The development of international collaboration and active participation in the life of the international academic community constitutes an essential component of the UB strategy.
In the context of university reform and of Romania's pre-accession to the European Union, adding an European dimension to teaching and research, bringing curricula into line with European standards, promoting internationally recognised academic performance criteria, enhanced academic exchange and recognition of studies and qualifications are as many priority objectives of the University of Bucharest.
The most important aspects of international activity are: bilateral inter-university and inter-departmental co-operation in teaching and research, and participation in European and international programmes. Such programmes, i.e. SOCRATES, TEMPUS, COPERNICUS, CEEPUS, TEMPRA, or participation in PHARE and TACIS programmes, will involve complicated organisation and inclusion in medium and long-term programmes.
As far as bilateral co-operation is concerned, we may mention the 81 inter-university agreements and the 27 inter-departmental agreements with universities all over the world, which provide for staff and student exchanges for teacher training, delivering lectures, common research programmes, undergraduate and postgraduate studies, and publication exchanges.
As part of the ongoing Erasmus programme (SOCRATES), agreements have been concluded with 145 European universities, which give students and staff the opportunity to study or train abroad, to teach abroad for certain periods, to participate in common projects of curriculum implementation, in intensive courses or in thematic activities devoted to the development of particular fields of study. The activities provided for by the programme are supervised by the ERASMUS department of the University (phone +40-21-307 73 24; fax +40-21-313 46 20; intcoop@iro.unibuc.ro).
We should also mention the activity of the 26 foreign visiting lecturers who teach in our university, and their usually one-to-one Romanian correspondents who take our culture and language abroad.
A significant number of teachers from the University are invited abroad to deliver lectures as associated professors or visitors, or for research and scientific co-operation purposes. Many of them participate with papers in international congresses.
The University is a member of European or international organisations including: the European Association of Universities (CRE), the Association of Francophone Universities (AUPELF-UREF), the Association of Universities in European Capitals (UNICA), and the Network of South-east European Universities. We should also mention that the University of Bucharest is in contact with governmental and non-governmental organisations in different countries: DAAD, IREX, USIA, and the Humboldt, Volkswagen, Fulbright and Sasakawa Foundations.
Every year, at Sinaia, the University organises summer courses in Romanian language and civilisation, with the participation of a great number of specialists and students from Romania and abroad.
Over 1000 foreign undergraduate and postgraduate students study in the University, 10% of them attending doctoral studies.
Academic, scientific and cultural programmes are some of the methods used by today's diplomats to promote and develop relations between states, and the University of Bucharest, an institution with international renown, can thus contribute to the image of Romania in different areas of the world.
