Tightening the education cooperation between Türkiye and Finland - Erasmus+ student Dilge Varli: people should not miss the opportunity to study abroad through the Erasmus+ programme.
The Erasmus+ programme enables training and studying abroad, and several Finns and Turks take advantage of this opportunity yearly. During the corona pandemic, the number of exchanges decreased, but they are expected to increase in the future. Ph.D. student Dilge Varli studied at the University of Helsinki through the Erasmus+ programme in the spring of 2022 from the Middle East Technical University (METU).
Ph.D. student Dilge Varli participated Erasmus+ programme in the spring of 2022 from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Türkiye. She specializes in Hydrogeology in the Geological Engineering department. Ms. Varli completed her exchange studies at the Institute of Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) at the University of Helsinki in Finland.
Ms. Varli has been interested in hydrology for as long as she can remember which is why she wanted to continue working with the theme in her Ph.D. studies.
Climate change is one of the challenges causing the increase in water problems, but there are more. “Water challenges have also increased in Türkiye. Of course, climate challenge effects, but the main challenge is wrong strategies used to retain and restore water situation”, thinks Ms. Varli.
Ms. Varli felt that the Erasmus+ programme was an opportunity she should not waste. The most time-consuming part of the process was collecting all the necessary documents like language certificates, but after that, everything happened fast. “The University of Helsinki answered me immediately,” remembers Ms. Varli.
Before the exchange, Ms. Varli had no previous experience in Finland but she was interested in the Northern part of Europe. “I knew that climate and environment are truly different there,” says Ms. Varli.
“The whole experience was really instructive academic-wise and personally,” Ms. Varli ponders. “I got to meet many different people from various countries and had new contacts, learned new ways to look at my research topic and its methodology, understood more about my limits, and visited many wonderful places like Lapland, Porvoo, and Tallinn. However, the best memory from Finland is definitely the northern lights.”
Ms. Varli is glad she chose Finland as her Erasmus+ programme since it gave her a mixture of studying and traveling, and she recommends the Erasmus+ programme to other people. “The programme contributes much to personal development and gives practical ways to learn. Also, it covers part of the costs, which is something special.” For people considering the Erasmus+ programme, Ms. Varli has one message: “they should learn as much as they can, and they should not miss that opportunity.”
Ms. Varli has now returned to Türkiye to work and finish her Ph.D. However, she thinks it would be nice to have another Erasmus+ experience. “For example, in Germany, there are good programs close to my research topic.” Doing research is something Ms. Varli enjoys, and she hopes to continue among research even after she finishes her Ph.D.
Erasmus+ is an EU-funded programme in education, training, youth, and sport. It offers young people, students, and adults opportunities for internalization and funding for training or studying abroad. In addition, the programme provides educational institutions and organizations the chance to cooperate with their international partners. The programme aims to support lifelong learning and training, contribute to sustainable growth, and drive innovation.
As part of Erasmus+ are all EU member states and some non-EU countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Türkiye. The budget for the seven years of operation time is 25 billion euros.
With the help of Erasmus+, the participants have improved their language, international competence, and cooperation skills. Furthermore, educational institutions and organizations have exchanged good practices, created new operating models and methods, developed youth work practices, and promoted European sports policy in cooperation with their international partners, among other things.
More than 300 000 Finns have participated in Erasmus+ since 1992. Türkiye has been part of the Erasmus+ programme since 20 04, while more than 180 000 Turks have participated.
The most popular fields of study for Turkish Erasmus students in 2014-2020 included political science, engineering studies, management and administration, and economics while the most popular fields of staff teaching mobility included languages, economics, engineering, education.
Between 2004-2020, 2 300 Turkish students participated in the Erasmus programme in Finland, and 491 Finnish students have been to Türkiye. In addition, 421 Finnish personnel and academicians came to Türkiye. At the same time, 750 Turkish personnel and academicians were in Finland. During the covid-19 pandemic, the number of Erasmus+ students decreased, but it is expected to recover.
From here, you can read our previous story from Vilja Vainio about her experiences as an exchange student at METU Ankara.
Find more information about the Erasmus+ programme in general(Linkki toiselle web-sivustolle.) and the Erasmus+ programme in Finland.(Linkki toiselle web-sivustolle.)