Dr. Maria Lera, representing Seville and Huelva Universities in Spain, and Dr. Maher Natsheh, Vice President for Academic Affairs at An-Najah National University, signed a Collaboration Agreement that will enable both sides to exchange faculty and students. The signing took place at the An-Najah Presidents Office on the 29^th of April, 2007. Dr. Nabil Alawi and the Spanish delegation from Seville University attended the ceremony that was started with a brief introduction by Dr. Natsheh, who spoke about the latest developments taking place at the university and the importance of strengthening international collaboration agreements that help the university in training its students and faculty abroad and which also allows An-Najah to host Spanish professors and students here in Palestine.
Dr. Lera spoke about the exchanging of students and teachers between both universities, in particular the postgraduate students, and she called for more cooperation which will enable Palestinian students to receive more scholarships in the near future. She also mentioned the importance of organizing training courses for faculty members in the fields of educational sciences and psychology.
The Collaboration Agreement states that both universities will work to develop existing international exchange programs between the two countries and communities, and that this agreement could contribute to a greater mutual understanding of human resources, materials, and university qualifications for teachers and students. It could also encourage the search for new pathways of learning, research, and technological, cultural and academic development in general.
Another item concentrates on developing research projects, teaching and extra curricular activities. The agreement also states that the signatories will cooperate on activities concerned with teaching, cultural dissemination, and in research projects in order to strengthen relations and obtain the maximum performance from the human and material resources belonging to teachers. These activities should be preferably centered on the following areas: