Bialystok University of Technology to Implement International CONN’COR Project under the Erasmus+ Programme

08-08-2024

Bialystok University of Technology will implement the international project CONN’COR: Connect, Compare and Repair for a Common Future with Ukraine: A Focus on Electrical Engineering Teaching, which has received €120,000 in funding under the Erasmus+ KA220 Programme. The Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Bialystok University of Technology will lead the activities at our university.

The CONN’COR project will be carried out within an international consortium of four universities: Bialystok University of Technology (Poland), CentraleSupélec (France), Lviv Polytechnic National University (Ukraine), and the University of Niš (Serbia). This is yet another programme that has secured funding under the Erasmus+ call for partner universities.

For the first time in history, Ukraine’s energy system suffered a systemic failure—a blackout. Therefore, the restoration and rebuilding of Ukraine’s energy and communication systems require the urgent training and increase in the number of highly skilled specialists in electrical and electronic engineering. This is why the staff of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Bialystok University of Technology are involved in this international endeavour.

The main goal of the project is to improve teaching by developing new forms of collaboration between teachers, involving senior students in teaching their younger peers, designing new course curricula, and modifying existing ones based on the experience of the Ukrainian partner. Additionally, mini laboratory kits will be introduced to enable the practical completion of tasks, even in home environments.

The project aims to better integrate Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, improve the coordination of university courses, and provide academic support to institutions affected by the war in Ukraine.

The project’s implementation will allow participants to learn from the experiences of other partners and apply the latest technologies in student education. The virtual academic dialogue between Ukrainian, French, Polish, and Serbian students will provide academic support to repair various types of damage caused by the war in Ukraine.

We hope to build a strong network connecting teachers, students, and industrial partners who will support each other in the development and enhancement of higher education standards.

At Bialystok University of Technology, the project will be managed by Jarosław Forenc, PhD, Eng and Assoc. Prof. Jarosław Makal, PhD, Eng, from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.

The project will be implemented over 12 months, from November 2024 to October 2025, with the leader being the French university CentraleSupélec.