The physical intra-alliance mobilities are organised within the Erasmus+ Mobility projects for higher education students and staff (KA131 and KA171) implemented at the level of each member university within the alliance in collaboration with the ten full members and two associated ones and also with the GEMINAE partner universities.
Students can either study (SMS) or carry out a traineeship (SMT) abroad, at a partner higher education institution within the UNITA alliance, while staff members can take part in professional development activities by spending teaching (STA) as well as training (STT) periods abroad, such as job shadowing, observation periods, training courses and/or staff training weeks. PhD students and researchers can also develop research’s stays at one other university, actions that can have different formats (short time, days-weeks or even long term, months) and several sources of funding.
Implementation of flexibility windows in our alliance represents a percentage of the course(s) that the student participating in an Erasmus+ study mobility within the UNITA alliance can choose from the study offer of the host institution, even if they are outside the field of study in which they are enrolled. The students can receive guidance from an academic coordinator so that their choices are appropriate and within the limit defined in the UNITA context, which is a minimum number of 1 course, within a maximum limit of 20% of the total number of ECTS credits assumed for the entire Erasmus+ study mobility period. Flexibility windows contribute to the formation of transversal skills, other than those aimed at the formation of explicit professional skills within a specific study programme, through opportunities offered to students participating in Erasmus+ study mobility within the UNITA alliance.
Staff mobility within the UNITA alliance can be carried out by both academic and administrative staff members: mobility for teaching can be in any study field there is a bilateral inter-institutional agreement signed, while a training activity abroad may take the form of staff weeks or training events (organised by UNITA member universities on a regular basis, providing possibility for larger group participation) or job shadowing and observation periods (rather pursued on an individual basis).
To ensure high-quality mobility activities with maximum impact, the mobility activity must be related to the staff’s professional development and to address their learning and personal development needs. Within UNITA we organize staff weeks on various topics, aiming to integrate our alliance, we organise BIPs for staff and we work towards developing communities through events that rely on staff (academic, administrative and research) to pursue mobilities. Such examples include the very diverse and multiple matching events in Education and Research, with hundreds of participants on a yearly basis, some of them becoming recurrent events.
