Welcome Center

During the meeting, the activities of the Welcome Centre to date will be summarised and a photographic exhibition devoted to foreign students studying at UMCS will be officially opened, and an artistic performance by foreign students will also be given.

There are two teams within the Welcome Centre - the team for foreign students and the team for foreign researchers. The main tasks carried out within the Welcome Centre are:

• coordinating a contact and information point for foreign and employees,
• providing assistance and mentoring to foreigners,
• organising integration and educational events,
• supporting the internationalisation of the UMCS.

During the first year of operation, a number of projects were implemented, including:

• over a dozen educational and informational events for foreign students and employees aimed at integrating them into the academic community of the university and the City of Lublin, including a series of "Business Mentoring Sessions" meetings - an initiative for which the European Commission's "European Enterprise Promotion Awards 2022" was awarded,
• extension of the UMCS Guide mobile application - a tool for mobile devices that facilitates the functioning in Lublin of students and academic staff from abroad; the application was enriched with functionalities related, among others, to safety and first aid
• production of 10 promotional films, including two in Swahili, and 6 live programmes promoting UMCS and its educational offer and the City of Lublin abroad,
• the creation of a guide for foreign researchers who come to the UMCS to conduct research and carry out scientific and research projects,
• 30 language workshops conducted by foreign students at UMCS for students in secondary schools in Lublin and the region,
• the organisation of the 2nd Internationalisation Day at UMCS.
• The work of the Welcome Centre also includes hundreds of students and foreign researchers served and almost a thousand pages of documents translated into English.

It is worth mentioning that in March this year, during a visit by representatives of the European Commission to renew the 'HR Excellence in Research' award to UMCS, the commissioners paid particular attention to four aspects related to the implementation of the strategy, two of which were: the creation of a Welcome Centre for foreign students, doctoral students and staff, and the creation of a guide for foreign researchers.

Projects implemented by the Welcome Centre are financed by the National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA).

The work of the Welcome Centre at UMCS is led by Dr Ewelina Panas - Rector's Proxy for the Internationalisation of Education.