University coordinating European Union Tempus Project

Bielefeld University has been granted about 900,000 Euro from the European Union for a new interdisciplinary project in the Western Balkans. In a 3-year project managed by the Faculty of Sociology, researchers will conduct graduate surveys at higher education institutions in Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia–Herzegovina. Numerous partners from seven different countries are participating in this project: 14 universities and universities of applied science and one research institute. The head of the project, which is being funded by the EU Tempus Programme, is Professor Dr. Martin Diewald; the coordinator is Jana Nöller (both from the Faculty of Sociology).

 

The new project is called Congrad – 'Conducting graduate surveys and improving alumni services for enhanced strategic management and quality improvement'. Starting in the middle of October, it will run until 2014. The official launch will be at a meeting of all project partners at the end of January 2012. This will be held at the Subotica Tech – College of Applied Sciences in Subotica, Serbia. The project is a collaboration between the Faculty of Sociology at Bielefeld University and researchers from EU partner universities in Finland, Spain, and the Czech Republic. Ten higher education institutions and one research institute in Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia–Herzegovina are integrated into the project.

 

Until now, surveys of higher education graduates in the Western Balkans have been rare. The results of the project should help the participating institutions to adapt their courses to the needs of their students and improve their study conditions. Therefore, it will gather data on the course of studies, study conditions, and the occupational careers of graduates. The overall objective is to enable the higher education institutions to conduct future graduate surveys on their own.

The EU Tempus Programme is promoting the modernization of higher education systems in the European Union’s surrounding area. More than 500 applicants submitted proposals for the fourth call for proposals. Bielefeld University is one of ten German applicants belonging to the 63 successful proposals.

For further information in the Internet, go to:
www.uni-bielefeld.de/soz/congrad

Contact:
Jana Nöller, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Sociology
Telephone: +49 521 106-3845
Email: congrad@uni-bielefeld.de