The Rector of the University of Oviedo, Vicente Gotor, and his counterpart of the Silesian University of Technology (Poland), Andrzej Karbownik, have signed this morning the collaboration agreement between both institutions with the objective of promoting cooperation in the field of teaching, scientific research and culture and putting in motion a double Master's degree.

The frame agreement will boost the actions for the exchange of students and university staff, favouring the internalships of researchers and lecturers in Poland to stretch the collaboration in matters of common interest.

For his part, the specific agreement includes the teaching, from next 2012-13 academic year, of the double Master's degree in Safety Risk Management. The similarities between the programs offered in both universities have made it possible to design a double course for those who attend this Master's degree to achieve a double title from both institutions.

The Master's degree in Safety Risk Management has a teaching load of 90 ECTS credits and a duration of three semesters in both universities. The program aims to offer specialised training of multilingual professionals in the area of safety risk management, increasing the interest for the academic offer in Europe, the students' chance to choose the courses and the corresponding lecturers and specialists of the institutions signing the present agreement.

The Rector of the University of Oviedo highlighted the importance of this double title and the high quality the Polish university offers in this field. Furthermore, pointed out that the frame agreement gives way to extend the collaboration in terms of research, something that the Rector of the Silesian University of Technology have also supported.

The Vice-Rector for Internationalization and Postgraduate Studies, Covadonga Betegón, the Dean of the Association of Mining Engineers of Northern Spain, José Fernández Díaz, the coordinator of the Master's degree in Workplace Saftey and Hygiene Techniques and Organization at the Silesian University of Technology, Alicja Krzemien, and the coordinator of the Master's degree in Safety Risk Management at the University of Oviedo, Pedro Riesgo Fernández, were all present in the signing of the agreement.

The collaboration agreements with foreign universities are one of the strategies followed by the University of Oviedo for further internationalization. Currently, the University of Oviedo has signed more than 400 collaboration agreements with academic institutions of Europe, America and Asia.