ESN UNIZA Žilina

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History of Section:

After Kvetka Mišiaková has returned from her Erasmus in  2008, she became eager to take care of incoming students. She founded our section and had a key role in forming it. Start wasn’t easy, though University had to be convinced about importance and significance of ESN presence. In following years, enthusiastic students were joining our section. Since we had only small number of Erasmus students, we managed to run ESN UNIZA in stable team of 3-5 people, plus some extra buddies and less active members. These days, number of exchange students almost doubled to 50, and we are working on campaign to get more and more ESN team members. 

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Name of University:

The University of Žilina in  Žilina

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Description of the University: 

The University of Žilina is the only university located in the northwest region of the Slovak Republic. In terms of prof     essional profile, the University is unique in Slovakia as it has a long tradition of providing education in the fields of transport and communications. Furthermore, during the last period of development the University became an educational institution with a broad profile in many areas of science, technology, economics, management, and recently, educational and natural sciences. The University of Žilina provides education at all three levels of higher education both in full-time and part-time forms (Bachelor's degree, Engineer/Master's degree and Doctoral degree). Finally, all of the University’s faculties provide a supplementary course of pedagogical studies for students and graduates. Over the last 57 years more than 52 000 students have graduated from the University; 1662 of them have been awarded the Ph.D. degree. The University has established contacts with many universities abroad. Professors and research workers at the University participate in international educational and research projects. These include the European Union projects TEMPUS, COPERNICUS, COST, LLP/ERASMUS, Leonardo da Vinci, than CEEPUS, National Scholarship Programme, DAAD. The academic staffs are actively involved in cooperations within the EU´s 6 th and 7 th Framework programmes. 

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Something about the City:

Žilina is located on the main railway halfway between Slovakia’s largest cities: the capital, Bratislava, and Košice in the east. Žilina has all the conveniences of a large city with the warmth of a small town. Nestled in the Small Fatra, the Žilina region offers skiing, hiking and bicycling. Since medieval trade routes Žilina has always been the busiest traffic junction Slovakia. So, it is no wonder that the College of Railways in Prague re-established itself and evolved to become the present day University of Žilina. As an educational and research institution specializing in engineering, transport and communication, the University is a primary resource for industries and civic organizations in Žilina and Slovakia. Even though the Žilina community is heavily involved in several areas of industry, the town centre is picturesque. The brick-paved pedestrian street leads from the train station to the upper and lower town squares, which are lined with shops and cafes constructed in colourful old-style facades. Žilina´s cultural atmosphere includes theatre, music, art galleries and the cinemas. Local pubs and discos cater to the young college crowd while live music, theatre and outdoor performances attract the young and old. Many of Žilina´s residents are Slovakian families who have lived in this region for many generations and account for the rich history and culture that is present. However, the city will continue to be progressive because of the large number of university students during the school year, and the several tourists stopping through during the summer and wintertime.

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