Dear BUP colleagues,
We are happy to announce a CALL FOR STUDENTS TO THE BUP’S SAIL COURSE FOR STUDENTS, 4 -18 SEPTEMBER 2018, SZCZECIN, POLAND – VISBY, SWEDEN – STAVANGER, NORWAY.
The SAIL (Sustainability Applied in International Learning) course is an undergraduate Baltic University Programme course conducted at sea on-board the tall ship Fryderyk Chopin. The SAIL course is based on the participating teachers’ areas of competences and experiences. This means that each year the SAIL course is different with focus on different thematic areas of sustainability, such as: Environment; Energy; Climate; Technology; Economy; Social science; Education, etc.
The course will be prepared and run on board by an international group of teachers. Please notice that students participating in this course will NOT receive any ECTS credits.
The SAIL 2018 course will start on 4th September in Szczecin, Poland, and end on 18th of September in Stavanger, Norway. We will be visiting Visby on Gotland, Sweden, on a way but the Captain, the SAIL coordinator, and the BUP secretariat will decide on the exact sailing route and other harbors to visit. In addition to 8 teachers, we have 30 places available for students on-board.
STUDENT ARE TO APPLY TO THEIR NATIONAL BUP CENTRE
The BUP teachers or/and the BUP’s contact persons at the universities are asked to choose students and list them according to the priority and send the list to their national BUP’s centre.
Students interested in the topic and coming from our members’ or/and participating’ universities are welcome to apply for participation in the course. Students from the BUP´s members' universities will, however, be given priority and for them participation in the SAILing course is free of charge. Please notice that all students applying should have a recommendation from their teacher, BUP’s contact person at the university, or the BUP’s national center.
The national BUP’s centers will be responsible for selecting a final list of participants from the respective countries. In case there is no functioning center in the country (like in Belarus, Sweden, and North-West Russia) the applications should be sent directly to coordinating secretariat (maria.hejna@csduppsala.uu.se). Applying students are asked to save all documents with their names. Please observe that handwritten applications will not be accepted!
THE DEADLINE IS ON TUESDAY, 3RD OF APRIL 2018.
All BUP’s Centers are welcome to select up to 5 students per country. Please send more and in case a country does not fill up its places they will be divided among the others.
The BUP centers are asked to compile a list according to the students’ activities within the Programme and deliver it to the BUP’s secretariat/Maria Hejna (maria.hejna@csduppsala.uu.se).
FOR A FINAL SELECTION OF STUDENT CANDIDATES FOR THE COURSE NO LATER THAN SUNDAY, 8TH APRIL 2018.
Please make sure that students interested to SAIL with us will read information below and ask them to fill two documents in attachment - an application form including a letter of motivation and a health statement.
Please make sure that students are aware that we will choose a final group of participants of the SAIL course based on their motivation's letter and interest in sustainable development. Please notice that the previous sailing experience is not necessary and will not give any priority for the course.
Students should keep as well in mind that if they will be selected to participate, they will be asked to have their health statement confirmed by a doctor.
SOME WORDS OF INFORMATION TO BE CONSIDER BEFORE APPLYING:
Please keep in mind that the SAIL course is an undergraduate BUP course. Please notice that students participating in this course will NOT receive any ECTS credits.
Please be aware and consider the special nature of the course - you should be aware that sailing a tall ship is physically demanding. Our experience is that you will be physically exhausted, deprived of sleep, and definitively out from your normal comfort zone. You will be living very close to many new people in a very restricted space. We should also mention that you may experience seasickness, which can be a rather unpleasant experience.
On board the sailing vessel all students (and teachers) will act as a working crew. You will be divided into one of three watches that will be assigned 4 hours rotating duties (navigation, deck, and kitchen) - around-the clock! Please keep in mind that in spite of the weather conditions, and in spite of your condition, you should participate in your watch duties. You should also be aware that sailing a tall ship means pulling lines, climbing masts to set and haul sails in the old-day fashion. Fryderyk Chopin is a brigg-rigged tall ship with two 38 m high masts, which need to be climbed! Students and teachers are expected to work together in the watches to fulfil their sailing duties, which in our experience is an excellent tool for team building and to create a dynamic learning environment. Moreover, as crew member you must also do other duties on-board, in addition to your sailing and course duties. This includes cleaning, cooking meals, washing dishes, and maintenance work. All this you are expected to do in addition to your course duties that come as a priority number one! To your help there will be 8 professional crew members on board so you can feel safe!
Please keep in mind that you are expected to work hard with the course requirements and to fulfill all duties on board.
Despite these words of “warnings”, or perhaps because of them, we can promise you extraordinary new experiences filled with feelings of togetherness and teamwork, meeting with new friends, being close to nature, and in the hands of the powerful forces of nature, and exploring
places you never been to before. You will be part of a team experiencing a unique course, and feel the joy of being part of a truly stimulating learning environment with hopefully many enthusiastic students. And not the least: you will explore yourself and push your limits to new levels.
Please keep in mind that the course is very popular - each year the number of applying students exceeds by far the number of available places so make sure that your application will impress on us :-)
IMPORTANT - ALL STUDENTS ARE OBLIGED TO FULFILL ALL THE COURSE STEPS – STARTING FROM THE PREPARATION PROCESS, FOLLOWED BY ACTIVE PARTICIPATION ON BOARD, AND ENDING WITH THE FINAL PAPER THAT WILL BE CHECKED BY THE TEACHERS.
Students who will fulfil all requirements and pass the course on board will receive:
*Baltic University Programme diploma for the course
*special certificate confirming their sailing skills issued by the Captain of the “Fryderyk Chopin” sailing boat and a memory for life, new friends from many countries in the Baltic region, incredible adventure, and hopefully more confidence and self-knowledge.
COSTS OF PARTICIPATION
The SAILing course is free of charge for students coming from the BUP's Members' Universities and for them all costs of accommodation and food on-board will be covered by the Baltic University Programme coordinating secretariat. A course fee of 1300 Euro per person applies for all other students. All students must however cover all travel costs to and from the boat themselves (travel to Szczecin and back from Stavanger). BUP’s Centers and teachers are kindly asked to advice and help students to find financial support for their travel costs. Please see the updated list of BUP's Members' Universities on the BUP web site (http://www.balticuniv.uu.se/about-us/member-universities/ [1]).
For those who need visas (multiplied Schengen visa will be needed for this trip): invitations will be issued by the BUP secretariat in Uppsala.
VERY IMPORTANT
* application to the SAIL course is binding – cancellation in the last minute without any important and documented reason will be reported to authorities of student's university and department
* for the sake of security ONLY students with very good communications skills in English will be selected
* Please notice that the previous sailing experience is not necessary and will not give you any priority for the course. Participants will be selected based on their interest in sustainable development
Students applications should be sent to the BUP centres in every country (http://www.balticuniv.uu.se/about-us/contacts-and-network/national-centra/ [2]) well in advance (the deadline is on Tuesday, 3rd of April 2018) as we expect all lists from national centres to be sent to the BUP coordinating secretariat/Maria Hejna no later than Sunday, 8th April 2018. Applying students are asked to save all documents with their names. Please observe that handwritten applications will not be accepted!
Please do not hesitate to contact me in case of any further questions.
With best wishes – Maria :-)
Maria Hejna, Network Manager and SAIL project coordinator
The Baltic University Programme
Villavägen 16, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
Tel: +46-18-471 17 86
Mobile: +46-70-425 00 87
Fax: +46-18-471 17 89
Links:
[2]
