Sending/Partner Institution:“Institut agronomique mediteeraneen de Montpellier”, France

E+ Programme: Exchange Students

Period: April 2022 – September 2022

Academic year: 2021/2022

I am Paula Llorens Esbri, a Spanish student of the Agricultural Engineering, working on a Research Project at “Fan S. Noli” University in the frame of Erasmus+ Programme. More specifically, I have attended Bachelor studies in the field of Crop Production in Jaume I University of Castellon, and later I continued my Master studies at Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain).  During this academic year, I have been attending studies in my second Master degree, in the field of Mediterranean Farming System Design for a Sustainable Farming System (MIDAS) in the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier CIHEAM-IAMM (France).  Through this studies, we have learned how to modelize agricultural systems to make them more sustainable and efficient due to the current social, economic and climatic uncertainty.

I had the opportunity to visit the Balkans area, to complete my internship and the master program, and I chose Albania to discover a new country for me. My main motivation was studying in a different cultural environment, learning from the experience of professors that are coming from different backgrounds.

During my internship I will be working on a research project on the effects of new trends in Korca apple farms, regarding the participation of Albania in the EU. The sector of apple production is very important in the field of agriculture in Korca region and it is a very potential sector to increase the competitiveness and productivity of the country. Testing the effects of the increased EU funding, the climate change or the energetic changes could be very beneficial for researches and policy makers, in order to address more straight policies and measures for the country.

Not only in an academic view, but also in a personal view, I strongly believe that I will improve my level of languages, meeting new friends from Albania and other nationalities and learning the culture of such a different country.

My expectation of the internships is successfully completing my Master degree, learning from the knowledge of Albanian students, professors and farmers. I also have the opportunity to publish a good scientific paper, which I truly believe that it will be very valuable for my future.  I am convinced that this experience will help me postulating as a pHD candidate and on my future professional career.

Paula LLORENS ESBRI