From 25 September to 1 October 2023, the Central International Relations Office of the University of Zagreb organizes the Welcome Week (Tjedan dobrodošlice) for foreign exchange students coming to UNIZG in the winter semester of the academic year 2023/2024. The majority of the students, more than 450 of them, come to study in Zagreb as part of the EU Erasmus+ mobility programme involving the 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: Spain (78), France (66) and Germany (64). 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 (172), Portugal (96), Italy (94).
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 Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua in the Sveti Duh neighbourhood and a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb.
In addition, the Welcome Day (Dan dobrodošlice), specially prepared for 29 September 2023, will feature a presentation by the employees of the Central International Relations Office about the University of Zagreb, the study programmes it offers, and options for studying in English. Croaticum 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 International Relations Office 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. The detailed schedule is available on the following link:
