication canals and practice will be improved through development of contact offices, raising awareness and trainings in the field of concepts of technology transfer, innovation and innovative culture, negotiation skills, legal issues, good practice and project management. Project results, dissemination and sustainability of the project results should contribute to better University – enterprise cooperation, employability of students and their practical skills and knowledge.

OBJECTIVES

Number of European declarations (Bologna and Bon), reports of EU commission and national reports (Serbia 2009 Progress Report; Linking the worlds of work and education through Tempus; Revised and Extended National Program for Integration of Republic of Serbia in EU) states importance of university – enterprises cooperation. Universities and enterprises cooperation could be straightened through: internship and trainee exchange, joint research, LLL.

The general objective of this project is better interaction between universities and enterprises for timely preparation of the university graduates for the labor market.

This project will contribute to improvement model of students’ internship in social sciences, humanities, business and management, natural sciences and technologies and to enhance communication channels between Universities and enterprise through which transfer of know-how from universities to enterprises in the particular fields will be achieved.

This project will work on definition of models for students’ internship in selected fields based on experiences of EU partners. In the following steps all necessary steps in all target groups will be performed (trainings and improvement of capacities) for preparation of students’ internship according to the enhanced model. Students’ internship will be organized, on developed basis and models, carefully monitored and evaluated in order to provide feedback for further improvement. Finally University – enterprises communication canals and practice will be improved through development of contact offices, raising awareness and trainings in the field of concepts of technology transfer, innovation and innovative culture, negotiation skills, legal issues, good practice and project management. Project results, dissemination and sustainability of the project results should contribute to better University – enterprise cooperation, employability of students and their practical skills and knowledge.

PARTNERS:

1. University of Kragujevac, SRB – Project coordinator
2. University of Belgrade, SRB
3. University of Nis, SRB
4. University of Novi Sad, SRB
5. NISSAL, d.o.o., SRB
6. Energetika d.o.o., SRB
7. UNIOR Components, a.d., SRB
8. NIIT d.o.o., SRB
9. Public Heating Company Novi Sad, SRB
10. Serbian Association of Employers, SRB
11. AIESEC Local Committee Kragujevac, SRB
12. Polytechnic University of Turin, ITA
13. University of Ljubljana, SVN
14. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GRC
15. Coventry University, UK

Programme: Tempus
Sub programme: Joint Project-Higher Education and Society
Subject area: Economics, Engineering and engineering trades (broad programmes)

PROJECT: Production and Profitability improvement in Serbia Enterprises by adopting Lean Thinking Philosophy and strengthening Enterprise – Academia connections – LEANEA

Reference number: JP 511084-2010
Scope: National
Grant: 781.977,30 €
Eligibility period start: October 15, 2010
Eligibility period end: October 14, 2013
Status: finalized
Website: http://www.leanea.uns.ac.rs

Project Coordinator for the University of Belgrade:
Professor Dragoslav Slovic, full professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences

PROJECT SUMMARY

The wider objective of this project is the development of partnership between universities and enterprises in order to improve practical aspect of Bologna process implementation in Serbian Universities. Also, the goal is to help enterprises to become more competent in order to prepare themselves for real, free market.

The specific objectives are:

• capacity building for cooperation between universities and enterprises,
• specifically to work together on the resolving Lean implementation practical problems and educating their employees,
• educating and training university staff and students in Lean thinking,
• and improve existing curricula with Lean thinking philosophy.

Improved curricula will enable students to get more practical knowledge (they will get opportunity for practical placement in enterprises – members of consortium) and better prepare them for the first day of their employment. By adjusting curricula and accepting methodology for teaching Lean from EU partners, project will fulfil Bologna process requirements for more practical knowledge. Established Lean Thinking Centres will become a starting point for spreading knowledge and ideas about Lean thinking and they will offer that knowledge to all of the Serbian enterprises, in order to improve really low productivity rate of the whole Serbian economy.

OBJECTIVES

Lean is a business strategy that enables an organization to reduce its development cycles, produce higher-quality products at lower costs, and use resources more efficiently. The analysis of Serbian enterprises current state shows low production rate. The right solution for improvement of the current state is implementing Lean strategy in the enterprises by developing partnership between enterprises and universities. This partnership would also contribute to practical knowledge integration in the existing curricula, by enabling the students to enter the enterprises for practical placements during the studies. The specific objectives of this project are: capacity building for enterprises resolving Lean implementation practical problems and education, educating and training university staff, students and enterprise employees in Lean thinking, and improving existing curricula with Lean thinking elements in order to fulfil Bologna process requirements for more practical knowledge.

