Press magazine – 5th May 2023

At least ten places financed from the state budget are available for candidates with special educational requirements (CES) or with disabilities, at the Western University of Timișoara (UVT), for which they have the opportunity to apply separately.

Candidates can apply both for places financed from the state budget allocated specifically for this category, as well as for places financed from the state budget addressed to all Romanian or European Union citizens, or for places with a fee, the academic institution announces.

Candidates with special educational needs (SEC) or with disabilities will be able to benefit from a special place dedicated to them only if they pass the admission test related to the study program they have signed up for.

For candidates with disabilities, based on the supporting documents, the entrance exams can be adapted according to the type and severity of the disability. These include alternative ways of scrolling through the text (large print, Braille, reader, screen reader), extra time to complete tasks, etc.

"For candidates with specific learning disorders and sensory disorders, based on the diagnostic certificate issued by the competent bodies, upon request, the adaptation of the examination procedures in the admission process is done by:

1. 1. ensuring an additional time compared to the time initially allocated for the elaboration of the work;
   2. in the case of candidates with dyslexia, the reading of the subjects is ensured by a member of the admission commission at the faculty level; the topics are read one by one, in the order in which the paper is elaborated;
   3. in the case of candidates with dysgraphia, the candidate has the right to an oral evaluation or will dictate the content of the paper to a member of the admission committee at the faculty level;
   4. in the case of candidates with dyscalculia, the use of a pocket/desk calculator, Pythagorean board or tables with formulas is ensured", according to the UVT website.

If more candidates with CES or with disabilities apply for places specially intended for them than the number of such places available at the UVT level, for the cycle of undergraduate university studies, the separation of these candidates will be done, first of all, according to the average obtained at the baccalaureate exam, and then, in case of equal averages, according to the grades obtained in the baccalaureate exam tests, in order (Romanian language and literature, mandatory profile test, profile and specialization test).

In 2023, at the sixth edition of the UVT Liberty Marathon, the new ambassador of the annual competition is Olympic champion Ana Maria Brânza, multiple world and European champion, declared three times the best fencer in the world.

Based on the collaboration agreement between COSR and UVT, in which the role of COSR is provided to annually recommend the personalities of the sports life who will participate in the UVT Liberty Marathon, as symbolic figures of the sports movement in Romania, the Olympic champion Ana Maria Brânza will sign the UVT medal Liberty Marathon 2023, offered to over 2.500 participants in this year's edition of the event.

"The official role of UVT Liberty Marathon 2023 Ambassador that Ana Maria Brânza will fulfill in this year's edition is particularly important for all generations of participants in the competition and for the general public, supporting the message of sportsmanship that UVT proposes to the community: UVT Liberty Marathon is a living demonstration of the choices that make us different, that make us unique and free, developed through sports and health, through a complex sports education and awareness of the universal value of the culture of harmonious life and sportsmanship.", announced Marilen Pirtea, rector of UVT, in the press conference held on Thursday at the COSR headquarters.

"I thank the Western University of Timișoara for this special and honorable opportunity to play the role of UVT Liberty Marathon 2023 Ambassador. I am happy to be able to publicly convey to those who appreciate sport and are followers of sports culture that, on October 1, Timișoara will be and the European Capital of Sports Culture, at UVT. We are waiting for you!", said Ana Maria Brânza. 

The 2023 edition of the UVT Liberty Marathon will take place on October 1. The competition is aimed at experienced runners and young people or children at their first running experience. Registration for one of the race categories allows each runner to choose the right challenge, the competition that suits them: marathon (42 km), half marathon (21 km), marathon relay (42 km), half marathon relay (21 km), cross country (10.5 km) and cross country (2 km) ).

Vodafone Romania inaugurated on Thursday the first center of excellence within the Politehnica University of Bucharest (UPB). Under the title Vodafone Innovation Hub, the laboratory is a multidisciplinary concept, based on teaching, research and startup support activities, thus bringing together a series of academic concerns in the field of electronics, telecommunications and information technology.

At the same time, Vodafone Innovation Hub is an incubator for research, development and innovation in areas of interest, such as: 5G/6G, IoT/IoE, AI, MPN, Open RAN, Edge Computing and Robotics.

