VMU Students Attended Mobility Weeks in Germany and Italy

Inesa Sadlauskaitė, Vytautas Magnus University student

Recently, three VMU students had the opportunity to attend mobility weeks in Italy and Germany. This allowed them to get acquainted with new study opportunities and innovative companies in those two countries as well as their culture and history. Both events were organized by the Transform4Europe Alliance.

Italy: Mobility Week in Trieste

Austėja Leonavičiūtė and Volodymyr Vasylenko, who are both VMU students, participated in a mobility week in Trieste, Italy as, respectively, a first-year master’s student of strategic management of organizations and a PhD student of Biology. The event provided a unique opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship and the various programs offered in the Trieste region.

The theme of the mobility week was focused on entrepreneurship and innovation, with a specific emphasis on the study programs and activities offered in the Trieste region. During the week, participants had the opportunity to visit various organizations in the area, where they were able to learn about specific companies and the methods they use to promote entrepreneurship in the workplace. In addition, students were encouraged to share their own experiences, ideas, and opinions with other participants, which was incredibly valuable and inspiring.

“Since I am studying a similar subject, it was easy. I am very happy to have the opportunity to present my entrepreneurial ideas to other like-minded people,” Austėja says.

“In general, this mobility week was based on commercialization or different ideas in natural science, public science, etc. The main task was to look for innovative ideas and realization of this conception in business. Oh yeah, and we have heard new recommendations about new ideas, how to realize it and all responses,” Volodymyr adds.

Meeting other students and developing new ideas

The week took place from December 12 to December 16 and was a unique opportunity to broaden horizons and gain more knowledge as well as motivation to develop one’s own business idea. As Austėja mentions, one of the most exciting parts of the week was getting to know the students from other universities and learning about their entrepreneurial business ideas.

“Getting to know each other was the most fun thing because you have just five days to get to know students from other universities, learn about their universities and entrepreneurial business ideas; at the same time, you get to know their culture more and make contacts.”

For Volodymyr, this mobility week suggested new ideas for future projects and development.

“We had guidance on how to implement this big idea, what we need to do with engineering and research, how to improve it. It is the same process as my research in Nature Sciences, and this field requires more researchers, more scientists with high qualification. Therefore, this was the main knowledge for me how I can start doing my own big projects with a big number of people who are professional is in this area.”

Trieste: beautiful city by the sea

Furthermore, the city of Trieste itself was also an incredible experience. Although it is not a large city, it is by the sea and has a rich history that was fascinating to learn about. As Austėja mentioned, the strong wind was also a surprise, but, according to her, it was great to see Italy outside of the summer season.

“I liked the city, although it is not big and everything can be reached on foot. It is a city by the sea which has a very old and interesting history that we have come across.”

Moreover, Volodymyr mentioned a more romanticized view of the Trieste city.

“The city itself very beautiful: hills and the Adriatic Sea in one place. Very beautiful. In addition, the city is full of historical mysteries, I can say. We took excursion in the city and this experience was joyful due to my interest in Roman Empire when I was younger.”

Overall, the opportunity to meet like-minded people from all over Europe and gain a deeper understanding of the various programs and activities offered in the Trieste region was truly invaluable for both Volodymyr and Austėja. Additionally, the week helped them to improve their communication skills, learn about the application of the Lean system in a manufacturing company, diversify and increase their invaluable knowledge for their scientific fields.

Therefore, for future participants, Volodymyr adds and mentions that it is important to not be afraid of communication and try to speak as much as you can because communication is the key for everyone’s success.

“During this project I felt safe speaking English and wasn’t afraid of making mistakes. Therefore, that was a tolerant area for a student to express their opinion. You have to be understandable. That is it.”

When they were asked if they would participate in other similar events shortly, the answer was “of course”. They both were looking forward in meeting more students and gaining knowledge.

Germany: Mobility Week in Saarbrucken

As a first-year bachelor’s student in the German language and communication study program, Vilmantė Mejerytė recently had the opportunity to participate in a mobility week in Saarbrucken, Germany. The theme of the mobility week was “Intercultural communication and multilingual discourse in academic teaching”. This was a unique opportunity to learn more about different cultures and to see how foreign students interact in certain situations.

The mobility week was organized by the University of Saarland and took place from 17-19 October 2022. During the Mobility Days, participants had the opportunity to take a closer look at the University of Saarland campus, walk around the premises and get to know the culture of the university. Nonetheless, the workshops were filled with a variety of activities and lectures that broadened personal understanding of different cultures.

“On the first evening, we had a closer look at the city with the workshop organizers from the University of Saarland, heard stories about the history of the city, and tasted German food. On the second day, together with the workshop participants, we self-organized a trip to Sarreguemines since the border of France is very close to the border of Germany and we could not miss the opportunity to enjoy French culture and food. On the last day of the mobility week, the workshop organizers took us on a trip to the famous Völklinger Hütte, which is the world’s only fully preserved ironworks from the heyday of industrialization, and is also the first industrial monument of this era to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.”

Mobility week left a very good impression

As Vilmantė pointed out, one of the most exciting parts of the mobility week was when they had to stand in front of a camera and put into words what had left the biggest impact from this experience. “At first, I was anxious about it but later was excited to see how all the participants (me included) felt about this time learning together.”

However, for students who have a fear of speaking in English (or other languages), Vilmantė suggests focusing on the conversation itself and not on the thoughts about what other people might think of pronunciation, accent, vocabulary, sentence structure or other aspects of your use of a certain language. In the end, communication is all that matters and grammar comes second after everything else.

Summarizing the entire experience, Vilmantė emphasized the organizational skills of the T4EU alliance. “I was impressed by how well all of the mobility week activities were organized. The organizers took care of the participants’ accommodation, catering, and local transportation.”

Broadened perspective for the final thesis

Nevertheless, it is important to underline the positive impact of this kind of international activities on the students themselves.

“When I started studying the language, I had little knowledge of what I could research, e.g., in my final thesis. This workshop provided useful knowledge and opened up a broader perspective on multilingualism and interculturalism, which could be separate subjects for a final thesis. Moreover, as soon as I enrolled, I knew that I wanted to take part in the Erasmus exchange program and go to Saarland University in Germany, so this event not only allowed me to familiarize myself with the university environment, culture, and professors but also gave me the courage to go to Saarland University for a whole semester.”

In response to the question whether she would participate in other similar events in the near future, the student replied, “If I have an opportunity I will definitely consider participating in this kind of event.”