194 international mobility flows to 20 universities in 14 non-European countries
Università degli Studi Internazionali di Roma (UNINT) is strongly focused on internationalisation processes, which are increasingly relevant today in both the academic and professional worlds. Thanks to its strategic location in the capital and its Degree courses oriented towards the study of languages and the global market, UNINT makes the creation of internationally oriented skills one of its main strengths.
A key value of UNINT is the acquisition of knowledge based on multiculturalism and multilingualism. The attention to the demand for skills, the dynamism of the educational offer, the propensity for internationalisation and a network of institutional relations with partner universities around the world make international student and non-student mobility an integral and inseparable part of the educational offer.
Over the last three years, UNINT has recorded an average annual increase in outgoing student mobility of 17%. Similarly, the increase in incoming mobility over the period under review stands at 37% per year, reflecting the great attractiveness of UNINT's international educational offer for the University's partners.
For this reason, the University's Mobility and International Relations Office (UMRI) is increasingly active in the search of new international exchange opportunities, firmly believing that the exchange of knowledge and good practices in a multicultural environment is the key to success and to the personal and professional growth of both the students and the teaching and technical-administrative staff.
With this in mind, UMRI is committed to continuously increasing the number of partners thanks also to participation in international fairs. On these occasions, UMRI has the opportunity to present the UNINT reality to all potential academic and non-academic partners: from Degree courses to international mobility opportunities, passing through internships and student projects financed by the University. International fairs are the springboard for entering into new agreements with universities and companies from all over the world. Since its participation in the NAFSA fair, held annually in the United States, UNINT has established relationships with universities in Argentina, Japan, India, Peru, the USA and many other countries.
Aware of the role that an international experience plays in today's competitive working world, which requires increasingly flexible professionals with soft skills that are difficult to learn in the classroom, but can be easily acquired by living in an international and new context compared to one's own comfort zone, one of UNINT's primary missions is to ensure that more and more students have access to this opportunity also from an economic point of view (in the academic year 2023-24 all 117 mobility flows for study purposes were funded).
With this vocation in mind, UNINT annually sends its application to participate in Erasmus+ mobility projects, both European (key action 131) and non-European (key action 171).
This latest project, called International Credit Mobility-ICM, has been a milestone in the University's internationalisation strategy since 2015, offering students and staff the opportunity to undertake international mobility beyond Europe's borders. The latest project presented (KA171-Call2024) received an average rating of 95/100 for the 6 regions requested, receiving funding for a total of 194 mobility flows to be implemented in 20 universities in 14 non-European countries. As evidence of UNINT's strong international commitment, the University ranked first in Rome, second in Lazio and fifth in Italy in terms of funds received for ICM mobility among those that applied with an endowment of approximately 1 million euros in 2024.
Thanks to the latest endowment obtained and together with the ICM projects currently active and the funds allocated internally by the University itself, UNINT offers exchange opportunities in Albania, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Ecuador, Georgia, Jordan, Morocco, Montenegro, Mozambique , Peru, Russia, Tunisia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. These opportunities, in addition to enriching the experience of the students and staff on mobility, enable all students and staff of the University to become part of an international environment through direct interaction with students, lecturers and technical-administrative staff from other universities visiting UNINT.
Precisely with this in mind, for the past three years it has been a consolidated practice for UMRI to organise international events such as the International staff weeks, that is, weeks of workshops, cultural and recreational activities in a multicultural environment aimed at consolidating the relationship with partners, transmitting the founding values of the European community, but also enhancing the surrounding area with guided tours in the Garbatella neighbourhood.
At the same time, UNINT does not lose sight of the "classic" Erasmus+ within European borders, trying to continuously expand the range of destinations available for students while keeping in mind the objectives of the Erasmus+ programme such as inclusion and diversity, digital transformation, environment and the fight against climate change, participation in democratic life, common values and civic commitment. UNINT currently boasts almost 80 active agreements within European borders, with the choice falling mainly on France, Germany and Spain, but also on generally less "common" destinations such as Latvia, Malta or Slovakia.
In a society that requires professionals with a strong international profile, UNINT is working on double degree agreements with partner universities. In 2024 alone, UNINT has entered into two new double degree agreements: one with the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin – HTW (Berlin, Germany) for the Bachelor's degree course in Green management and Sustainability and one with the Warocqué School of Business and Economics – Université de Mons (Mons, Belgium) for the Master's degree course in Economics and International Management – Luxury, Made in Italy and Sustainability Curriculum. Thanks to these agreements, UNINT students opting for the double degree will be able, at the end of the Course, to obtain the qualification both at UNINT and at the partner university.
