Checklist for international PhD students/hired academics/academics on mobility - On DEPARTURE from a host county/institution

This checklist will help international PhD students and academics efficiently navigate through the administrative duties and procedures before the departure/completion of their stay/position at a host country /institution. It provides a written trail detailing what should be done on departure. It should be precise, efficient, easy to use, and straight to the point covering areas such as (reporting the end of stay at the respective authority office (foreign police office/local registration office/other, deregistration from the system of public health insurance, closing a bank account, termination of electricity provider/utilities/services/phone/internet/TV/garbage, deregistration from university services/ children from day-care, schools, deregistration of car, etc.).

The checklist can have or include a roadmap of necessary steps to be undertaken right before departure from the host country/institution.

Goals

Improved access to information Improved quality of service

Basic information

Practice setup

When creating the checklist for international PhD students, visiting or hired academics, and their family members on the on-departure duties you can consider the following steps:

Phase 1: Designing the checklist

• Define the topics the checklist should cover

(e.g. reporting the end of stay at respective authority office (foreign police office/local registration office/other, deregistrating from the system of public health insurance, closing a bank account, termination of electricity provider/utilities/services/phone/internet/TV/garbage,deregistering from university services/ children from day-care, schools, deregistration of car, etc.).

• Describe the individual steps to be undertaken. The description of individual steps and corresponding instructions should be clear, compact and easy to navigate for the respective target groups.


• Organise suggested steps according their priority


• Take into account that certain duties may differentiate according to target group (international PhD students, academics staying in dormitory vs renting an apartment, academics staying with family, etc.). 


• Indicate clearly the reference target group concerned. You can use different colour background to easily highlight the step (s) applicable only for specific target group.


• Stress out that some of those preparations may take more time, recommend to set aside sufficient time/taimeframes for them.


• Pay attention to the visual layout of the checklist


• You can include 2 checkboxes (applies to you; done) next to each described step to imitate the "to-do list": Those checkboxes can be gradually ticked when each suggested and applicable step/procedure is completed.

Phase 2: Validation

Validate the designed checklist with your colleagues (interna actors), external partners, and several representatives of the respective target groups.

Cost of practice setup
Time required for practice setup
Personnel effort required for practice setup
Actors involved in practice setup	HR Department IRO/welcome centre Study department IT support department
Partners involved in practice setup	EURAXESS centre Real estate agent Immigration office Tax office IOM migration information centre Local school/pre-school facility
Indicators for evaluating progress/quality of practice setup	User procedure and manual designed

Internal Actors:

@IRO/welcome centre: can be responsible for preparing the checklist for international visiting PhD students, academics, and their families on topics such as reporting the end of stay at respective national authority office (foreign police office/municipality/other), closing a bank account, termination of termination of electricity provider/utilities/services/phone/internet/TV/garbage,deregistering from university services/ children from day-care, schools, deregistration of car, etc.).

@Study department in cooperation with IRO/welcome centre can prepare the checklist for full-degree PhD students/visiting PhD students regarding duties related to the end of their study/stay, returning keys, books etc. belonging to the institute and libraries, etc.

@HR department in cooperation with the legal department can prepare the checklist for hired international academics regarding covering employment contract related topics, practical steps regarding deregistrating from the system of public health insurance, taxation related duties, social security coordination duties and forms.

@IT support department: preparation of the access to the institutional systems

External Collaboration

@EURAXESS centre can serve as a peer reviewer of the described steps covering typical EURAXESS topics such as reporting the end of stay at respective authority office (foreign police office/local registration office/other), closing a bank account, termination of electricity provider/utilities/services/phone/internet/TV/garbage,deregistering from university services/ children from day-care, schools, deregistration of car...

@All other partners collaborate in regard to defining, clarifying and updating the information, helping to solve specific situations/cases.

Practice delivery

• Publish the checklist on the institution's website in the visible place.


• Ensure the checklist covers and clearly indicates all target groups concerned.


• The checklist can have a form of an online app with interactive functionalities - checkboxes


• Update the checklist regularly (ideally, once a year or even better - anytime when required by the new circumstances)

Cost of practice delivery
Time required for practice delivery
Personnel effort required for practice delivery
Actors involved in practice delivery	IRO/welcome centre IT support department
Partners involved in practice delivery	EURAXESS centre
Indicators for evaluating progress/quality of practice delivery	Number of researchers affected Number of page visitors

@ EURAXESS centre /if it is not part of the organisation/ could share experience, good/bad practice and provide advice and support in delivery.