The Erasmus program is a European Union (EU) exchange program established in 1987. Ever since the first year, when 3,200 students from 11 European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and United Kingdom) participated, the program has been evolving constantly.
Today, Erasmus+ (or Erasmus Plus), which was started in January 2014, offers a wide range of opportunities in higher education, vocational education and training, school education, adult education, youth, and sport.
The exchange part of the European Union’s Erasmus+ program is known as International Credit Mobility (ICM). It is one of the most commonly-used components of Erasmus+ and the funding supports the exchange of students and faculty to and from Bar-Ilan University with leading universities throughout Europe. ICM exchange is based on bilateral agreements between Israeli higher education institutions and their counterparts in the specific partner countries.
Bar-Ilan University strongly believes Erasmus+ ICM is vital to supporting the exchange of students and faculty and building partnerships that prompt new areas of interaction and the pursuit of more advanced instruction.
L-R: Prof. Moshe Lewenstein, Daniel Schuval, and Ofer Dahan
BIU’s International School, under the auspices of BIU’s Deputy President, Prof. Moshe Lewenstein, the management of Executive Director Ofer Dahan, and the coordination of Daniel Schuval, Director of Academic Partnerships and Projects and the Erasmus+ Institutional Coordinator, works to support the advancement of partnerships and projects with international institutions, with a focus on Europe.
Word of Mouth
While there is plenty of information available about the Erasmus+ program and its success, hearing from the students and faculty members who have experienced it is far more interesting and exciting. We’d like to share the tales of their travels with you.
Outgoing Faculty Exchange
The Erasmus+ ICM program enables Bar-Ilan University’s academic staff to teach at a partner higher education institution (HEI) abroad. The mobility period can last from five days to two months. Academic staff can also take colleagues or students to Europe for a variety of seminars. These are just some examples of the success of the program at Bar-Ilan.
Prof. Gilbert Daniel Nessim, an Associate Professor in BIU’s Chemistry Department and the Bar-Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials (BINA), was one of the first European students to venture out as a student in the late 80s, but as a professor at Bar-Ilan University, he has come full circle to a place where he encourages his students to make the most of the Erasmus+ experience. Read his story.
Dr. Zvi Orgad is an Assistant Lecturer in BIU’s Department of Jewish Art. He did something different from the regular exchange program when he arranged a 10-day summer seminar on Jewish art and life in Franconia, Germany, with four graduate students. Read his story.
Prof. Marcela Sulak is an Associate Professor of English in BIU’s Department of English Literature and Linguistics. A conference in Iași, Romania, in 2019 resulted in a summer seminar at BIU in September 2020. Read her story.
Prof. Michael Sofer is Prof. Emeritus and an economic geographer in BIU’s Department of Geography and Environment. He participated in the Erasmus+ program three times in one year – all at Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic. Read his story.
Prof. William Kolbrener is a Professor in BIU’s English Department who has taught at various institutions in Eastern Europe including Budapest (Hungary), Iași (Romania), and Olomouc (Czech Republic). Read his story.
Outgoing Student Exchange
Student mobility for studies (all degree levels) in Europe can last from three to 12 months. Students can choose any country and university for their exchange program. Some of our outgoing students have expressed their views of their experiences on the Erasmus+ program.
Dr. Israel Teyer participated in an Erasmus+ program when he was in his late 70s. During his postgraduate studies in General History, he spent six months at the University of Verona in Italy. Read his story.
Daniel Azses, a Physics student, went to the University of Innsbruck in Austria for five months in 2020 as part of his MSc degree. Read his story.
Hadas Lupa completed her MSc degree in Electrical Engineering in 2020, but not before she went to the University of Valencia in Spain for her Erasmus+ experience. Read her story.
Madina Telkhozhayeva is the only BIU student in this group who doesn’t live in Israel. She is from Almaty, Kazakhstan, but has been a doctoral student in the lab of Prof. Gilbert Daniel Nessim in the Department of Chemistry since October 2018. She spent six months at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in Italy. Read her story.
You don’t have to be an Israeli student to spend time in Europe on the Erasmus+ program. Many of Bar-Ilan University’s international students have also had the opportunity to experience student exchange while working towards their degrees.
If you’d like to find out more information about the Erasmus+ program at Bar-Ilan University, please email us at [email protected].
