The long-term cooperation between the Faculty of Arts of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice and the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo in Peru, established in 2018, is entering its next phase. This was confirmed by a working visit of FF JU representatives, PhDr. Jana Pešková, Ph.D., from the Department of Romance Studies, and RNDr. Marie Hanzalová, specialist officer at the International Relations Department, which took place from July 6 to July 12, 2026.
A significant part of the program was the planning of student mobilities. In the winter semester of the 2026/2027 academic year, the Department of Romance Studies at FF JU will welcome three Spanish philology students from the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, and the Institute of Archaeology at FF JU will host one archaeology student for a practical internship. During the visit, several meetings were held with selected students, who were introduced to the organization of their upcoming stays at the University of South Bohemia. At the same time, preparations for the selection process for mobilities for the 2026/2027 summer semester were initiated.
Another point on the program was the discussion of mobilities for academic staff from the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo to the FF JU, which will take place in the 2026/2027 academic year and will focus on cooperation in the fields of Peruvian literature and non-destructive archaeology. During the meetings, possibilities for closer scientific cooperation were also discussed, particularly in the research of text structures and the building of language corpora. Part of the program was also a working meeting between RNDr. Marie Hanzalová and representatives of the International Office of the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, during which she became acquainted with the principles of internationalization at the partner university.
During the visit, a three-day block of professional seminars titled "Corpus Linguistics: From Theory to Practice I–III" took place, focusing on the practical use of parallel and comparable corpora in linguistic research and the possibilities of creating one's own language corpora.
In addition to academic cooperation, the cultural dimension of the collaboration is also developing. Further negotiations on joint projects followed up on the May visit of representatives of the Fundación Marco Antonio Corcuera to the FF JU.
A significant moment of the visit was the recognition of the long-standing cooperation between the two universities. Jana Pešková received an award from the regional office of the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Trujillo, as well as the university distinction and medal Distinción de Tercer Grado „Obispo Baltazar Jaime Martínez de Compagnon y Bujanda“, which was awarded to her on behalf of the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo by the UNT Rector, Dr. Hermes Sifuentes Inostroza, for her contribution to the development of scientific cooperation and internationalization of both partner universities.
Eight years after the establishment of the partnership, the cooperation between the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice and the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo represents one of the two very active international projects of the FF JU in the Latin American region. The intensive development of the partnership is possible primarily thanks to the long-term support of the Erasmus+ program, which guarantees the continuity and sustainability of joint activities. It was precisely this aspect that the coordinator of the cooperation for the Peruvian side, Dr. Zorán Herrera Mejía, highlighted in his speech at the award ceremony. He emphasized that thanks to the stable support of the Erasmus+ program, it has been possible to build a partnership that today belongs to the most vibrant forms of international cooperation at the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo.
