Bar-Ilan University and North Macedonia’s University St Kliment Ohridski Bitola have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on a range of initiatives. This MOU will enable both institutions to work together to promote research, education, and innovation in the fields of science, technology, engineering, the humanities, and more.
The academic exchange agreement was signed by Prof. Dr. Igor Nedelkovski, UKLO’s Rector, and Prof. Moshe Lewenstein, BIU’s Deputy President, in the presence of Mr. Maciej Kaczorowski, Chargé d’Affaires (Head of Mission) at the Embassy of the Republic of North Macedonia to Israel during BIU’s International Partner Week and Student Exchange Fair, which was organized by BIU’s International School in January 2023.
Through this agreement, both institutions will be able to share resources, knowledge, and expertise to further their respective missions.
L-R: Prof. Dr. Igor Nedelkovski, UKLO’s Rector, and Prof. Moshe Lewenstein, BIU’s Deputy President
“This latest bilateral academic exchange agreement strengthens our already successful partnership with UKLO,” said Prof. Lewenstein. “We look forward to our joint research projects, collaborations between our faculties and departments, and to seeing our staff and students participate in the Erasmus+ exchange program.”
Long and Fruitful Relationship
According to Prof. Nedelkovski, the partnership between the University of Bitola and Bar-Ilan has been going for about 10 years through the Erasmus+ program, but also through some bilateral projects and activities like a successful Hackathon, which Bitola’s ICT Department organized in 2018 in memory of the anniversary of the deportation of Jews from Bitola.
“This new bilateral agreement is for the exchange of staff and students as well as joint research projects and it will be followed by a renewed Erasmus+ cooperation agreement. We are also planning collaborations with Bar-Ilan in general and in specific faculties or fields of research,” he said.
“We have already exchanged contacts with several departments at Bar-Ilan and have started talking about a joint degree with the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Zeev Zalevsky. We have prospects with the ICT department as well.”
L-R: Daniel Schuval, Senior Advisor of Internationalization, BIU International School; Prof. Dr. Igor Nedelkovski, Prof. Moshe Lewenstein, and Mr. Maciej Kaczorowski, Chargé d’Affaires
Mr. Maciej Kaczorowski was pleased to be invited to participate in the signing of the MOU and to attend the Student Exchange Fair.
“As Chargé d’Affaires of North Macedonia, being here has been a great experience. I am always happy to accompany a delegation from North Macedonia to such events and it was a pleasure to be here to witness the collaboration between Bar-Ilan and UKLO,” he said. “Another highlight of the event for me was our stand and the fact that our universities are represented here. I’ve enjoyed seeing the many other universities from all over Europe. It gives us the opportunity to exchange some ideas and talk about establishing more academic collaborations.”
L-R: Yael Toledano, Director of International Relations and Academic Visits, BIU International School; Prof. Zeev Zalevsky, Dean, BIU’s Faculty of Engineering; UKLO’s Prof. Dr. Igor Nedelkovski; Mr. Maciej Kaczorowski, and BIU’s Daniel Schuval
Prof. Nedelkovski said it was important to be at Bar-Ilan’s Partner Week and Student Exchange Fair to reinforce the cooperation with Bar-Ilan after COVID and to sign the bilateral agreement.
“But we also wanted to present our university to Bar-Ilan students as a great destination for exchange. Europe is very attractive for Israeli students who want to spend a semester or a year abroad and North Macedonia is quite a cheap country compared to others. As a result, we have a significant number of international students at our university. It’s not a busy, hectic lifestyle like in a big city, but there is plenty of fun to be had and beauty to experience,” he said.
The cooperation between UKLO and BIU was initiated by, and is largely due to, Dr. Rachel Levy-Drummer, BIU’s outgoing Academic Secretary, who comes from a Jewish family from Bitola where she spent a large part of her childhood.