SOCRATES

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For the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, see Socrates.

SOCRATES is the European Community action programme in the field of education. The second phase of the programme covers the period January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2006. It draws on the experiences of the first phase (1995-1999) building on the successful aspects of the programme, improving and amalgamating several of the previous Actions and introducing a number of innovations.

The higher education Action of SOCRATES, entitled Erasmus, seeks to enhance the quality and reinforce the European dimension of higher education, by encouraging transnational cooperation between universities, boosting European mobility and improving the transparency and full academic recognition of studies and qualifications throughout the Union.

Erasmus consists of three interrelated sub-actions:

Erasmus 1: European inter-university cooperation
Erasmus 2: Mobility of students and university teachers
Erasmus 3: Thematic networks

The main aim of Thematic Networks (TN) is to enhance quality and to define and develop a European dimension within a given academic discipline or study area or as regards a topic of an interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary nature, or in other matters of common interest (such as university management, quality assurance etc).