From 19 to 23 February 2024, the Central International Relations Office (Central IRO) of the University of Zagreb organizes the Welcome Week (Tjedan dobrodošlice) for foreign exchange students coming to UNIZG in the summer semester of the academic year 2023/2024. The majority of the students, of nearly 350 of them, come to study in Zagreb as part of the EU Erasmus+ mobility programme involving countries of the European Union. Under the Programme, the reciprocity is maintained on a per-country basis between the number of incoming foreign students and the number of outgoing domestic students.
The largest number of students come from the following EU countries: France (59), Germany (35) and Poland (22). In the academic year 2023/24 the value of the EU project and the obtained grants, which are used for financing the outgoing mobility of students and (non)teaching staff of the University of Zagreb, amounts to over 5.94 million euros for the EU countries involved in the programme (Key Action 131). Most of the grants, about 3.5 million euros, are allocated to scholarships for UNIZG students going on an exchange to one of the European Union member states, with the following three countries leading the way in terms of student mobility: Spain (95), Portugal (61) and Italy (54).
During the Welcome Week, various activities are planned to be carried out: professional guided tours around the cultural and historical Zagreb centre, academic lectures at the University on Croatian culture and heritage, the Croatian education system, the country’s religious tradition, as well as culture shock and acculturation. The programme also includes an organ concert at the Church of Saint Blaise in Zagreb and a visit to Technical Museum Nikola Tesla.
In addition, the Welcome Day (Dan dobrodošlice), specially prepared for 23 February 2024, will feature a presentation by the employees of the Central IRO about the University of Zagreb, the study programmes it offers, and options for studying in English language. The artistic production and public events organized by the academies and units of the University of Zagreb having an artistic component will be presented to the students. The Sports Office of the University of Zagreb will also address the students. Croaticum (Centre for Croatian as a Second and Foreign Language) will outline its Croatian language courses for foreigners, while Croatian students taking part in the Erasmus Student Network Zagreb (ESN Zagreb), an organization co-financed by the Central IRO through an EU project, will give a presentation on living and studying in Zagreb, as well as inform the foreign students about the activities that they will organize for them throughout the semester.
The programme is fully financed by grants from the Erasmus+ mobility programme.
