The meeting with the representatives of the Parliament of Ireland (H.E. Mr. John Brassil, TD, Head of delegation; H.E. Mr. Kevin O’Keeffee; H.E. Mrs. Maria Byrne, Senator; H.E. Mrs. Olive Hempenstall, Ambassador of Ireland to Croatia; Mrs. Eileen Lawor, representative of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service; Mr. Bernard Vrban, official for public relations at the Embassy of Ireland to Croatia; Mr. Domagoj Hajduković, Chair of the Croatian-Irish Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group and Mrs. Ana Perić, Secretary of Croatian-Irish Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group) was held in the Rector’s Office on 24 October 2018.
The hosts of the meeting at the Rector’s Office were: Prof. Dr. Sonja Vila, Vice–Rector for Science, Technology, Projects and International Cooperation; Prof. Dr. Dražen Kozak, Vice-Rector for Education and Students; Prof. Art. Robert Raponja, Vice-Rector for Arts, Culture and Inter-Institutional Cooperation; Prof. Dr. Drago Žagar, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology Osijek and Mrs. Lidija Getto, AMES, Head of the International Relations Office.
During the meeting, various possibilities for cooperation with institutions of higher education in Ireland have been discussed; also the representatives of the University of Osijek proposed cooperation with the umbrella organization for higher education in Ireland within which it would be possible to organise meetings with the members of the Rectors’ Conferences of Croatia and Ireland.
Both sides expressed interest in starting cooperation in STEM, especially in IT sector. Introduction of courses in English language and changes in study programmes at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology in Osijek aim at strengthening of competitiveness of the Faculty and the University. Worth mentioning is a joint study of the Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences and Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology which is dealing with IT in agriculture. These changes opened a possibility of developing cooperation with partner institutions in Ireland. Also, there is possibility of student and staff exchange exists in humanities and the arts. In accordance with that, students were invited to partake in the International Festival organised by the Academy of Arts and Culture Osijek.
