Press magazine – April 27 2023

The Department of Geography of UVT participates in the National ICT Competition for amblyopic and blind students, during which it will present, for the first time, two educational products intended for amblyopic and blind students: the General Tactile Geographical Atlas of Romania and the guided tours of Timișoara. The General Tactile Geographical Atlas of Romania will be presented on April 26, 2023, during the opening ceremony of the National ICT Competition for amblyopic and blind students, from 17 p.m., at the West University of Timișoara.

Hundreds of young people came, from the early hours of Tuesday, April 25, 2023, to the Politehnica University Canteen of Timișoara, to take part in the XXII edition of the Career Days event, the largest university fair for work from the west of the country, organized by the Career Counseling and Guidance Center (CCOC) of the UPT. For two days, students and graduates have the chance to make contact with the representatives of over 60 companies and institutions present at the event, to take the pulse of the labor market and even apply directly for career offers: jobs, internships or practice.

At the opening of the event, Prof. Dr. Eng. Alina Dumitrel, vice-rector of the Politehnica University of Timișoara, spoke about the year 2023, declared by the European Union as the Year of Skills, about the growing need for well-trained engineers, about the high employability rate (over 90%) of UPT graduates, about the good relationship of the Polytechnic's collaboration with companies in the region, the Career Days being a good example of this.

The President of the Senate of the Politehnica University of Timișoara, Prof. Dr. Eng. Radu Vasiu, in his speech, referred to the international dimension of UPT, a member of E³UDRES², an alliance of entrepreneurial universities in Europe, which supports the development of smart and sustainable cities and regions.

From a distance, via video call, the rector of the Politehnica University of Timișoara, Prof. Dr. Eng. Florin Drăgan, present at the meeting of the Alliance of Technical Universities in Romania, which announced, on this occasion, the creation of a forum of strategic partners of ARUT member universities, on the model of the UPT Steering Committee.

Education unions protested on Wednesday in Victoriei Square in Bucharest, in front of the Government, dissatisfied with the too low salaries and the plans of the PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition to maintain their incomes at last year's level. Also, the education trade unionists announced a protest march on May 10.

There were two consecutive days of protests, organized by the Education trade unions, who invoked the too low salaries, but also the Government's intention to cap personnel expenses at the level of 2022.

President of the Federation of Trade Unions "Spiru Haret", Marius Nistor, stated on Wednesday at Prima News that less than two percent of well-prepared young people choose to enter education, reports News.ro.

"The only solutions the politicians give us are the following: we don't invest in education because we don't have quality results", said Marius Nistor.

Also, in a statement, the trade unionists announced that they will organize a protest march where more than 15.000 trade union members are expected, on May 10, and that they are collecting signatures to trigger the general strike.

At the end of last week, the Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, declared herself confident that there will not be a general strike in education, and the 2022-2023 school year will be successfully completed, according to Agerpres.

The debates on the Education Laws were resumed at high speed, considering that Thursday expires the deadline for submitting the Education Commission's report to the plenary vote of the Chamber of Deputies, otherwise the Government's project risks being tacitly adopted.

The politicians' priority was to "close the problems reported by religious cults", so they quickly passed, in just 15 minutes, the amendments by which religion is introduced as an optional subject in the Baccalaureate, in the E test, for the human profile, in the philology and science majors social.

right Edupedu.ro, the amendments were assumed by several parties present and accepted by the representative of the Ministry of Education, the Secretary of State Sorin Ion.

3 student teams that qualified following the national stage of the BRD FIRST Tech Challenge 2023, organized by the Nation Through Education association, as well as a team qualified following the FTC championship in India, represented our country at the FIRST World Championship in Houston , USA. Between April 19 and 22, viewers and online followers witnessed adrenaline-filled competitions, and Romanian students met the best robotics teams from around the world.

Our teams were admired by all participants, both thanks to their skill and thanks to the excellent results of last year, when the Delta Force team from Arad brought home the big prize, winning the World Championship. The Romanians competed with over 190 teams from all over the world and returned home victorious, with 6 prizes obtained in the USA.

4 teams represented our country, from Bucharest, Ploiești, Iași and Pitești, along with the 4 Dean's List finalists from Ploiești, Hunedoara, Focșani and Buzău. Here are the prizes won by the Romanians at the World Championship in Houston, USA:

MOTIVATE Award WINNER, for the Ro2D2 team (Jemison division) from Ploiesti, Mihai Viteazu National College.

