INSPIRE named best international partnership

 

Illinois is once again being recognized for its international reach and global impact.

 

This time it’s for the Illinois-Sweden Program for Educational Research and Exchange, which revealed Jan. 26 that it had been awarded the Institute of International Education's Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education for the best international partnership in the country.

 

“This successful alliance provides a model for global leadership in higher education, research collaboration and public engagement,” according to an IIE news release. “INSPIRE has created a stable infrastructure and lowered administrative barriers for ongoing exchange of students, faculty and staff.”

 

In fact, since the program was officially created in 2010 as a pilot project of the Illinois Strategic International Partnerships Initiative, which operates out of the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs and Global Strategies, more than 100 Illinois students have participated in exchanges with Swedish partners KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute.

 

The partnership now involves more than 100 Illinois faculty members from 11 different colleges and research collaborations that have produced 45 co-written publications in peer-reviewed journals.

 

“This award recognizes the unique accomplishments of the INSPIRE program in bringing together faculty, staff and administrators at all levels of our campus in a concerted effort of internationalization, one of the pillars of the campus strategic plan,” said Harry Dankowicz, a professor of mechanical science and engineering and one of the two INSPIRE faculty liaisons.