• To enhance the quality and relevance of higher education in the partner countries
• To build up the capacity of higher education institutions in the partner countries and the EU, in particular for international cooperation and for a permanent modernisation process, and to assist them in opening themselves up to society at large
• Development of partnerships with enterprises
• Development of lifelong learning in society at large

PARTNERS:

1. University of Novi Sad, SRB – Project Coordinator
2. University of Belgrade, SRB
3. University of Kragujevac, SRB
4. Unimet d.o.o. Kac, SRB
5. Automotive parts factory Gornji Milanovac, SRB
6. Metalac Company , SRB
7. Trakett Eastern Europe, SRB
8. Japan Tobacco International A.D. Senta, SRB
9. Provincial Secretariat for Economy, SRB
10. Chamber of Economy of Vojvodina, SRB
11. Serbian Chamber of Commerce, SRB
12. University of Nottingham, UK
13. University of Ljubljana, SVN
14. Chalmers University of Technology, SE

Programme: Tempus
Sub programme: Structural Measures- Higher Education and Society
Subject area: Teacher training and education science, University Management

PROJECT: Building Capacity for Structural Reform in Higher Education of Western Balkan Countries – STREW

Reference number: SM 511355-2010
Scope: Regional
Grant: 729.120,04 €
Eligibility period start: October 15, 2010
Eligibility period end: October 14, 2013
Status: finalized
Website: http://www.strew.uns.ac.rs/

Project Coordinator for the University of Belgrade:
Professor Nevenka Zarkic Joksimovic, full professor at Faculty of Organizational Sciences

PROJECT SUMMARY

To strengthen capacity for higher education structural reform in Western Balkan countries and facilitate a coherent convergence of the Region towards EHEA, as a prerequisite for genuine implementation of Bologna agenda.
Specific Project Objectives:

• To enhance Regional cooperation in higher education issues and address questions concerning coherent convergence of the Region towards EHEA, (to be largely achieved in the first two Project year).
• To strengthen capacity for change in public administration of Partner Country’s higher education institutions, on the issues related to the EU modernisation agenda (to be largely achieved in the second and third Project year).
• To develop joint regional roadmap for structural reform and benchmark it with the best European practice (to be developed gradually throughout the Project life).

Workpackages:

(DEV) 1. Surveying specific higher education structural reform issues of Western Balkan countries and its benchmarking with the best European practice.
(DEV) 2. Strengthening capacity for change of Partner Country’s university staff in order to facilitate internal reform and genuine implementation of Bologna agenda.
(DEV) 3. Capacity building of the staff in the institutions that govern higher education in Partner Countries, on the issues related to the EU modernisation agenda.
(DEV) 4. Development of a joint regional roadmap for acceleration of higher education structural reform and modes of its implementation in the context of coherent convergence of the Region towards EHEA.
(QPLN) 5. Quality control
(EXP) 6. Sustainability
(DISS) 7. Dissemination
(MNGT)8. Management of the project

OBJECTIVES

• To enhance Regional cooperation in higher education issues and address questions concerning coherent convergence of the Region towards EHEA, (to be largely achieved in the first two Project year).
• To strengthen capacity for change in public administration of Partner Country’s higher education institutions, on the issues related to the EU modernisation agenda (to be largely achieved in the second and third Project year).
• To develop joint regional roadmap for structural reform and benchmark it with the best European practice (to be developed gradually throughout the Project life).
• To promote the reform and modernisation of higher education in the partner countries.
• To build up the capacity of higher education institutions in the partner countries and the EU, in particular for international cooperation and for a permanent modernisation process, and to assist them in opening themselves up to society at large.
• To foster the reciprocal development of human resources.
• To enhance networking among higher education institutions and research institutes both in the partner and EU countries.
• Training courses for public services.

PARTNERS:

1. University of Novi Sad, SRB – Project Coordinator
2. University of Belgrade, SRB
3. National Council for Higher Education of the Republic of Serbia, SRB
4. Commission for Accreditation and Quality Assurance, SRB
5. Centre for Education Policy , SRB
6. Ministry of Education and Science of Albania, ALB
7. Ministry of Education and Sports of Montenegro, MNE
8. Ministry of Education and Sciences, Macedonia , MK
9. Dublin Institute of Technology, IRL
10. Higher Education Authority of Ireland , IRL
11. Stockholm University, Institute of International Education, SE
12. Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, SE
13. Agency for Development of Higher Education and QA,
14. Banja Luka , BIH
15. Aleksander Moisiu University of Durres, ALB
16. University of Tirana, ALB
17. Goce Delcev University, MK
18. University of Sarajevo, BIH
19. Middlesex University, UK
20. University of Banja Luka, BIH
21. University of Mostar, BIH
22. Kliment Ohridski University of Bitola , MK
23. University of Montenegro, MNE
24. Ministry of Education and Culture of Republika Srpska, BIH

Programme: LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME
Sub programme: TRANSVERSAL

PROJECT: Tagging, Recognition and Acknowledgment of Informal Learning ExpeRiences – TRAILER

