ERASMUS CHANGING LIVES OPENING MINDS fOR 25 YEARS

Jozef
Ristvej
‘My international stays motivated me to work even harder’
Home institution:
University of Žilina, Slovakia
Field of study/job title:
Crisis Management/Vice-Dean
for Development and International
Relations
Year became active in Erasmus:
2003
A five-month student exchange to Linköpings University in Sweden in 2003
spurred Jozef Ristvej to adopt new study methods and pursue crisis management
research to a higher level. ‘The level of education was even higher than
I was expecting, students and teachers had a close relationship and there was
a greater emphasis on self-study at the library.’
He completed his PhD in 2007 and is became a lecturer, specialised in the
information systems that support decision-making in crisis management. Now
also Vice-Dean for Development and International Relations, he is driven to
help students benefit from an experience that did so much for him. ‘I developed
a lot of skills through my international stays and they always encouraged
me further. They’ve acted as my motivators to keep me working even harder.’
Further visits on Erasmus staff mobility have inspired him to help improve
structures in Slovakia, and his is now active in a multilateral Erasmus project
to modernise higher education, now in its third year. ‘Our faculty was the first
in Slovakia to include crisis management, and it’s only 12 years old. In Italy, in
contrast, it’s a well-established discipline, while Portugal was ten years ago in
the same position as we are today. We can compare our development with
theirs.’
Besides gaining contacts and research partners, he has appreciated his
Erasmus visits principally for the way they trigger new ideas. ‘Every time I go,
for a week I am able to think about things in a different environment and a different
way.’
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