Erasmus Charter for Higher Education
Since its origins, in 1222, the University of Padua has considered internationalisation as one of its core values: it has always promoted international collaborations and mobility and developed an international environment within the institution itself.
The University of Padua takes any challenge and opportunity to strengthen existing schemes and collaborations or to explore new innovative approaches.
The Erasmus+ Programme perfectly fits into the institutional strategy of the University of Padua and has always supported its development in projects and mobility.
The University of Padua intends to take part in all Key Actions and further develop its participation in the programme by 10% while widening access to funding opportunities and diversifying the type of selected projects. By 2027, at least 40% of the university community is expected to benefit, directly or indirectly, from internationalisation. Procedures will be redesigned from a more digital and environment-friendly perspective.
The University of Padua will invest resources and devote trained staff in order to improve the services offered to incoming and outgoing mobility, and increase its participation in international partnerships. New approaches to mobility, such as blended mobility and Virtual Exchange, and innovative teaching methods and collaborative programmes, including joint degrees, will be explored and implemented. The positive outcomes of projects will be disseminated and the strong impact of mobility on professional and personal growth will be recognised in terms of both academic results and skills.
The Erasmus+ Programme will help the University of Padua create a widely accessible and truly inclusive learning environment, where opportunities will be at everyone’s disposal with no discrimination.
The University of Padua "promotes the development of a culture based on universal values such as human rights, peace, environmental protection and international solidarity" (Art. 1, paragraph 2 of the Statute). On the basis of this fundamental principle, it has developed, over time, very important transnational relations that have always remained active throughout the eight centuries of its history.
The University is the holder of the CEIS, Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (or ECHE), a document issued by the European Commission that provides the general qualitative framework for the collaborative activities at European and international level that an institution can carry out within the Erasmus+ syllabus. The ECHE is an essential prerequisite for participation in the Erasmus Plus syllabus.
The main organizational strategies for the implementation of the Erasmus+ syllabus adopted by the University:
- full revision of existing Erasmus interinstitutional agreements and expansion to new institutions;
- improvement of the reciprocity of flows (incoming mobility is lower than outgoing mobility);
- promotion of the mobility of doctoral students;
- co-financing of outgoing mobility of students, teachers and technical-administrative staff for both education and training;
- strengthening of the role of International Relations both in terms of human resources and in supporting the implementation of European training projects.
The University's contribution to the five priorities of the Agenda on the modernisation of the European Union is carried out within national policies and, as far as the University is concerned, through:
- the general increase in registrations, in line with the national trend;
- the constant attention paid to improving the quality of the degree courses;
- internationalization and mobility policy, at the top of the institutional agenda, mainly in terms of co-financing, with particular attention to students with disabilities;
- the commitment to the realization of internships within local companies that give, every year, the opportunity to about 12,000 students to use this training tool.