The School of Mechanical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens, within the scope of the ERASMUS+ European funded program, provides the opportunity to undergraduate, graduate as well as to postgraduate students to visit partner universities within E.U. or non E.U. countries, for studies or internships. The collaboration agreement between universities within the program is completed through initiatives by the teaching staff of the School and their personal contacts with members from other universities or university networks that are constantly growing, as it is highly important to maintain continuous interaction between the universities of the European Union.
The ERASMUS+ program also includes additional activities. These include subsidizing the mobility of teaching staff of higher education institutions in order to spend time teaching at a partner institution abroad, as well as general staff mobility to help increase their experience and skills. However, the main scope of the program has always been- and still is –student exchange between partner universities, based on the aforementioned bilateral agreements. According to these agreements, there is a specific, per case, predetermined number of participating students, while the duration of the stay in each partner university ranges from 3 to 12 months. The total mobility months allowed for each student, including all separate cycles, cannot exceed 12 months, a duration which corresponds to one academic year.
All students are entitled to participate in the program, provided they are at least at the second year of their studies in one of the departments of the NTUA, and that they have successfully completed at least 3/4 of the first year courses. Secondly, it is highly important that students who are going to take courses in one of the foreign partner universities should carefully select them from the available course program. While selecting, students are encouraged to consult the teaching staff of the School of Mechanical Engineering of the NTUA who teach similar courses, in order to correctly select courses with relevant content. Finally, students that wish to carry out their thesis at a foreign institution should claim a written permission from their Supervisor.
The selection of the students that will participate at the ERASMUS+ program, is based on the following specific criteria, as precisely defined by the ERASMUS+ committee:
1. Current year of studying.
2. Level of language proficiency for the first or the second institutional language, in the foreign university.
3. Student’s competence (average score in taught courses).
4. Rate of ECTS of successfully completed courses/ Total course program ECTS based on the current semester of the applicant.
Moreover, incoming students have to follow and participate at the exams of the undergraduate courses of the School of Mechanical Engineering and are asked to have very good proficiency of Greek or English languages, in the case of courses that can be taught in English.
For each inter - institutional partnership of the school there is a teaching staff member entitled to negotiate and sign the bilateral agreement who is the Academic director. The whole effort is coordinated by Associate Professor Angelos Markopoulos and Assistant Professor Dimitris Mitrakos.
The School of Mechanical Engineering, considering the widespread interest for the ERASMUS+ program and the big participation of students and faculty staff members, supports the whole effort, having established since year 2000, a specialized Erasmus Office, in close partnership with the Central Office for European Educational Programs of NTUA, which helps everyone interested in the ERASMUS+ program to coordinate their efforts and provide detailed guidelines. For those interested in getting more information concerning the various university partnerships, please visit:
http://erasmus.ntua.gr/en/.