All CARPE members support and run international exchange programmes for their students. This provides them with key skills for a successful start into their future world of work. Studying and learning together in an international setting improves the quality of any academic education, contributes to a deeper intercultural intercommunication and understanding, improved language skills and a stronger self-confidence. Up to more than 400 students have taken part in exchange programmes among CARPE partners.
A major part of the CARPE network’s exchange programmes are being financed by Erasmus+, the EU’s major programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. In order to participate, universities must hold an ‘Erasmus+ Charter for Higher Education’, which is the case for all CARPE members. In addition to study abroad programs, students can also apply for Erasmus+ funding for traineeships abroad. There is also special funding available for students with physical, mental or health-related conditions. Agreements between sending and receiving institutions list the range of courses students can enroll in and ensure credit recognition. Staff mobility is also part of these Erasmus+ agreements, both in teaching and non-teaching capacities. Examples of staff mobility include teaching, job shadowing or training mobilities.
Overview of Erasmus+ mobilities for CARPE partners
- Student Mobility for Studies Abroad (SMS)
- Student Mobility for Internships Abroad (SMP)
- Staff Mobility for Teaching (STA)
- Staff Mobility for Training (STT)
The International Offices and Erasmus+ Institutional Coordinators of the respective CARPE member are the points of contact for more information:
- Hamburg University of Applied Sciences: https://www.haw-hamburg.de/international.html and https://www.haw-hamburg.de/studyabroad.html
- HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht: https://www.internationalhu.com/contact
- Turku University of Applied Sciences: https://www.tuas.fi/en/about-us/international-tuas/international-operations/
- University of Debrecen: https://www.edu.unideb.hu/page.php?contacts&id=117
- Universitat Politècnica de València: http://www.upv.es/entidades/OPII/infoweb/pi/info/818854normali.html
- University of the West of Scotland: https://www.uws.ac.uk/international/
In addition to a high number of vibrant Erasmus+ partnerships, all CARPE members have partner universities around the world and have defined strategic regions for an intensified exchange of students, staff and research.
Staff mobility within CARPE: teacher exchanges between Turku UAS and HAW Hamburg
Prof. Patric Granholm from Turku UAS and Prof. Andreas Baumgart from HAW Hamburg are currently undergoing a teacher exchange between their respective institutions. Please read their stories below!
Tervetuloa Hampuriin – Welcome to Hamburg!
Prof. Patric Granholm of Finland and Prof. Andreas Baumgart from HAW Hamburg are switching jobs for one year.
Since 2001, Patric Granholm has taught at Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS), a Finnish university of applied sciences which is a long-standing cooperation partner of HAW Hamburg. When Andreas Baumgart, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Production, contacted Granholm in December 2018 and suggested a job exchange, Granholm was immediately interested and the two of them began their planning. Granholm has now been living in Hamburg since 11 August and is looking forward to his first semester at HAW Hamburg.
A Hamburg adventure
Although he previously had no particular connection to Hamburg, Granholm was excited by the idea of experiencing something new for a year. It is definitely a goal of his to promote this kind of long-term exchange, he says. During his time in Hamburg he hopes to gain new perspectives and teaching experience, as well as new research contacts. His research focus is on numerical simulation in radiation protection, but he’s also open to exploring new fields. For example, he’s recently been examining ethics in engineering. He is also looking forward to refreshing his rusty German skills. Understanding what is being said is still easier than speaking himself at the moment, he says, and asks for understanding, especially at the beginning of his stay.
Granholm’s career path
Granholm was born and raised in Helsinki, and in the 1980s he headed to Turku, 160 km to the south-west, to study physics. He stayed there until the beginning of this year, when he and his partner moved back to a house in Helsinki in the middle of the corona crisis. He received his Master’s degree in experimental nuclear physics from TUAS in the 1990s and shortly after obtained his Licentia docendi, the licence to teach in Finland, with a focus on the electrical conductivity of polymers. He was head of the international computer science programme for eight years, and since 2018 he’s headed the chemical engineering programme. With approximately 10,000 students, TUAS is the fourth-largest university in the country and one of three universities in Turku. This makes the city very young and lively, Granholm says.
A year at HAW Hamburg in an unusual time
During his time at HAW Hamburg, Granholm will teach math and related subjects such as MATLAB in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Production, which is part of the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science. He is looking forward to collaborating closely with his German colleagues and exchanging information about teaching methods. He has mixed feelings about the impact of Covid-19 on the upcoming semester: He hopes to be able to teach in person in order to get a full picture of everyday life at a German university, but thinks it would also be interesting to experience how teaching strategies and methods have to be rethought in order to adapt to the situation.
Though he’ll miss his two grown children and his grandchildren, he’s pleased that his partner will be working in Hamburg for part of the time. He also has a number of activities planned – for instance, trying German wines and training for the Hamburg Marathon in April 2021, which he’s already registered for. He will also definitely have the chance to pursue his sailing hobby. A colleague in the department has already offered to organise a sail on the Elbe.
