BEST (Board of European Students of Technology) is a non-profit organisation that since 1989 provides communication, cooperation and exchange possibilities for European students. It is a volunteer operated network of 95 Local and 3 Observer BEST Groups, organising events in their respective universities, covering a total of 34 European countries.
Following the vision "Empowered Diversity" and mission “Developing Students”, BEST helps European students of technology to become more internationally minded, achieving a better understanding of other cultures.
Our key activity is the provision of complementary educational courses, the topics of which pertain to technological topics and to career-related skills. BEST engages students by organising symposia for students, universities and institutions to discuss and evaluate Europe's higher education system, concluding this work with the publication of research papers.
In order to ensure the quality of these events and preparation of its members, BEST has a quality assessment department which requires that the events follow a specific set of regulations, helping ensure the satisfaction of our stakeholders. We also have a Training system with an established recognition process, which helps prepare our members in organising our events and delivering better services to our stakeholders which we identify as STEM academic institutions and their students, and our industry partners who support us in doing our activities.
BEST (Board of European Students of Technology) has a dedicated Educational Involvement Department, through which BEST strives to listen to students' ideas on what can be changed in their universities, study programmes or curricula. BEST is eager to remain in close collaboration with the stakeholders of higher education, to advise them on student's views about different initiatives and to share best practice.
To gather student opinion, BEST organises "Symposia on Education" (BSE). The outcomes of the discussions are gathered in the form of a BSE report and also presented at international conferences on education, in the form of scientific papers. In addition, local BEST Groups have organised Local Events on Education (LEoEs) where students have the opportunity to discuss topics concerning their own university and educational system or other local topics. We strive to stay up-to-date in this field, attending several international conferences per year, getting to know state-of-the-art topics, and by creating networks with relevant higher educational institutions and individuals.