Antonine University (UA) delegation participated in a study visit at the Catholic University of Saint Anthony in Murcia (UCAM), Spain, from October 3 to 5, 2022, where its members had the opportunity to meet faculty and staff and explore together potential areas of collaboration in mutually supportive ways.

The study visit took place in the framework of the capacity building project “MEDiterranean countries: Towards Internationalization at Home” (MED2IaH), co-funded by Erasmus+ programme of the European Union (EU).

The UA delegation was composed of Fr. Antonios Awkar, Bursar and Responsible of the UA’s Sports Teams, Fr. Jean Al Alam, Vice Rector for Integral Human Development, and Prof. Rony Darazi, Vice Rector for Cooperation and Internationalization.

The study visit main focus was on how to build, maintain and improve the International Relations and European Projects Offices workflow efficiency. It was an opportunity to explore the facilities at UCAM, mainly during the visit to UCAM HiTech Sport and Health Innovation Hub and UCAM Sports Center.

Furthermore, the UA delegation explored with Prof. Dr. Pablo S. Blesa Aledo, Vice Rector of International Relations and Communication, the common values that make UCAM and UA partner institutions, extending beyond their participation in MED2IaH project, where they agreed on the development of an interinstitutional agreement to encourage student and faculty exchanges in different disciplines.

The visit was also targeted to initiate a collaboration with the UCAM Spanish Sports University, knowing its international reputation at the academic and professional levels. The exchanges concentrated on strength and conditioning training for UA basketball team who is competing to get to the first league, research collaboration in the framework of the PhD program in Sports Sciences at UCAM, and national event organization in collaboration with the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) headed by Prof. Pedro E. Alcaraz, Director of the Spanish Sports University and Head of Research Center for High Performance Sports at UCAM.