LAUNCHING OF EUROPEAN ACROSS UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES IN PERPINGNAN, FRANCE WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF RUSE

In the period 22-24 January 2025 at the University of Perpignan, France, the first meeting of partners took place within the framework of the European university ACROSS-European University for Cross-border Knowledge Sharing, of which the University of Ruse is a full member based on the success achieved after the announcement of the results of the last call of the European Commission for the European Universities initiative.

 The participants in the meeting , on behalf of the university of Ruse were : Associate Professor Galina Ivanova, PhD - Deputy Rector for International Cooperation, Associate Professor Tsvetelina Harakchiyska , PhD - Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Education, Professor Ivan Beloev, PhD - head of the Continuing Education Center, Professor Juliana Popova, PhD, Associate Professor  Orlin Petrov , PhD - Head of the Academic Staff Development Department , Doctor Victoria Ivanova - Director of the University Library and Professor Valentina Voynohovska, PhD - responsible for tasks from the work program for the implementation of the project.

The ACROSS consortium consists of 9 universities located in European cross-border regions: University of Ruse "Angel Kanchev", Technical University in Bialystok, Poland; Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany – Consortium Coordinator; University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, University of Girona, Spain; University of Craiova, Romania; University of Nova Gorica, Slovenia, University of Perpignan, France; University of Udine, Italy. An associate partner in the consortium is Ivan Franko National University in Lviv, Ukraine.

The workshop achieved important results related to the launch of activities on the structuring of the European University ACROSS in the fields of education, science, consolidation of academic communities and interaction with stakeholders from regional ecosystems in a cross-border context.

The huge amount of work to be done in the next 4 years is distributed proportionally between the partners, as its main driver will be 16 international work groups (Task Teams), structured for the implementation of the planned 16 work tasks under the project. Each of the universities in the consortium participates with at least 2 representatives in the individual working groups.

The University of Ruse is the leader of 3 of the project tasks - 1.1 Across Border Alliance Governance, 4.2 Across Border Inter-alliance Cooperation, 4.4 Across Project Support Unit (Joint structure for attracting additional funding) - and joint supervisor (together with the University of Girona, Spain) of task 3.3 Across Graduate School.

The work of the Across consortium will be led by a Council of Rectors and an Executive Board, which will make decisions for the successful functioning of a true European University with more than 100,000 students and more than 10,000 teaching and administrative staff, with common curricula in specific professional fields , common modules in curricula, aimed at the acquisition of skills in accordance with the needs of the rapidly changing labor market, knowledge, economy and multicultural society in cross-border regions, intensive mobility of students, PhD students and teachers, a common digital campus and others.

At the beginning of March 202,  the project coordinator – Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany will host the official opening meeting of the European University Across, where a spectacular event is expected with the presence of the chancellors of the consortium universities and the members of all international working groups.

THE UNIVERSITY OF RUSE RECEIVED MAXIMUM ASSESSMENT FOR ITS WORK FROM THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

The University of Ruse has been awarded the maximum grade 4 by the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) for the implementation of the Policies for the Development of Higher Education for another year. 100% implementation and over-implementation of the values for all indicators laid down in the strategic document of the Ministry of Education and Culture have been achieved.

The maximum assessment of the Ministry of Education and Culture for the presented Report on the implementation of the contract for the management of the higher school, referring to the Development Policy of the University of Ruse in the period 2024, for another year reflects the successful management of the higher school. Each higher education institution has specific tasks to fulfill according to its profile.

"We are proud to have once again proven the high quality of our work. By all indicators, we exceeded the set goals, which is a serious success and testimony to the efforts of the university's academic and administrative staff," said the Rector of the university of Ruse Prof.  Gencho Popov, PhD.

These results motivate the entire academic community of the University of Ruse to continue with its high achievements and maintain its established positions in the educational system of the country.