Policy framework

Academic mobility, as one of the very important segments of internationalization, refers to the stay of students or academic staff at other institutions for the purpose of academic or practical training. This primarily refers to a stay outside the home country, which can mean a shorter or longer period, depending on whether it is an exchange program, i.e., shorter stays that are recognized at the home institution, or full programs that lead to the acquisition of a qualification.
 

The importance of academic mobility is primarily reflected in the professional and academic development of individuals, the development of their intercultural and language skills, as well as the expansion of their network of social contacts. This increases their competitiveness on the national and international markets, which positively affects their future employability. In addition, mobility directly affects the development of educational systems and educational institutions, considering that individuals who participate in mobility as carriers of new ideas influence the increase of international cooperation, enabling the transfer of knowledge and scientific experiences. All this leads to the building of a stronger international perspective and the general improvement of the quality of higher education.
 

In Montenegro, academic mobility is recognized as one of the strategic goals of the higher education and research system, which is outlined in the Higher Education Development Strategy 2016-2020. from July 2016:
Mobility of students and academic staff, established agreements between institutions of higher education, joint studies and diplomas, international projects and other forms of cross-border cooperation are only some of the segments of internationalization, which contributes to the improvement of  higher education quality and provides greater opportunities for employment of young people on the global labor market. In the context of internationalization, special attention should be paid to the mobility of students and academic staff. Although in the past all institutions of higher education in Montenegro have achieved significant progress in internationalization, it is evident that there is a large space for advancement, with the aim of better positioning our institutions in the European area of higher education. 
 

he new Higher Education Development Strategy, 2022-2026 is prepared and will be adopted soon by the Government. The Strategy for the coming period puts the same emphasis on cross-border mobility and internationalization. The Strategy has already received a positive opinion from the Ministry of Finance and from the General secretariat of the government and it is in the process of getting a positive opinion by the European Commission.
There is also a Strategy for Internationalization of Higher Education adopted by the University of Montenegro envisaging  measures to assure and strengthen cross-border learning. 
 

The Ministry published a very useful document for all users of the scholarship programs that used to be updated every year: Study on mobility programs and scholarships for students and teaching staff. This Study can be found at the web site of the Ministry of Education and newly established portal supporting students and teaching staff in finding grant opportunities www.infoeduco.me. The is the link for this Study.
 

Legal base specific cross-border learning opportunities are as follows:
 

CEEPUS - An international agreement signed by  15 Central-European countries; Erasmus plus credit mobility program - Regulation (1288/2013) of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of the Erasmus+ program for education, training, youth and sport and inter-university cooperation agreements; Mevlana Exchange Program - Protocol signed by the University of Montenegro and the university in Turkey; Visegrad Scholarship program - The scholarship program of the international organization "International Visegrad Fund", which is based in Bratislava; Program Go Styria - Scholarship program of the province of Styria for exceptional students from Southeast Europe; DAAD exchange program - Scholarship program of the Association of German Universities, Colleges and Student Organizations; Global UGRAD program - Program funded by the State Department's Office of Culture and Education; Fulbright Exchange program – Governmental grunt program of USA; Bilateral exchange programs – bilateral agreements; Governmental full cycle scholarships – governmental grunt programs; Program Take the best of South and West - The program is implemented by the Steiermärkische Sparkasse bank in cooperation with the University of Graz; British Scholarship Trust -  Foundation Act that defines scholarships awards to postgraduate students from the former Yugoslav republics for short-term study stays in Great Britain.

Main cross-border mobility programs for students in formal education

One of the most important mobility programs is the EU program - Erasmus plus credit mobility for students and teaching staff. Within the framework of the established Erasmus Plus bilateral agreements, which are signed by higher education institutions with partner universities, scholarships are approved for student mobility that can last one or two semesters, as well as scholarships for shorter study stays for the purpose of preparing a master's or doctoral thesis or working on a joint project ranging, in duration from one to three months. Scholarships are awarded for outgoings and incomings.
 

In addition to the Erasmus Plus mobility program, Montenegro is a member of the Central European exchange program for university studies - CEEPUS. The most important CEEPUS activity is the exchange of students and teaching staff. Study stays are approved for regular semester activities, which can last from 3 to 10 months, and for shorter study stays for the purpose of writing a thesis/dissertation or realizing a joint project, lasting from one to three months. The minimum teaching stay duration is five working days. Within the established CEEPUS networks, partner universities can work on the development of joint activities such as joint development projects, development of joint study programs and the organization of summer schools and excursions. Montenegro participates in the CEEPUS program with 165 months of exchange. The CEEPUS program has been conducted in accordance with the CEEPUS agreement, Rules and Procedures and Work program. Scholarships are awarded for outgoings and incomings.
 