"In the 25 years since Vodafone has been present in Romania, we have not stopped investing in society and in education through projects that we have supported, through innovation and technology, through strong partnerships like this one. We live in a dynamic world, technology evolves at a fast pace, and Vodafone's role is to invest in tomorrow's generation. We are honoring this promise through the laboratory inaugurated today. It is more than a strategic investment, it is a guarantee that the best specialists can provide continuous education and train new professionals. The Polytechnic is one of the centers of excellence that helps Romania stay at the top of the rankings in terms of IoT, AI, Open RAN and technologies of the future, and Vodafone is one of the biggest promoters of Romania's digitalization", said Achilleas Kanaris, Vodafone CEO Romania.

"Babeş-Bolyai" University (UBB) from Cluj-Napoca will implement a project in the field of artificial intelligence, with a budget of 10 million euros, which aims to create innovative interdisciplinary programs in shaping the AI ​​expertise currently needed in the industrial environment, reports Agerpres.

"Babeş-Bolyai University from Cluj-Napoca will implement, as a member of a consortium made up of 17 research institutes, industrial partners and top universities from Europe, a large-scale European project in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Artificial Intelligence for Connected Industries (AI4CI) project aims to create innovative interdisciplinary programs in shaping the AI ​​expertise currently needed in the industrial environment to address the challenges and bring to fruition the opportunities generated by the use of artificial intelligence in connected systems and equipment. High-impact vertical AI4CI applications for automated industrial systems, IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) systems and connected autonomous vehicles are targeted," says a press release sent on Thursday by UBB.

According to the quoted source, the mission of the AI4CI project thus aligns with the European strategy on AI, which identifies the development of artificial intelligence in the industrial context as a critical step in achieving the EU's goal of becoming a leader in Artificial Intelligence.

"The AI4CI project will be implemented in the next 4 years and has a total budget of 10 million euros. The program developed by AI4CI will ensure an elite training of future specialists in artificial intelligence, a field with a remarkable evolution and rapid development", the press release states.

"Seeing Ukraine" is the first Ukrainian film festival that will take place in Timisoara. The films will be able to be viewed between May 5-8 at the University of the West, in the garden of the French Institute and at the Faculty of Arts and Design.

The films shown during the four-day "Seeing Ukraine" festival challenge the audience to reflect on the implications of war, but also to reconsider the term "solidarity".

"For more than a year, Ukraine has been at the center of public social and political discourse. Since the beginning of the armed conflict in 2014, and more recently, since Russia's full-scale war of aggression against our neighboring country, a number of Ukrainian and foreign filmmakers have chosen to depict this complex conflict in their films.

Divided into two categories – documentaries and art films – the films invite viewers to better understand the complicated and macabre contemporary situation in a larger framework, but also to discover the perspectives of minorities and women. In their works, many of the selected filmmakers reveal the essence of Ukrainian society full of contradictions and individuality, especially in the years before the invasion, portraying an effervescent culture and a daring spirit of resistance", the representatives of the French Institute said.

"Seeing Ukraine" is a project carried out by FunkForum eV Co-organized by the French Institute, Jane Rozbytska (informal leader of the Ukrainian community in Timisoara and president of the NGO "Faina UA") and Marta Pogorila (artistic director of the Black Sea Arts Festival) ).

Hundreds of teachers from Timiș County started first aid courses yesterday within a project initiated by the "Victor Babeș" University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Timișoara. Participation is voluntary and covers several areas of interest, such as first aid measures in case of cardio-respiratory arrest, aspirated foreign body or oral cavity health.

Since yesterday, six doctors have been training 214 teachers, leaders, but not only, how to teach health education to children in the classroom. The idea of ​​the project started from the necessity of education for health, explains Prof. Dr. Emilian Popovici, academic staff at the "Victor Babeș" University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Timișoara, vice-president of the Romanian Society of Epidemiology and coordinator of the project. The 214 teachers will then go to at least 214 classes, thus transmitting the information to several thousand students. “What a tremendous multiplication of impact force. Through these students, some of the information will also reach several thousand parents. Such projects are necessary and I hope that once started the project will continue and expand to other counties of the country", says the university.

The themes developed within the project were proposed by doctors experts in the field and covers, for example, the chain of survival and first aid measures in case of cardio-respiratory arrest, aspirated foreign body. "So, in this course teachers will learn how to recognize a cardio-respiratory arrest or symptoms from an aspirated foreign body and what the measures are. The coordinator of the course is Dr. Claudicu Bârsac, ATI primary doctor and European instructor of first aid measures. Another course is focused on the problem of drugs, i.e. consequences on social, physical and mental health, which will be dealt with by professor Radu Virgil Enătescu, psychiatrist", explains Prof. dr. Popovich.

