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.
On 5th of December the PoSIGers had one of the follow-up meetings on their studies so far within the PoSIG. The meeting was mentored by Dr. Kok the Executive Director of the Program. There the students had the possibility to discuss their experiences so far in the program and their life in Salzburg. Some of the most…Read More
We would like to launch this year with great news for PoSIG consortium, staff, and students. After several meetings, several conversations and a lot of working hours, PoSIG is glad to have new members joining the consortium. We have a specific focus on Western Balkan countries, also on the indicators…Read More
Since its inception, EuroPS project had in mind the complexity of implementation in the partner countries and institutions and therefore prepared a quality assurance and monitoring plan. The aim of the plan was the systematic measurement of the progress of the project, the critical evaluation and the depiction of eventual…Read More
From the 1 st of October 2017 the first year of PoSIG studies has officially started. Students from different countries of the Balkans are now accommodated in Salzburg, pursuing their first year of studies at PLUS (Paris Lodron University of Salzburg). The first ten PoSIGers are now familiar with the…Read More
On the 26 th of September 2017, at the premises of the EU Info Centre in Skopje, the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University (UKIM) represented by the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research (ISRJR) held the roundtable titled “We Encourage Western Balkans” in order to present to the students…Read More
While the preparation for the start of the first PoSIG academic year is on the way with the new students coming to Salzburg to kick off their master, the EuroPS consortium set up a working group to develop new project applications. This is envisaged in the framework of the WP10…Read More
The EuroPS Consortium and Monica’s Erasmus Network in Political Science organised the conference “Bridges within Europe”, kindly hosted by the Sarajevo School of Sciences and Technology (SSST) between 07 and 11 June 2017 in Sarajevo. The conference served as a platform to exchange ideas, experiences and future plans of cooperation…Read More
The last euroPS Coordinators’ Board meeting was held in Ljubljana on 25-27 May 2017 with the participation of project coordinators from partner universities. The coordinators’ board meeting had three main objectives: (i) PoSIG applications, evaluation and selection procedures; (ii) establishment of student board and function; (iii) project future activities, reporting…Read More
The euroPS consortium established the Student Board for the Joint Master in Political Science – Integration and Governance during their coordinators’ board meeting in Ljubljana on 27 May 2017. The PoSIG Student Board acts as a representative body of all PoSIG students and is composed of a student representative from…Read More
The Seminar of Excellence on “Political Systems in South East Europe” took place in Tirana on 25-26 May 2017. This SoE was co-organised between PoSIG Lecturers: Dr. Bojana Noumovska from the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research in Skopje (UKIM) and Dr. Nysjola Dhoga, Faculty of Social Sciences, University…Read More
