Timișoara becomes, on May 5 and 6, 2026, the center of the national debate on the future of Romanian universities in the world. The West University of Timișoara (UVT) hosts, for the first time in this city and outside the capital, the national conference "Internationalization of Higher Education in Romania", an annual event that brings together the main actors of the Romanian academic ecosystem: ministries, agencies, universities and experts from the European Commission, with a common objective, that of building a more open and competitive university Romania on the global stage.
The conference is organized under the auspices of the National Agency for Community Programmes in the Field of Education and Vocational Training (Erasmus+), the Ministry of Education and Research, the Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation and the National Council of Rectors, in collaboration with the West University of Timisoara.
The theme of the conference is a current one: balanced and inclusive mobility. Romania is today facing a complex challenge: how to attract valuable international students, while supporting the participation of its own students in international learning experiences, which complement their academic and professional training. International student mobility represents one of the strategic priorities of the European Higher Education Area, and the conference in Timișoara aims to articulate concrete responses to this challenge, in the current context in which the role of universities is essential in training citizens with a European, global and multicultural perspective.
Among the topics addressed during the two days of the conference are: streamlining the visa process for international students through collaborations between institutions in the higher education system and the General Inspectorate for Immigration, balanced and inclusive mobility, making international learning experiences abroad and at home more accessible, international students' perception of Romania as an academic destination, the importance of alumni and the Diaspora in internationalization processes, internationalization and curriculum flexibility, the strategic role of transnational university networks, the national campaign I learned that in Romania, innovative platforms for collaboration within the community of international relations specialists from Romanian universities, as well as various models of good practices regarding international cooperation at the national level.
The main objective of this annual event is to strengthen a national community of specialists in the field of internationalization of higher education, and the West University of Timisoara is happy to actively contribute to this mission.