Every year, scholarship exchange program for shorter study stays are implemented in Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia (one or two semester scholarship programs). These programs are defined by bilateral agreements and are implemented and administered through the Ministry of Education. Also, in addition to the mentioned bilateral exchange programs, DAAD, Visegrad, Go Styria, Mevlana, British Scholarship Trust, Best South-East, Chevening, Global UGRAD etc. scholarships are awarded, which are implemented through various agencies in the country providing the scholarship, through electronic platforms or diplomatic missions of scholarship-granting countries.
 

An important scholarship program for professional training, that is used in Montenegro, is the IFMSA, and it is intended for medical students. As part of this program, medical students receive scholarships for a one-month stay at one of the clinics in Eurasia. The scholarships are implemented by the Montenegrin organization MOMSIC, which is a member of the IFMSA program.
 

Ministry of Education is informed every year about scholarship programs of foreign governments - for the complete cycle of schooling through diplomatic channels. The Ministry advertises scholarships, informs interested candidates and provides technical assistance for each individual competition. Also, depending on pre-defined procedures, the Ministry performs the selection of candidates independently or in cooperation with the representatives of the Embassies of the foreign country - the grantor of the scholarship - and makes a decision on the list of winners. Scholarships are awarded for all levels of higher education, and generally the scholarship period also includes a preparatory year for learning the language and culture of the scholarship provider's country. The scholarships that are awarded every year for full degree programs are scholarships from the People's Republic of China, Japan, the Russian Federation, Greece, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, Turkey, Romania and others, depending from year to year.
 

All mobility programs for short-term study stay or full-cycle scholarships can be found on the web page of the Ministry www.gov.me/mp or web portal for InfoEduco https://infoeduco.me/stipendije . 
InfoEduco portal provides information available via Eurodesk portal. Montenegro is the newest member of Euro-desk.

Funding and material support to participants: whether the public budget is earmarked to support the program(s), the amount of public funding (if available), and a brief mention of the support received by young people participating (e.g. financial allocations, housing, catering, transport…).

Ministry of Education co-finances program CEEPUS for incoming students in amount of 165 months and travel expenses for outgoing students, Erasmus plus program, Erasmus plus networks (Euroguidance, Europass, EQF, YouthWiki, Epale, Agenda for Adult learning and E-twinning. All these networks provide support and promotion tools and platforms for enhancing, among other issues, cross-border learning. The Ministry of Science participates in Horizon Europe for research mobility.   One of the most important mobility programs is the EU program - Erasmus plus credit mobility for students and teaching staff. Within the framework of the established Erasmus Plus bilateral agreements, which are signed by higher education institutions with partner universities, scholarships are approved for student mobility that can last one or two semesters, as well as scholarships for shorter study stays for the purpose of preparing a master's or doctoral thesis or working on a joint project ranging, in duration from one to three months. Scholarships are awarded for outgoings and incomings.
In addition to the Erasmus Plus mobility program, Montenegro is a member of the Central European exchange program for university studies - CEEPUS. The most important CEEPUS activity is the exchange of students and teaching staff. Study stays are approved for regular semester activities, which can last from 3 to 10 months, and for shorter study stays for the purpose of writing a thesis/dissertation or realizing a joint project, lasting from one to three months. The minimum teaching stay duration is five working days. Within the established CEEPUS networks, partner universities can work on the development of joint activities such as joint development projects, development of joint study programs and the organization of summer schools and excursions. Montenegro participates in the CEEPUS program with 165 months of exchange. The CEEPUS program has been conducted in accordance with the CEEPUS agreement, Rules and Procedures and Work program. Scholarships are awarded for outgoings and incomings.
 

Every year, scholarship exchange program for shorter study stays are implemented in Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia (one or two semester scholarship programs). These programs are defined by bilateral agreements and are implemented and administered through the Ministry of Education. Also, in addition to the mentioned bilateral exchange programs, DAAD, Visegrad, Go Styria, Mevlana, British Scholarship Trust, Best South-East, Chevening, Global UGRAD etc. scholarships are awarded, which are implemented through various agencies in the country providing the scholarship, through electronic platforms or diplomatic missions of scholarship-granting countries.
 

