Slovak Universities Show Off Their Excellence in Washington Exposition

June 11, 2008

Representatives from Slovak higher education institutions participated in the 60th annual NAFSA Association of International Educators Conference,  May 25-30,  in Washington, D.C. A grant awarded by the Visegrad Fund to the Fulbright Commissions from the Visegrad Four countries (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary) enabled the  universities to set up a regional booth at the exposition on international educational exchanges, providing a unique opportunity to gain new contacts and partner relationships with educational institutions and agencies from other parts of the world. Informational materials at the booth were provided by the Slovak Ministry of Education and a number of Slovak universities, including the University of Economics in Bratislava, Technical University Košice, Pavol Jozef Šafarik University in Košice, Trnava University, the Faculty of Pharmacy at Comenius University in Bratislava, the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, Prešov University, Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts, Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica, and the University of Veterinary Medicine. In total, over 9000 professionals in the field of education from over 100 countries and 600 exhibitioners participated in the conference, which focused on campus internationalization, study abroad programs, outcomes of international education and exchange, educational trends and systems around the world, and other related topics. European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Training and Youth Mr. Ján Fígeľ, who presented European policy concerning education and research at the conference and visited with Slovak representatives at the regional booth, and his delegation appreciated the idea of the Visegrad Four countries sharing a common booth, and representatives of the delegation expressed hope for continuation of this common project in the future.