PoSIG is the result of a collaboration started by the Political Science Department at the University of Salzburg, with support from the Austrian Development Agency and the Erasmus Mundus SIMA and SIGMA agile programmes. Since 2008, more and more student and staff grants have been helping academics from the Western Balkans to study and research at the University of Salzburg. Working together on teaching and research has led to a shared ambition for more intense cooperation between universities in the region. The fact that this cooperation is generic has created a solid base for it.
The joint Erasmus+ Project: “Curriculum Development joint European Political Science MA (EuroPS)” led by the University of Salzburg – Department of Political Science and Sociology, developed a joint/multiple MA in Political Science to be accredited at all project partner and the development of a multilateral management of this MA. The project (No. 561485-EPP-1-2015—1-AT-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP) set up a joint/multiple MA in Political Science (120 ECTS) with a diploma supplement from all partners, based on European accreditation and European Standards and Guidelines. It’s a modernisation and Europeanisation project, and it supports, reflects and develops standards at EU and Western Balkan partners, encouraging regular academic exchange of good practice and sustainable networking between EU-WB partners, especially between WB.The project was implemented successfully between October 2015 and September 2017.
The consortium kicked off the first intake of students on the joint MA programme in Political Science – Integration & Governance in February 2017, and has been taking in new students ever since.
The PoSIG’s plan to work on an integrated approach for integration and governance capacity development fits really well with the needs of the Western Balkan region as a region of political transformation. The same thing was true for the Eastern Neighbourhood region, where the programme attracted students from this area. Thanks to Erasmus+ KA 107 and KA 171 grant resources, students and staff from these universities have also taken part in PoSIG activities. Since 2019, students from the Eastern Neighbourhood and Lebanon have successfully applied for PoSIG placements, and the annual PoSIG Teacher Academies, first set up in the EuroPS project in 2016, have seen an increasing number of professors from these universities.
Then, with the Erasmus+ CBHE JoPScip project, partner universities from Armenia and Georgia joined the PoSIG consortium in 2024, which should lead to an extended European Accreditation by AQ Austria from the academic year 2025/26. The continued cooperation in student and staff exchange has created a strong generic basis for institutional cooperation.
The PoSIG consortium is also including universities from Central Asia and the South Mediterranean cooperation as associated partners to joint activities.
The following timeline details the key developments in the history of the PoSIG programme.
Yet another step in successful re-accreditation of PoSIG with extended consortium! Training sessions on developing Virtual Education Space for the PoSIG programme took place from December 10-12 in Yerevan, Armenia, hosteb by Yerevan State University. Training focused on strengthening digital teaching and learning capacities across partner institutions, aiming to streamline online learning for…Read More
Pre-Accreditation Meeting for the PoSIG took place in Salzburg from October 26–30, bringing together university representatives, academic coordinators, and quality assurance experts to finalize accreditation preparations. Over several days, participants worked on aligning curriculum structures, admission policies, student mobility frameworks, and assessment criteria across partner universities. Special attention was given to…Read More
The PoSIG Teacher Academy 2024 took place at the University of Salzburg from October 20 to 25, bringing together teachers and researchers from Albania, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia, Bosnia, Armenia and Azerbaijan to discuss European integration and sectoral policies. The event aligned with the Salzburg Europe Summit, aimed…Read More
Following on from Skopje, a training for teachers of International Relations and European Integration modules took place in Salzburg from 1-5 July. Teachers from partner universities in Georgia, Armenia worked on the development of courses in these fields of study. The training also included the OSCE Academy (from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan)…Read More
Integration of new partner universities in teaching Methodology, Public Administration & Policy, Comparative Politics and Poltical Theory was the agenda of a Teacher Training week at UKIM in Skopje between 24-28 June.
The structure, different elements and learning outcomes of an extended curriculum were presented during the Quality Week in Skopje held between 20-22 May at UKIM.
In Armenia, the agenda of the innovation lab contained meeting with the Director of the National Center for Professional Education Quality Assurance Foundation (ANQA) Dr. Rouben Topchyan and meeting with Higher education and Science committee staff Mariana Sargsyan and Ani Virabyan (Head of the Department for Higher Education and Science…Read More
In Georgia, the agenda of the innovation lab contained mutual event with National Erasmus Office with the participation of following external stakeholders: National Erasmus+ Office in Georgia – Mariam Sulashvili; Ministry of Education, Science and Youth Representative – Kakha Khandolishvili; EU Delegation in Georgia – Nino (Nika) Kochishvili; National Center for…Read More
The commission of the Zentrale Evaluations- und Akkreditierungsagentur (ZEvA) accredits the Joint Master’s programme in Political Science – Integration & Governance (PoSIG) without conditions for a period of six years. The accreditation decision is based on the standards and criteria stipulated in the European Approach for the Quality Assurance of…Read More
The main objective of this project is to establish a modernised, internationalised and digitised joint master’s programme in political science in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, with the aim of developing future leaders, improving governance practices and promoting active citizenship. Dr Franz Kok described the experience of PoSIG so far.…Read More