An important scholarship program for professional training, that is used in Montenegro, is the IFMSA, and it is intended for medical students. As part of this program, medical students receive scholarships for a one-month stay at one of the clinics in Eurasia. The scholarships are implemented by the Montenegrin organization MOMSIC, which is a member of the IFMSA program.
Ministry of Education is informed every year about scholarship programs of foreign governments - for the complete cycle of schooling through diplomatic channels. The Ministry advertises scholarships, informs interested candidates and provides technical assistance for each individual competition. Also, depending on pre-defined procedures, the Ministry performs the selection of candidates independently or in cooperation with the representatives of the Embassies of the foreign country - the grantor of the scholarship - and makes a decision on the list of winners. Scholarships are awarded for all levels of higher education, and generally the scholarship period also includes a preparatory year for learning the language and culture of the scholarship provider's country. The scholarships that are awarded every year for full degree programs are scholarships from the People's Republic of China, Japan, the Russian Federation, Greece, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, Turkey, Romania and others, depending from year to year.
 

All mobility programs for short-term study stay or full-cycle scholarships can be found on the web page of the Ministry www.gov.me/mp or web portal for InfoEduco https://infoeduco.me/stipendije . 
InfoEduco portal provides information available via Eurodesk portal. Montenegro is the newest member of Euro-desk.

Funding and material support to participants: whether the public budget is earmarked to support the program(s), the amount of public funding (if available), and a brief mention of the support received by young people participating (e.g. financial allocations, housing, catering, transport…).


Ministry of Education co-finances program CEEPUS for incoming students in amount of 165 months and travel expenses for outgoing students, Erasmus plus program, Erasmus plus networks (Euroguidance, Europass, EQF, YouthWiki, Epale, Agenda for Adult learning and E-twinning. All these networks provide support and promotion tools and platforms for enhancing, among other issues, cross-border learning. The Ministry of Science participates in Horizon Europe for research mobility.   

Promoting mobility in the context of non-formal learning, and of youth work

The Ministry of Education of Montenegro has become a member of Eurodesk and does its best to promote all possibilities in order to increase the level of non-formal education and youth mobility. The Project team of the Ministry developed an interactive and modern website that provides all necessary information, like open calls, seminars, conferences, exchanges etc. After two years of crisis with COVID-19 Pandemic, we have started with physical events - roundtables and workshops with young people and professionals.

As youth mobility is one of our first priorities, we have signed a contract of cooperation with Ministry of Sports and Youth, and the NGO Center for youth education on the project European Youth Card (EYCA), so from this year all high school students from I grade have an opportunity to become EYCA cardholders and use more than 280 discounts in Montenegro and more than 70.000 discounts across all Europe.

RYCO and GIZ launched the regional high school exchange program "Superschools", which is part of a project co-financed by the European Union and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Republic of Germany (BMZ) and implemented in close partnership with the Ministry of Education of Montenegro.

The main goal of the regional project "Superschools" is to develop a platform for establishing partnerships between high schools in the Western Balkans region through calls for project ideas for high school exchanges. The program aims to support the processes of reconciliation and peace building, as well as the process of intercultural learning and dialogue between schools, male and female students and their communities from the territory of the Western Balkans. The purpose of the program is to provide the basis for creating strong and sustainable links between high schools in the region and building long-term partnerships. Institutional and local public calls for funding non-governmental organizations that also aim at greater mobility of young people.The Ministry of Education of Montenegro has become a member of Eurodesk and does its best to promote all possibilities in order to increase the level of non-formal education and youth mobility. The Project team of the Ministry developed an interactive and modern website that provides all necessary information, like open calls, seminars, conferences, exchanges etc. After two years of crisis with COVID-19 Pandemic, we have started with physical events - roundtables and workshops with young people and professionals.

As youth mobility is one of our first priorities, we have signed a contract of cooperation with Ministry of Sports and Youth, and the NGO Center for youth education on the project European Youth Card (EYCA), so from this year all high school students from I grade have an opportunity to become EYCA cardholders and use more than 280 discounts in Montenegro and more than 70.000 discounts across all Europe.

RYCO and GIZ launched the regional high school exchange program "Superschools", which is part of a project co-financed by the European Union and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Republic of Germany (BMZ) and implemented in close partnership with the Ministry of Education of Montenegro.

The main goal of the regional project "Superschools" is to develop a platform for establishing partnerships between high schools in the Western Balkans region through calls for project ideas for high school exchanges. The program aims to support the processes of reconciliation and peace building, as well as the process of intercultural learning and dialogue between schools, male and female students and their communities from the territory of the Western Balkans. The purpose of the program is to provide the basis for creating strong and sustainable links between high schools in the region and building long-term partnerships. Institutional and local public calls for funding non-governmental organizations that also aim at greater mobility of young people.