Successful staff mobility in Tanzania: Strengthening international cooperation between UCM and DUCE

Published: 19.3. 2025

 

First mobility: Establishing and deepening academic relations

Between 26 January and 7 February 2025, DUCE was attended by Mgr. Lukáš Kurajda, PhD, and Mgr. Pavel Miškařík, PhD., who focused on the development of partnerships between UCM and DUCE. The aim of their stay was to plan a joint international workshop, promote academic mobility and train mobility administrators at DUCE. During their stay, they had a series of meetings with university officials, academics and administrators to discuss opportunities for future collaboration in research and pedagogy. As a result, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between UCM and DUCE, concrete steps were agreed to strengthen the exchange programmes, topics for the upcoming workshop in Trnava were defined and suggestions were made to improve administrative processes related to the Erasmus+ programme.

First mobility: Establishing and deepening academic relations

From 26 January to 7 February 2025, Mgr. Lukáš Kurajda, PhD, and Mgr. Pavel Miškařík, PhD., who focused on the development of partnerships between UCM and DUCE. The aim of their stay was to plan a joint international workshop, promote academic mobility and train mobility administrators at DUCE. During their stay, they had a series of meetings with university officials, academics and administrators to discuss opportunities for future collaboration in research and pedagogy. As a result, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between UCM and DUCE, concrete steps were agreed on to strengthen the exchange programmes, topics for the upcoming workshop in Trnava were defined and suggestions were made to improve the administrative processes related to the Erasmus+ programme.

Second mobility: research cooperation in the field of linguistics

In the period 1 February - 10 February 2025, DUCE was visited by prof. Dr. Dr. rer. nat. Georg Schuppener, who focused on deepening research cooperation in linguistics. During his stay he met with the representatives of the Department of Languages and Literature, where he presented the current research topics of the Department of Germanic Studies of the Faculty of Arts, UCM. The possibilities of exchange of research knowledge and potential joint projects were discussed. An important outcome of this mobility was the planning of a joint publication on "Representation of Numerals in European and African Languages". This collaboration represents a significant step in the field of contrastive linguistics and international research in the field of linguistics.

Third mobility: Exchange of experience in the field of teaching

From 10 February to 21 February 2025, the mobility was attended by Assoc. Mgr. Mariana Sirotová, PhD., Mgr. Veronika Michvocíková, PhD., Mgr. Miroslava Ožvaldová and Martina Žiaková. Their programme was extremely intensive and included:

• working meetings with the DUCE management, where they discussed the possibilities of implementing joint research projects in the field of inclusive pedagogy,
• visits to kindergartens, primary and secondary schools in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, where approaches to education and inclusion were analysed,
• consultations with DUCE experts on the development of new methodological guides for university teachers and students,
• preparation of proposals for joint research projects focusing on the specific needs of university students in Slovakia and Tanzania.

One of the most important outcomes of the mobility was a discussion on the promotion of student wellbeing and the possibilities of comparative research between Slovakia and Tanzania. The mobility participants also visited The State University of Zanzibar, where they discussed the possibility of concluding a bilateral agreement within the Erasmus+ programme.

Conclusion and perspectives for further cooperation

All three mobilities met their objectives and created a solid basis for future cooperation between UCM and DUCE. As a result, not only exchange programmes and research cooperation have been strengthened, but also new initiatives in the field of inclusive education and language research are being planned. The UCM Faculty of Arts will continue to support internationalisation and mobility programmes that contribute to the development of quality higher education and research. Further exchanges of academic staff and students as well as joint research projects are planned in the coming period, which will bring new impulses to the academic environment of both universities.