The Comenius University Rector attended the Danube Rectors’ Conference
On 30 March 2017, Comenius University Rector and Vice-President of the Danube Rectors’ Conference (DRC), Professor Karol Mičieta, participated in a regular meeting of the DRC Presidency in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The meeting was also attended by the DRC President and Rector of Danube University Krems, Friedrich Faulhammer; his assistant, Dr Mariana Scheu; DRC Vice-President and Vice-Rector of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Professor Doru Pamfil; the Honorary DRC President, Professor Ferenc Hudecz from Eötvös Loránd University; the University of Zagreb’s Rector, Professor Damir Boras; the University of Zagreb’s Vice-Rector for Studies, Professor Ivana Čuković Bagić; and the DRC Secretary, Sebastian Schäffer, who is from the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe, which is based in Vienna.
At the meeting there was a discussion on providing finances from the DRC Fund of Incentives up to the value of 10,000 euros for cooperative projects between three universities; this would require a modification of the current rules, which state that the allocation of finances from this fund is conditional upon cooperation being present between five DRC universities and to a maximum amount of only 2500 euros. The unused money from this year’s Fund of Incentives will be provided for scholarships.
The University of Vienna is preparing a Summer School from 22 July to 13 August 2017, and those from DRC universities who are interested in attending can apply to do so on the university’s webpage. They will also find information on the DRC web page. The Rector of the University of Zagreb, Professor Boras, offered the opportunity for a DRC Summer School to be held in Dubrovnik in 2018. The DRC President, Mr Faulhammer, referred to the "Interreg Danube Transnational Programme EDU-LAB", which the DRC is a participant in.
As Comenius University will host next year’s annual DRG General Assembly, it is monitoring preparations for this year’s event, which will take place from 8 to 10 November 2017 at the University of Zagreb. The members of the DRC Presidency decided that the theme of the DRC General Assembly would be "The Responsibility of DRC Universities as Promotors of European Values as a Part of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region".
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Rectors from universities in Ulm, Linz, Vienna, and Budapest established the DRC in Vienna in 1983. Today the DRC is an association of 70 universities which emphasizes academic and scientific cooperation in the Danube region in the interests of its further development. The DRC cooperates with the European Commission in accordance with its EU Strategy for the Danube Region, and it strengthens and endeavours to establish a full exchange programme of university studies in central Europe. Its largest event each year is its General Assembly, which is attended by the rectors of member universities, who also meet for the annual DRC conference.
Branislav Slyško