Brussels, 21/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - Three higher education institutions which receive funding through the Erasmus programme have won the 2013 European Erasmus Awards, announced the European Commission on 21 November. The gold prize winner is JAMK University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä, Finland, where 70% of the staff take part in Erasmus training abroad each year. The university regards staff exchanges as key to its efforts to improve teaching and learning quality. The Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Greece, won the silver prize. Since 2005, the Institute's 22 intensive programmes have provided a platform for internationalisation by creating links with local industry as well as world-leading institutions, such as the University of Oxford and Imperial College in the UK. This has led to an international dimension of the degree programmes. The bronze prize was won by Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain. Last year its staff took part in 190 mobility opportunities, making it the fifth largest sending institution among the 33 Erasmus participating countries. It attaches great importance to monitoring the quality of exchange programmes and is offering increasing numbers of double degrees as well as Erasmus intensive programmes. Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, commented: “Quality teaching is crucial if we are to produce the creative and adaptable graduates we need. I congratulate the winning institutions for demonstrating the value of Erasmus teaching and training opportunities abroad. The experience gained by university staff working in a different international environment is of enormous benefit to students in both the host and sending institution”. (IL/transl.fl)