International mobility on the rise for Insubria lecturers and technical and administrative staff: 132 will leave in 2024-25 for research, teaching and training

A total of 132 lecturers and members of the technical and administrative staff of Insubria University will spend a period abroad for research, teaching or training activities in the coming academic year, thanks to the mobility grants approved a few days ago by the University Commission for International Relations, based on funds allocated by the Board of Directors or from the European Union. This is the highest number ever reached, a sign of the progress in the internationalisation of our university.

In particular, 29 lecturers will go abroad for research activities, one third of them outside Europe, while 26 will spend a period in a European consortium university for a teaching experience under the Erasmus programme. In addition, 77 members of the technical-administrative staff will participate in a staff week in the offices of foreign universities similar to Insubria's, or will attend an intensive English language enhancement course abroad. On their return, the grant recipients will have to submit a detailed and documented report on the activities carried out and the results achieved.

Student mobility is also on the rise: having completed the selections for the Erasmus call for applications launched in February, 375 students will be leaving in the 2024-25 academic year, including 311 for Erasmus Study, 45 for Erasmus Traineeship and 19 with a special programme called the Blended Intensive Programme. Insubria is also attractive to foreign students wishing to spend a period of study in Varese or Como: the still partial data shows 149 mobility requests from European students on the various courses provided by our University.

Lastly, six one-week international Summer Schools for graduates have been approved and co-financed, which will bring many lecturers from foreign universities to Varese or Como. Three are organised by the Department of Law, Economics and Culture, the others by the Department of Economics, the Department of Science and High Technology, and the Department of Humanities and Innovation for the Territory. The topics of the Summer Schools range from climate change to bioeconomics, from physics to sustainable tourism, from Mediterranean myths to private international law.