"We have established, together with the chief prosecutor Alina Albu, that there should be mutual information, at the institutional level, when we are aware of crimes committed in the school perimeter - for example, cases of drug use", announced Thursday, on Facebook, the Minister of Education , Ligia Deca, has a meeting with the head of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism.

Such information already exists, in relation to public order institutions, when such cases occur in the school area. The minister also mentions in her post the existence of measures in force:

"At the level of the Ministry of Education, we have already adopted measures in this regard, but new steps are to be taken. In parallel, I also mentioned the reforms included in the package of Education Laws to strengthen safety in educational institutions."

Ligia Deca does not mention what steps, specifically, are to be taken.

We remind you that, according to an address of the Minister of Education sent to the inspectorates, presented at the beginning of this week by Edupedu.ro, the directors will receive a request to integrate, within the counseling and school guidance hours, activities to prevent violence in the school environment and drug use substances. According to the mentioned source, the Ministry of Education concluded partnership agreements with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Authority for the Protection of Children's Rights and Adoption.

Pupils and students up to 26 years of age from accredited state and private education, who have gross income per family member less than or equal to 500 lei, can receive 200 euros to purchase computers, according to the Government Decision adopted today, May 4, 2023. The budget allocated for this year is 1,7 million lei.

For the year 2022, almost 2.000 students were selected by the Ministry of Education to receive 200 euros, financial aid, to buy computers. A novelty is the fact that the gross income per family member has increased, in order to get possession of the money to 500 lei. Last year, the gross income per family member had to be less than or equal to 250 lei.

right Decision no. 1.294 of August 13, 2004, in order to obtain the financial aid, the beneficiaries will complete a model application that they submit to the educational unit/institution where the pupil/student is enrolled. This application will be completed by the student requesting this aid or, in the case of students, by a parent.

The ENCHANT research project aims to support the energy transition and tries to understand the need and behavior of electricity consumption in European homes and what information households need to succeed in making their consumption more efficient.

The data is collected through a method established in medicine called Randomized Control Trail (RCT) and aims at the voluntary participation of households in experimental groups that test consumption behaviors. Science-based behavioral intervention techniques previously tested in laboratories are being tested in ENCHANT in real life, in an unprecedented large-scale effort targeting millions of European citizens.

The fact that consumers from six European countries participate in ENCHANT produces an immense opportunity to learn about consumption behaviors in a variety of social, economic or cultural contexts, producing a broad base of public policy solutions.

"ENCHANT is a research project that tries to find out what could help Romanians to reduce their household energy consumption and what are the limits of this desired. The project is part of the wider initiative - Living Lab - of the Faculty of Political Sciences , Administrative and Communication from Babeş-Bolyai University, through which the effectiveness of some measures and public policies in communities is tested. The information coming from households will result in public policy solutions produced with the help of artificial intelligence, which will be applied to support household consumers at European, national or local level, taking into account the realities of households. The stakes of these things are important, as is the participation of consumers," said Anca Sinea, researcher at Babeş-Bolyai University, ORSE coordinator and the campaign implemented in Romania.

On Wednesday, the government approved a document that provides, among other things, the stimulation of the employment of foreigners from third countries who completed their studies in Romania and the relaxation of the visa regime for investors from third countries.

The measures are contained in the amendments made to the National Migration Strategy and the Action Plan for its implementation, with the aim of developing a system to include some temporary migration mechanisms and to facilitate the admission of foreigners to the territory of Romania.

The measures regarding admission will contribute, the Executive mentions, to covering the existing deficit on the labor market, the employment of students and researchers, the development of Romanian tourism on plan externally, capitalizing on the tourist potential simultaneously with the development of the tourism industry at the national level, economic growth.

More and more employers are turning to the import of labor from third countries, due to the impossibility of covering the deficit on the national labor market.

Covering the deficit on the labor market is provided for in Objective A.2 of the Action Plan and includes several directions and actions:

• Monitoring of the domestic labor market by institutions with competence in the field, to identify labor shortages in Romania, to know the fields that need workers.
• Ensuring a control of the number of foreigners entering the territory of Romania and limiting the number of foreign workers for whom social security contributions are paid in the country of origin.
• Approval/negotiation of bilateral agreements with third countries interested in admitting their own citizens to the labor market in Romania.
• Stimulating employers in order to employ citizens from third countries who have completed their studies in Romania.
• Ensuring the conditions necessary to attract those categories of immigrants who can contribute to cover some areas that are deficient or have an impact on economic development.
• Granting facilities by exempting from the fulfillment of certain conditions when granting a long-stay visa/or extending the right of stay for the purpose of carrying out commercial activities.