After a year, the TBU International Office (IO), once again prepared a wide-ranging programme for 20 participants in the International Week event. In the week from 8 to 12 April, representatives of Erasmus+ partner universities from Spain, France, Lithuania and six other countries came to Zlín with the aim of getting acquainted with the environment at our University. These were both international officers and academics, who gave a professional lecture during their stay. Among the participants, employees of universities which had joined the prestigious alliance of European universities entitled PIONEER could be found, where TBU is a member as well.
In the course of the week, the participants took a tour of specialized classrooms and laboratories at TBU Faculties (FHS, FMC, FAI and FT), attended thematic workshops led by TBU International Officers and also took home a glass or a mini wallet made by the ROBOT creative workshop as a souvenir. In order to give them a chance to learn more about the Czech culture and about the history of the town of Zlín and of the Zlín region, various activities such as a crash course in Czech, a guided tour of the building No. 21 and an excursion to Luhačovice including a visit to the Vincentka mineral water bottling plant and to the Kare wafer factory had been planned and organized for the participants.
In addition to the programme intended for international guests, a number of other events were held in order to support internationalization at TBU. The most important among them was the traditional International Festival organized by the International Office and focusing on learning about the cultures of our international students, especially through tasting of various delicacies of the Indian, Vietnamese, Turkish and Spanish cuisine, to name but a few examples. New features of this year’s event comprised the International Breakfast with the FT Vice-Dean for International Relations, a FHS series of lectures entitled “Erasmus+ Adventures” and also a lecture held at the FAI and given by a graduate of TBU and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Last but not least, the student organization ESN Zlín also got involved in the event, presenting their activities.
“I am very pleased that, this year again, we have managed to put together an ethnically diverse group of people, who came to Zlín and, thanks to a balanced programme, had an opportunity to get to know both our University and the town of Zlín. I am convinced that, when travelling back home, they were full of positive impressions and experiences, which will, later on, be transformed into strengthened mutual relations. The result will be a smoother process of implementation of academic mobility of students and staff, as well as preparation of and cooperation on international projects,” said Assoc. Prof. Ing. Marek Kubalčík, Ph.D., TBU Vice-Rector for Internationalization, in summary.
