UPEI signs agreements with universities in Turkey and Portugal

The University of Prince Edward Island has signed agreements for programs of academic linkage and cooperation with Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey, and Fernando Pessoa University in Porto, Portugal.

The agreements will facilitate academic cooperation between UPEI and the two institutions through joint research, and faculty and student exchanges at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

'By participating in exchange programs, UPEI students will learn to work through the challenges of living in different cultural settings and thus develop a better understanding of the world. Along with the benefit of learning a foreign language, students will also develop a great deal of independence, increased maturity and confidence,' said Mamdouh Elgharib, Manager of International Development at UPEI.

Koç University was founded in 1993 with the mission "to produce the most capable graduates by providing a world class education; to advance the frontiers of knowledge, and to contribute to the benefit of Turkey and humanity at large.'

In 1993, Koç University opened with 233 students and 35 faculty members in two colleges. Today, the University has 3,527 students and 281 faculty members in four colleges. For the last five years, Koç University has ranked in the top three Turkish universities for the number of published articles per faculty member.

Fernando Pessoa University was created in 1992 as result of the merger of two innovative institutes of higher education: the Instituto Superior de Ciencias de Informacao e da Empresa and the Instituto Erasmus do Ensino Superior, created in 1988. The university has 4,200 students who are enrolled in three faculties: Human and Social Sciences, Science and Technology, and Health Sciences.

For more information about UPEI's student exchange programs, please contact Sherilyn Acorn-LeClair, the Student Mobility Coordinator at 894-2837 or sdacorn@upei.ca.