Consortium

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VTech Project has 11 partners out of which 6 are HEIs form Albania and Kosovo, and 5 partners HEIs from program countries namely Estonia, Poland, Slovenia and the Republic of North Macedonia. The project is envisaged to last for 3 years.  

Aleksandër Moisiu University in Durrës was established on 2005 and is one of 11 public universities in Albania. When the University opened its doors in the 2006-2007 academic year, one thousand of students from across the country started their studies. Today Aleksandër Moisiu University has about nineteen thousand students (19 000) and 6 main units: Faculty of Business, Faculty of Education, Faculty of information Technology, Faculty of Political Juridical Sciences, Faculty of Professional Studies and  Faculty of Integrated Studies with Practice (FASTIP).

This institution is based in the best western  academic experiences. The students are in the center of attention in all activities and services provided. The Aleksandër Moisiu University  brought a new mentality in the whole Albanian higher educational system through a new method of program organization, university life, scientific research activities, links with the local community and academic world.

It is designed  as a university with innovation in teaching and learning.

UET is a leading private higher education institution in Albania offering quality teaching and research in various social science disciplines and established in full compliance with the requirements and criteria of the Bologna Charter, including study programmes in the five levels of higher education: Bachelor; Master and Doctorates (Dr.) within the:

• Faculty of Humanities, Education and Liberal Arts

• Faculty of Economics, Business and Development

• Faculty of Law, Political Sciences and International Relations

• Faculty of Engineering, Informatics and Architecture

• Faculty of Technical Medical Sciences

UET aims at becoming an important national and regional point of reference for cooperation in academic and research fields, publishing activities, and promotion of development of civic education values. UET seeks inclusion in development projects focusing on capacity building and exchange of staff and students, the application of European standards of quality assurance, organization of joint scientific conferences, academic publications and translations of pedagogical internationally renowned authors, teaching equipment and laboratory facilities, etc.

Over 150 Inter-Institutional Agreements have been signed with partner universities, increasing each year the number of partners. 200 outgoing students have been sent to various partner universities in Europe. UET has hosted 40 incoming students, out of which 6 were PhD candidates who conducted research at UET. 150 outgoing staff, both academic and administrative, have taught or have been trained at partner universities. UET has been the hosting university of 70 incoming staff from EU universities who have conducted research/teaching activity.

UET has a project portfolio with over 70 projects, with an active number of 30 projects mainly funded by the European Commission, with a higher number of 20 active Erasmus + KA2 projects. UET is also the Lead Partner of EVIVA Erasmus CBHE project with an overall budget of 1 million euro and a consortium of 16 partners.

POLIS University (U_POLIS) is a young, yet ambitious institution, research-led university, supporting a focused range of core disciplines in the field of architecture, design, civil engineering, urban planning and environmental management. U_POLIS delivers education by the highest academic standards and through applied and scientific research it develops and promotes “scientific excellence and innovation”. The university is comprised by 3 main units: Faculty of Research and Development, Faculty of Architecture and Design and Faculty of Planning, Environment and Urban Management.

Through its dedicated research departments and centres as well as inter-departmental units (Department of Scientific Research, Department of Applied Research, Sustainability LAB, MAD Centre, Observatory of Mediterranean Basin and Innovation Factory), POLIS seeks to conduct and deliver relevant research with a particular focus on the Albanian, and regional context, acting also as a regional hub in the Western Balkans for students, academics and national and international professionals.

POLIS has an extensive network of domestic and foreign partners and very internationally oriented. The university has signed the Bologna’s Magna Charta Universitatum and has several affiliations and partnerships including the EAAE, AESOP, ECLAS, several universities of the EU, a joint Master Degree Diploma with IHS/ Erasmus Rotterdam, a joint MBA with Ipag Business School, Paris and a double degree PhD Program, with Ferrara University in Italy.

Given its expertise and experience, U_POLIS can confidently enter into partnerships be it of a national and international nature, and ensure the successful implementation of projects. In fact, U_POLIS has been participating in several national and international projects, including H2020, Erasmus+ and Tempus projects. It is also the first and only Albanian HEI by far to manage a Tempus project as the grant holder.

