University Internationalization

The Internationalization process in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) integrates international dimensions into academia, teaching and research fields. University cooperation relationships between both economic  and social institutions constitute one of the  most important aspects of university life. It  is also the easiest way in assessing the  impact an institution can have in  national and in international context.

The University of Catania takes part in teaching and research internationalization actions and initiatives aimed at increasing both student and staff mobility, at the improvement of foreign students and professors recruitment, at the involvement in internationalization programmes and projects, at the widening of the international educational offer and at the strengthening of initiatives in particular geographical areas as well as in international Higher Education and Research networks.

In particular, the University of Catania, in line with the internationalization of universities and the Bologna process, is becoming more and more a “cultural bridge” connecting Europe and the other Mediterranean countries, stimulating the inclusion and integration of international activities in all academic teaching and research activities.

Under the indisputable importance of the theme, the current European debate is in fact based on priority issues such as achieving the objectives set by the Lisbon European Council in 2000 and prosecution of those defined in the Bologna Process. In both cases, the enhancement of students' and academics' mobility is considered essential to improve the quality of research, teaching and training.

According to the guidelines expressed by the "Barcelona Declaration" and the "Charter of Tarragona”, a shared priority was to develop dialogue and cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean Area through a strategy aimed at coordinating the policies of Education and Training in the Mediterranean countries.

The University of Catania is sensitive to indications given by the European Commission and has presented a variety of projects in the framework of the Lifelong Learning Programme - LLP. Furthermore, research and exchange projects have been realized by setting up relations with China. The international inter-university cooperation has been realized also through the launch of projects funded by national and international centres. Research projects were carried out within the VII Framework Programme as well as within National (PON, NRP), Regional (POR) and Local Research Programmes.

Another objective of the University of Catania is to develop scientific research and consolidate competitive positions within national and international scientific fields. It is of great importance that the university attracts new resources by improving its excellence in the various scientific areas such as the qualification of research training and closer international relationships among researchers. To this purpose, the University of Catania has signed several Cooperation Agreements, constantly increasing the number of exchange students, professors and staff, through the sustained promotion of mobility programmes both within Erasmus and own funded exchange initiatives.

These measures, strategies and concrete actions in the sector of the internazionalization enable our university to improve the quality of educational and research opportunities as well as to contribute a new and strong culture of cooperation and peace.