The URV is working to guarantee the maintenance of exchange programmes with UK universities, by entering into specific agreements with individual universities there

While we continue to advance the cause of internationalization within our own university and with our contacts abroad, there is obviously a large black cloud on the horizon. I am referring to Brexit, and the possibility that the United Kingdom will be leaving the European Community without having closed the negotiations on a proper exit strategy. Of course, this situation will have wide-reaching consequences for the UK and for Europe, and among the areas most effected will be the whole Erasmus mobility programme. For a long time, the UK has been a very popular choice for many URV students, who wished to experience the British education system as well as improve their English. So, while there are still plenty of other European destinations in the programme to choose from, a reduction in exchanges with the UK will have a notable effect.

For the students who are currently in the UK, and UK students currently in the URV, who will be here on the day in March when the UK exits the EC, the Erasmus programme has received assurances from the governments involved that these students will all be able to complete their semester ‘as normal’. As regards UK Erasmus destinations for the next academic year, the situation is much less clear, as the terms of the UK exit are still unclear. The URV is working to guarantee the maintenance of exchange programmes with UK universities, by entering into specific agreements with individual universities there. These agreements will most likely allow students to go to Britain and for British students to come to Tarragona, but what cannot be guaranteed at the moment is that our URV students will receive an Erasmus grant to undertake a mobility stay there. The same uncertainties apply to staff mobility to and from the UK as well, of course.

Rest assured that we are doing our best to be fully informed of developments, to try to keep mobility options to the UK open in the future, and to keep our students and staff up to date on developments.

Not wanting to end on a low note, I’d like to point your attention to the IC web page where you will find an exciting range of available scholarships to attend summer schools in Hiroshima, Japan, in Bali, Indonesia, in Harrisonburg, USA, and to study for short and long periods in China. These represent fantastic opportunities for URV students to travel far abroad, and to engage in some inspiring, truly international exchange programmes.