Epoka University is an international higher education institution located on a smart campus between the international connections and trading crossroads of Durres Port and Rinas Airport in Tirana, the capital of Albania. The University comprises three faculties: the Faculty of Architecture and Engineering, the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences and offers education in three study cycles, respectively Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD’s. 

Epoka University possesses a highly qualified full-time academic staff, 38% of whom are foreign as of September 2019. The foreign staff comes from the USA, UK, Russia, France, Italy, North Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Indonesia and Pakistan. The student body is also international, with 4% of the student community coming from foreign countries such as USA, Canada, UK, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Turkey, Cameron, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Bangladesh and Venezuela. 

Epoka University has four research centers: the Center for European Studies (CES), the Center of Research and Design in Applied Sciences (CORDA), the Yunus Center for Social Business and Sustainability (YCSBS) and the Continuous Education Center (CEC).

“Internationalization” represents a strategic objective of Epoka University. The University cooperates with EU universities through the Erasmus+ Programme in research and projects aiming to support actions in the field of Education, Training, Youth and Sports, and also in terms of staff and student exchange. Epoka University is currently a partner institution for three Erasmus+ KA 2 Capacity Building projects and one Horizon 2020 project, which is the first such project in Albania. 

Epoka University is also an associate member of the European Universities Association (EUA), a signatory of the Magna Charta Universitatum, the United Nations Supported-initiative Principles of Responsible Management Education and Yunus Centre, Dhaka.

The University of Prishtina was established in 1970. It is the biggest higher education institution in the country, with 42.006 students, above 1.000 academic staff members, and around 350 administrative staff members. University offers 142 study programs, in 3 study cycles (Bachelor, Master, and PhD).

Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, as a project partner, is one of the 13 academic units of the university. With a half-century of academic tradition in teaching/learning and research, today faculty have 2000 students, and 80 full time and part-time academic staff.

Faculty is implementing Bologna Action lines since 2001. The offered study programs are comparable with study programs of higher education institutions in Europe (Evaluation by international experts in previous accreditation rounds). Faculty have cooperation with industry and international universities. It is recognized for the high level of employability of graduates. Faculty staff actively participates in research and capacity building projects disseminating their work in international conferences and journals.

Faculty recognizes in continuous need of improving the teaching and learning experiences by incorporating in academic culture the innovative tools and technologies such as Virtual Technologies, therefore it is looking forward to a successful implementation of the Erasmus+ Vtech project.

UBT is an established and innovative institution of higher education in Kosovo which combines the advantages of internationally recognized universities. The university offers:  

• Contemporary study programs based on international quality standards  
• Distinguished academics and experts 
• Partnerships with renowned universities and institutions which offer the possibility for study exchange and external professional experience  
• Modern infrastructure and modern management (in accordance with ISO 9001)  
• Direct links with the economy, academic and international research projects, and transfer of tech knowledge  
• Highly motivated students and personnel.

All of these components make UBT not only an important educational institution for the future of Kosovo, but a modern institution in Europe. With the visions of “Top Education for Top Students” and “Succeed with Quality”, UBT is continually looking towards the future and as a result, has become one of the most progressive and esteemed universities in the region. 

South East European University (SEEU) is private, public, not for profit higher education institution, consisting of faculties, centres and institutes as its integral part, specialized in socio-economic sciences. The Mission of the University is defined in the Statute, it seeks excellence in teaching and research within the higher education system in the Republic of North Macedonia, by offering equal opportunities for all based on impartiality and merit. One of the key elements of the mission of the University includes active cooperation with universities in the Republic of North Macedonia as well as with the international universities.  

The University strives for the highest quality in every faculty and department and sees quality improvement as both an individual and collective responsibility. The University welcomes and positively uses both national and international evaluation and quality accreditation for continuous improvement.

These opportunities are further enhanced by an active collaboration with the community and an integrated, ecologically sustainable campus. South East European University is ranked third in the national level among 19 universities of the Republic of North Macedonia. This ranking was carried out by the external evaluator, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Mother Teresa University in Skopje founded in 2016 was established with the mission of creating academic opportunities for students where they can develop as individuals and as professionals. In an ever-globalizing world, education remains one of the main tools available to us to encounter the changes that these processes bring and to influence them. It is difficult to foresee what lies ahead for the future generations, but it is our belief that by combining the competence for critical and analytical thought and by nurturing in our students their entrepreneurial spirit, we can help them in creating the necessary conditions for facing their future.