MOTIVATE Award 2^nd like for the PEPPERS team (Franklin division) from Iași, Grigore Moisil Informatics High School

DESIGN Award 3^rd like for the TehnoZ team (Ochoa division) from Pitesti, Zinca Golescu National College

CONTROL Award 3^rd like for the Autovortex team from Bucharest, Nicolae Bălcescu Technological High School (Edison division)

FINALIST ALLIANCE 1^st Pick for the Autovortex team from Bucharest, Nicolae Bălcescu Technological High School (Edison division)

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has published Global Innovation Index 2022, in which Romania ranks 49th out of 132 countries analyzed.

The 2022 edition of the Global Innovation Index (15th edition) tracks the latest global innovation trends against the backdrop of a COVID-19 pandemic that has slowed productivity growth and the evolution of economies.

Romania's positioning in the Global Index (49th place overall) is even more interesting if it is viewed from the perspective of the group it belongs to, that of the "upper middle income" states - 36 in total.

This group includes, among others, China, Turkey, Russia and Brazil. In this group, Romania ranks 8th.

The "empty side of the glass" is that Romania is said to have a performance below expectations. Romania is not among the states that outperform in terms of innovation relative to the degree of economic development. The states that stand out from this point of view are India, Kenya, the Republic of Moldova and Vietnam.

Bucharest, for example, as a science and technology cluster, does not enter the top 100 clusters of this kind.

The Global Innovation Index analyzes 7 large groups of data: institutions, capital human and research, infrastructures, market sophistication, business sophistication, knowledge/technology outputs and creativity outputs.

On April 24, 2023, the Annual General Assembly of the Education Coalition took place, in online format, an event that brought changes both in its composition and at the level of the Board of Directors.

Thus, within the Board of Directors, Diana Certan, Daniela Vișoianu and Florina Balint terminated their mandates as members. The new members were elected, with unanimous votes: Silvia Bogdan, from the School of Values ​​Association, Mihaela Năbar, from World Vision Romania and Carmen Lică, from the Step by Step Center for Education and Professional Development.

Simona David-Crisbășanu (ROI Association) was elected as President of the Education Coalition, taking over this role from Diana Certan. Fabiola Hosu (Questfield School) is the new Vice-President of the Education Coalition, and Silvia Bogdan (Valori School) has the role of General Secretary.

"The debates on the education bills have shown how great the need is for proposals based on arguments, studies and good practice. Coalition for Educationhas proven to you that it can make a valuable contribution to this and we will continue to do so, having as benchmarks the strategic directions established by Manifesto of the Federation", said Simona David-Crisbășanu, president of the Coalition for Education. "colitis it is more than the sum of its members, and I am convinced that together we can have a stronger voice and a greater system-wide impact. I thank my colleagues for their trust and I rely on their support", added the representative of the Federation.

A number of 27 financing contracts for the modernization and rehabilitation of tourist sites that are part of the "Attractive Romania" program were signed today, the Ministry of European Investments and Projects announced, according to news.ro.

Huniade Castle, Bistrita Medieval Citadel and several wooden churches are among the objectives that will be restored.

Minister Marcel Boloş stated: "The contracts we signed today have, on the one hand, an economic significance because they will undoubtedly bring more tourists to Romania and stimulate private investments in tourism activities in the respective areas. On the other hand, we are talking about investments in landmarks that define us as a people, about a singular culture built over centuries that we need to really appreciate".

According to a press release sent by MIPE, the financed objectives are included in 9 of the 12 routes that will be financed through Component 11 - Tourism and Culture of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The signing event was attended by the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Marcel Boloş, and the Secretary of State Csilla Hegedus, representatives of the local authorities and places of worship that will be rehabilitated and modernized within this component of the PNRR.

The appetite of European "millennial" investors (those born between 1981 and 1996) to make riskier investments amid market volatility is greater than that of generations before them, according to the EY Global Wealth Research Report 2023, as younger investors respond more active in and influenced by external market events, according to a press release.

The report, which surveyed more than 2.600 clients of personal wealth management companies globally, including 600 in Europe, found that over a third of European millennials (38%) are choosing riskier investments, compared to just a quarter (24%) among "baby boomers" (those born between 1946 and 1964). This is despite the fact that over half (57%) of millennials surveyed said their investment needs have become more complex (compared to 35% of baby boomers). 35% of them admit they don't meet with their advisor often enough to review their goals, making them less prepared (a figure that drops to 20% among baby boomers) ).

According to the report, amid prolonged economic uncertainty, demand for professional advice to interpret economic, market and political shocks is currently high for many investors. However, European demand is behind the world average. The survey found that 38% of European millennials and 34% of boomers actively seek advice from their financial advisor in response to political instability or uncertainty, compared to 42% and 33% globally respectively .