University of Bremen Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Yasemin Karakaşoğlu and International Office Director Dr. Annette Lang visited Izmir University Rector Prof. Dr. Kayhan Erciyeş. University of Bremen with a history of 40 years is among the leading universities in Germany and Europe.

University of Bremen and Izmir University already have an Erasmus agreement in the field of Business Administration for student and staff exchange. The focus of the meeting also attended by Asst. Prof. Dr. Gülnur Erciyeş (Director of Graduate School of Social Sciences), Prof. Dr. Tuncay Ege (Vice Rector) and Güneş Demirel (Coordinator of International Relations Office) was how to extend the scope of cooperation between two universities. Prof. Dr. Erciyeş briefly introduced Izmir University and Prof. Dr. Karakaşoğlu stated that there are similarities between the interests and projects of two universities in terms of disabled rights, women studies and social responsibility projects.

University of Bremen which is very strong in the fields of Engineering and Technical Sciences wishes to cooperate with Izmir University Faculty of Engineering programs offered in English; and they are also interested in staff Exchange with the Izmir University Faculty of Law within the framework of Erasmus. Two universities also agree on the opportunity to develop a joint doctorate program in the long run.

As a research-based university, Bremen incorporates Europe’s best research instutitons.

Izmir University was represented by the International Relations office at the ERACON Erasmus Coordinators Meeting and Go Exchange Fair held at Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania on 18-22 April.

304 representatives from 23 European Countries (Austria, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Greece, Ireland, UK, Southern Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey) attended the organization. Best practices about Erasmus and mobility were presented and workshops have been organized for sharing experiences.

Izmir University attracted a lot of attention at the fair and collected demands for new Erasmus partnerships.

First exchange students of Izmir University shared their experiences about the educational system, culture and approach towards foreigners abroad upon their return. 

Students who spent a semester abroad via the exchange agreements of Izmir University shared their experiences with the academicians and the International Relations Office. Erasmus students Öykü Bihter Dağal and Levent Çağkan Özkan spent the fall semester at HAMK University of Applied Sciences in Finland, and Erasmus students Ayberk Kaynak and Çağrı Duygu had gone to University of Pitesti in Romania.  Nadir Fırat was the only student who went to Keimyung University in South Korea with a scholarship from the Korean government.

The students passed all of their courses with good grades. They mentioned about the education system, culture and approach towards foreigners in their presentations. They stated that the exchange opportunity provided by Izmir University has been a great contribution.  The students are planning to establish an “Academic Exchange Programs Club” to assist with the orientation services of outgoing and incoming exchange students.

Students who would like to attend the Humanity in Action Conference can follow the attached directons: 

 humanity_in_action_2012.pdf