Reference number: 519141-LLP-1-2011-1-ES-KA3-KA3MP
Scope: Multy-country
Grant: 408.259,00 €
Eligibility period start: January 01, 2012
Eligibility period end: December 31, 2013
Status: finalized
Website: http://grial.usal.es/agora/trailerproject/

Project Coordinator for the University of Belgrade:
Professor Dusan Starcevic, full professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences

PROJECT SUMMARY

The evolution of new technology and its increasing use has for some years been making the existence of informal learning more and more transparent, especially among young and older adults in both Higher Education and workplace contexts. However, the nature of formal and non-formal, course-based, approaches to learning has made it hard to accommodate these informal processes satisfactorily, and although technology bring us near to the solution, it has not yet achieved. The project aims to facilitate first the identification by the learner (as the last responsible of the learning process), and then the recognition by the institution, in dialogue with the learner, of this learning. The learner identifies episodes and evidences of informal learning in any of the different spaces in which she learns (formally or informally). She then links to these to the tool, located within her portfolio, and then tags them in relation to a predefined but evolving catalogue of competences. The tool is linked to the institutional interface in such a way that relevant experiences (related to the institutional target competences) are accessible to
the institution. Other experiences that may be personally relevant to the learner are accessible to her. In this way informal learning experiences become transparent and useful both for the individual and for the institution. Also the data generated could be used to improve learning systems and identify emerging competences.

The impact of this project will be especially representative to institutions, learners and the educational systems. As regards institutions, they could obtain and use hidden information about skills that their workers acquire in informal context. As regards learners, informal activity recognition will allow them to progress in a work-place context. Finally, education systems could consider the obtained information to adapt their learning pathways in a proper way to match labour market demand.

PARTNERS:

1. University of Salamanca, ES – Project coordinator and contractor
2. University of Belgrade, SRB
3. Polytechnic University of Catalonia, ES
4. Open University of the Netherlands, NLD
5. House of Training and Consultancy, POL
6. Polytechnic Institute of Porto, PRT
7. University of Bolton, UK

Programme: Tempus
Sub programme: Joint European Project-Curriculum Development
Subject area: University Strategic Planning, University-Industry Links, Multidisciplinary Studies

PROJECT: Conversion Courses for Unemployed University Graduates in Serbia – CONCUR

Reference number: 145009-2008
Scope: National
Grant: 666.421,00 €
Eligibility period start: January 15, 2009
Eligibility period end: January 14, 2012
Status: finalized
Website: http://www.concur.uns.ac.rs

Project Coordinator for the University of Belgrade:
Professor Mirjana Drakulic, full professor at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences

PROJECT SUMMARY

One of the major goals of the EU society is to increase the adaptability of workers and enterprises, on one hand, and the flexibility of labour markets, on the other. These goals could be achieved more efficiently if investing in human capital through better education and skills are encouraged. This area is where we see a growing need for expert involvement in helping educated young people adapt to new demands and helping Serbian society to face the problem of large number of unemployed graduates. Relevant national authorities in Serbia, such as four biggest universities, the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Higher Education, but also National Employment Service and Serbian Chamber of Commerce, decided to take on the challenge of developing new teaching programmes that will provide additional skills, highly desired at the labour market. By identifying the employers’ needs and allowing them to influence the Serbian national education system in order to contribute to increase its efficiency, one of the wider objectives of our Project, to achieve synergy of the HE system in Serbia with the labour market, is addressed.

The main objective of the project is to increase the employability of the university graduates in Serbia by offering them to acquire additional integrated skills, complementary to their basic vocational skills gained through their basic education. That will be achieved by developing 8 Master Programmes for Graduate Conversion, in the field of engineering, agriculture, business and economy. In this way, mobility and employability of graduates in Serbia at local, regional, and European labour market will be increased. The developed courses will be conducted through the Centres for Education Conversion, which will be established at each of the four participating universities in Serbia, as one of the main goals of this project. A group of 300 graduates will undergo the training within the duration of the Project.

OBJECTIVES

1. To develop eight Master Programmes for Graduate Conversion of unemployed graduates with the aim of improving their employability potential;
2. To provide training for approximately 300 unemployed graduates through the newly developed Master Programmes for Graduate Conversion;
3. To establish 4 Centres for Education Conversion at participating universities in Serbia through which the training will be organized.

PARTNERS:

1. University of Novi Sad (Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Technical Sciences), SRB – Project Coordinator
2. University of Belgrade, SRB (Faculty of Organizational Sciences)
3. University of Nis, SRB (Faculty of Electrical Engineering)
4. University of Kragujevac, SRB (Faculty of Engineering Sciences)
5. National Employment Service, SRB
6. Serbian Chamber of Commerce, SRB
7. Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, IRL
8. University of Exeter, UK
9. University of Ljubljana, SVN
10. Wageningen University, NLD