At the University we are mindful of our surrounding environment and context, and recognize the need for innovative leadership in all areas affecting human needs, from politics to technology. It is our mission that our students will be able to become leaders in their field of interest and discover new ways and paradigms to improve their environment and society. Mother Teresa University aims to be an institution of higher learning that always seeks to adapt education to the times and context in which we live, reforming for the benefit of our current and future students and society at large.

With the aim of accomplishing our goals in the most efficient way, our University is opened for innovative ideas and cooperation opportunities with established institutions of higher education, governmental and non- governmental agencies, academics, as well as other interest groups in order to fulfill our common goals.

University of Ljubljana was established in 1919 and today constitutes more than 40.000 and postgraduate study programmes as well as approximately 5.600 lecturing and research staff. The university represents the central and largest research and educational establishment in Slovenia with 30 per cent of all registered researchers (according to data available from the SICRIS database). 

Laboratory for telecommunications (LTFE) and Laboratory for Multimedia (LMMFE) jointly represent a propulsive research team of more than 40 members and an impressive base of external associates and industry partners. The team is focused on research, development, piloting integration and testing of specialized ICT-enabled services and applications for public safety, e-health and well being, advanced energy supply systems and Internet of Things (IoT), as well as research and applications addressing user experience and communication modalities using AR and VR technologies. 

Additionally, the team is highly skilled in conceptualization, design, development, prototyping and verification of advanced applications for different systems and devices (iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8, HbbTV/SmartTV). Outcomes of research work of both laboratories are published in recognized SCI journals and magazines, patent protected and embodied in several industrial solutions and applications.

The University of Tartu (UT) was founded in 1632. UT is the largest university of Estonia. UT is Estonia’s leading centre of research and training. UT belongs to the top 3% of world’s best universities. With 73 bachelor, 87 master and 35 doctoral study programmes, UT has 14,500 students which more than 1500 of them are doctoral students. UT has 3,700 employees, including 1,850 academic employees. 

The intelligent computer vision (iCV) Lab at the Institute of Technology is an interdisciplinary research group established in 2013. Our goal is, by bringing together knowledge from diverse fields of expertise, to develop new algorithms in computer vision and image understanding and their applications in real life. The magnificent ability of human vision systems is motivating us to develop and model the image processing tasks that a human carries out, automatically. 

Members of the iCV have published many scientific works in well- known journals and conferences. The scientific background of our staff as well as the laboratory equipment, permits research activities on the border of human-machine interaction, emotion recognition, human behaviour analysis, image understanding, and computer vision. Researchers at iCV have published related work in high venues such as CVPR, ICPR, ECCV, FG and journals such as SIVP, EURASIP ASMP and IEEE TAC.

Known far beyond Poland for its achievements in research, science, education and international cooperation, TUL is a dynamic and continually evolving university with a strong tradition in engineering. Established in 1945, it is now home to 1,446 academic staff and over 20,000 students, of which 40% are female. According to national rankings, it is the country’s fourth-best technical university in 2014, while it holds both the ECTS Label and Diploma Supplement Label 2013-2016 – this is testament of its commitment to a quality education awarded by the European Commission. 

It’s a great place to study, recognized as a PROStudent University in 2011 by the Student Parliament of the Republic of Poland. A huge array of sporting, recreation and student associations provide plenty of opportunity to get away from your desk and burn off some energy after work. 

The university welcomes student exchange programmes for both its Polish and foreign students. And TUL’s 600 international students are well looked after, thanks to a mentoring programme carried out by ESN-EYE Lodz, a non-profit student organization that arranges projects and events aimed at students in the city. TUL strives to be an innovative university of local and international importance, as highlighted by the fact that it is the only Polish member of the European Consortium of Innovative Universities. Whether you’re studying in Poland or internationally, taking classes here is a smart move.