On 28 – 29 September 2021, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra (Portugal) hosted the final meeting within the international project “Enhancing Teaching Practice in Higher Education in RUSSIA and CHINA” (ENTEP).

The meeting brough together the project coordinator Prof. Dr. Holger Kusse (Technische Universität Dresden, Germany), project manager Christina Spirow (Technische Universität Dresden, Germany) and coordinators from Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra (Portugal), Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (Italy), Stiftung Universität Hildesheim (Germany) , Institute of Pedagogy, Psychology and Social Problems (Kazan), Ural State University of Economics (Yekaterinburg), Penza State University (Penza). The representatives of Liverpool John Moores University (United Kingdom), Institute of World Civilizations (Moscow) and Chinese universities – Sanya University, Jiangxi Normal University and Private Hualian University – took part in the consortium meeting via video conferencing.

The ENTEP project has been implemented under the Erasmus+ Programme since 2017. It aims at developing harmonised approaches to improving the quality of teaching and learning with the view to the principles and values of the Bologna Process and on the basis of the best European practices.

Within the project, Penza State University established the Centre for Teaching and Learning Erasmus+. This centre offers the professional development course “Enhancing teaching practices at PSU” designed by the team of PSU teaching staff members completed internships at European universities (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Liverpool John Moores University, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, Stiftung Universität Hildesheim) at the expense of the grant funds. Tatiana Glotova (Department of Computer Aided Design Systems), Olga Androsova (Department of Translation and Translation Theory), Irina Kolchugina (Department of Chemistry), Svetlana Vlazneva (Department of Economic Theory and International Relations) and Tatiana Razuvaeva (International Projects Department, Department of Foreign Languages and Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages) have trained six groups of trainees. During the project life, 100 trainees, including 14 from other Penza universities, have successfully completed the course at the centre.

The grant funds additionally enabled purchasing equipment (all-in-one computers, laptops, multifunctional printers, projector) and subscription to EBSCO database for developing and offering the professional development course.

At the final meeting in Coimbra, the ENTEP consortium discussed such important issues, as quality of the implemented project, dissemination of the project outputs and outcomes and their sustainability after the project life. A report from an external expert was presented.

Moreover, each member of the consortium submitted his / her report on the project activities undertaken and on the project outputs and outcomes produced. The results of the project at Penza State University were presented by Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation Sergei Vasin and Head of International Projects Department Tatiana Razuvaeva. Their report aroused great interest among European consortium members. The project implementation at PSU was recognized as a successful experience.

During the visit to Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, the representatives of Penza State University also met with Prof. Luis Roseiro and discussed further plans for promoting joint cooperation in the field of engineering solutions for medicine. Prof. Luis Roseiro showed several laboratories of the Faculty of Engineering, where students carry out practical assignments and various research projects.

It should be noted that active cooperation with this higher education institution began in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Two undergraduate students from Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra worked on their Master’s theses at PSU under the guidance of Prof. Ekaterina Pecherskaya and Maksim Safronov. Currently, bachelor student Anna Anisimova is doing an exchange semester within the Erasmus+ Programme, and graduate student Vladimir Antipenko is doing an internship under the scholarship of the President of the Russian Federation at Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra.

Thus, the involvement in the ENTEP project made it possible to establish new partnerships and find interesting topics for joint projects in the field of engineering sciences.

At the end of the meeting, the consortium members agreed on a roadmap for preparing the final report to the European Education and Culture Executive Agency. They also negotiated the joint cooperation, including on submitting applications for future projects under the Erasmus+ Programme.

More detailed information about the project is available at the project website, as well as at the project webpage.