We’re pleased to welcome Patric Granholm to HAW Hamburg and wish him an interesting stay in Hamburg!
Author: Maike Kristin Lempka, Internationalisation at Home, International Office
Tervetuloa Suomeen – One-year work exchange in Finland
Prof. Andreas Baumgart is currently teaching for one year at Turku University of Applied Sciences.
Almost two years ago, Andreas Baumgart, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Production, asked the International Office for support because he wanted to teach in another European country for a year, and take his family with him. Together with his wife and three daughters, he’s now been living in Turku, Finland, since mid-July and will be there for one year. He has traded jobs with his Finnish colleague Patric Granholm, who works in the Faculty of Engineering and Business at Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS). Patric Granholm will teach at HAW Hamburg’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Production for two semesters, and Andreas Baumgart will take over his colleague’s teaching responsibilities at TUAS, which is a partner in the CARPE network.
Andreas Baumgart
Professor Andreas Baumgart, who was a member of the University Senate from 2016 to 2020, teaches the courses Technical Mechanics, Mathematics, and Finite Element Methods in the Mechanical Engineering and Production Bachelor’s degree course at HAW Hamburg. He is active in advocating competence orientation in teaching and produces content for e-learning. His research area is intelligent tutoring systems.
From Hamburg to south-west Finland and back – 1,291 km
The internationalisation of teaching is a central activity in HAW Hamburg’s internationalisation strategy. The IO supports teaching stays abroad and international guest instructors at HAW Hamburg with a special mobility fund for instructors and Erasmus funds for teaching stays. These are generally short stays of up to two weeks. The one-year stay is a pilot project that is breaking new ground and initially required finding an exchange partner for Andreas Baumgart.
Thanks to the network of International Offices at the universities belonging to the CARPE network, a colleague from Finland responded to the call in December 2018. This was Patric Granholm. He had taught at TUAS since 2001, had a suitable teaching profile, had a house for the Baumgart family near the university and had a hobby in common with Baumgart: sailing. Initial discussions between Andreas Baumgart and Patric Granholm in Hamburg and Turku followed (financed by the International Office’s Erasmus funds for job shadowing), as well as with the participating departments, to see if it would be possible to trade their teaching responsibilities. The answer from both sides was a clear ‘yes!’. The International Office at the University of Hamburg provided a model cooperation contract, and the personnel and legal departments at each of the universities started reviewing the idea of a job exchange.
Turku University of Applied Sciences
In addition to its close partnership with TUAS through the CARPE network, HAW Hamburg also has an active student exchange programme with the Finnish university – as well as 10 other universities in the country. The multidisciplinary TUAS has approximately 9,600 students and is made up of the Faculty of Engineering and Business, the Faculty of Health and Well-Being, and the Arts Academy. The university is home to over 30 research groups which have made it their goal to improve well-being in the region: each year TUAS carries out over 200 projects in the areas of research, development and innovation. One of its hallmarks is the ‘Innopeda’ concept, an innovative pedagogical strategy with a focus on experimenting, the sharing of knowledge and experience, and the incorporation of different perspectives. Andreas Baumgart is now supporting a project where students in their second semester have to design a small hydraulic pump, produce it with a 3D printer and then assemble it – without having been taught the basics of fluid mechanics.
Initial impressions
Finland is as firmly in the grip of the coronavirus as Germany, writes Andreas Baumgart. Although people wearing masks is not a common sight in Turku, the Internet will be the main teaching platform at TUAS. Andreas Baumgart is already working closely with his new colleagues to prepare new lectures and become integrated into research projects. He has received a friendly and open welcome in Turku and is really enjoying working with his colleagues.
In his daughters’ schools, on-site teaching is the standard – without any notable restrictions. This is where small differences between the countries are particularly evident. Alongside the usual subjects, the schools emphasise language skills (four languages in grade six) and practical subjects such as woodwork/metalwork, programming, handwork and home economics. Turku also has an architecturally appealing public library, which has extensive on-site and electronic services and materials for kids and adults, as well as competent and friendly staff. And then there are the blueberries for cake that grow in the forest less than three minutes away from the house.
Turku seems to have been a good choice for the Baumgart family. In the small city, the children can get to school alone by bike or by foot, the sports clubs are around the corner, and somehow everyone seems to know everyone, at least through someone else. Though the Baumgarts have yet to see an elk…
We wish the Baumgart family a wonderful and unforgettable stay in Finland! We’re very pleased that we were able to make this job trade happen, despite the unusual times and thanks to the strong support from all those responsible at HAW Hamburg and TUAS. A big thank you to the personnel and legal departments and the presidents of both universities!
Instructors with international experience play a decisive role in the internationalisation of our university. They make an indispensable contribution to new content and perspectives in teaching and research, the internationalisation of degree courses and improved networks abroad.
Author: Martina Schulze, Head of International Office