USI – Universities and Swedish Institutes in Cooperation for Internationalization – Is a cross-disciplinary network that promotes internationalization of Swedish research and education. The focus of our activities consists of two main parts – advanced courses with field studies in the Mediterranean and research seminars with invited participants from Sweden and the Mediterranean region.
The cooperation within the USI network is based on the individual institution’s commitment and interest. Participating parties:
And the Swedish Institutes in:
Organization
Since 2022, USI has a new organizational model with a shared secretariat that is co-funded by participating universities. The University of Gothenburg is the chair and host of the secretariat from 2022 to 2024. Before the term expires, the steering group will make a decision on possible extension or rotation of the chairmanship and secretariat.
The chairperson is appointed by the rector of the responsible university. Pauli Kortteinen, Vice-Rector for Education at the University of Gothenburg, has been the chair of USI since 2022. The chairperson convenes and leads steering group meetings and oversees the work of the steering group.
The steering group is the highest decision-making body in USI and consists of one representative from each party, appointed by the rector/director of their respective university or institute. The steering group meets approximately 4-6 times per year.
The secretariat is responsible for coordination and communication between the network’s parties, providing support to the chairperson, steering group and working groups, documentation, archiving, as well as the website. The office is co-funded by participating Swedish universities and is hosted by the University of Gothenburg from 2022 to 2024.
Working groups responsible for the development and implementation of activities within USI are established as needed. In the autumn of 2023, various working groups will develop new course concepts and PhD-seminars.
A group for administrative collaboration among the parties will facilitate practical cooperation. Each party is responsible for communication within their respective university/institute.
Funding
The Swedish universities participating in USI co-fund a shared secretariat at the university holding the chairmanship. The amount of co-funding is determined by the steering group and decided by the rector of the responsible university. The approved co-funding for 2022-2024 is 35,000 SEK per year and university. In addition to this, each university covers certain development costs for activities within USI.
Collaboration Universities in the Region
Over the years, USI has been in contact with, and cooperated with, several universities in the Mediterranean region. The universities have had participants in our research seminars, contributed with teachers for the courses and in some cases allowed students to study together with the Swedish students during parts of the field studies.
The collaboration universities include, among others:
- Alexandria University
- Ben Gurion University
- National Technical University of Athens
- Roma Tre University
- University of Athens
- University of Thessaly
- Yarmouk University
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The History of the USI Network
