Title | Category | Target group |
---|---|---|
Welcome package for international PhDs/scholars | Social Integration & Daily Life Language Support, Language Policy Family Matters Profesional & Academic Development Networking Social security, Health Insurance, Taxation | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Soft skills trainings for PhDs/academics | Social Integration & Daily Life Profesional & Academic Development Networking | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
International scholar safety guide | Safety, Healthcare & Wellbeing | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Networking institutional events for support staff | Capacity Building of Support & Management Staff | Administrative staff |
Networking events for family members | Social Integration & Daily Life Family Matters Networking Promotion & Visibility | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Internationals spouses/family members |
Mobility data collection and management | Administrative & Legal Support Institutional Processes Institutional strategy | Administrative staff Management staff |
Mentoring scheme for support staff | Capacity Building of Support & Management Staff | Administrative staff |
Local language courses for international PhDs and academics | Social Integration & Daily Life Language Support, Language Policy Family Matters Profesional & Academic Development Networking | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Internationals spouses/family members |
Dictionary/glossary of common phrases used in academic and institutional life | Social Integration & Daily Life Language Support, Language Policy | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Free legal advice for international PhDs/academics | Administrative & Legal Support | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers |
FAQs for international PhDs/academics/family members | Social Integration & Daily Life Language Support, Language Policy Family Matters Administrative & Legal Support Accommodation Safety, Healthcare & Wellbeing Social security, Health Insurance, Taxation Visa, Residence & Work Permit | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Internationals spouses/family members |
Collaboration with alumni | Profesional & Academic Development Networking Promotion & Visibility | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Mental health support for international PhD students and staff | Social Integration & Daily Life Safety, Healthcare & Wellbeing | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Administrative staff |
Bilingual internal documents/forms (English and local language) | Language Support, Language Policy Administrative & Legal Support Visa, Residence & Work Permit | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Bilingual campus signs (English and local language) | Social Integration & Daily Life Safety, Healthcare & Wellbeing Promotion & Visibility | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Comprehensive welcome well-structured webpage in English | Institutional Processes Promotion & Visibility | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Bilingual institutional administration processes | Social Integration & Daily Life Language Support, Language Policy Administrative & Legal Support Institutional Processes | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Administrative staff Management staff |
Glossary of common phrases used in welcome processes for support staff | Social Integration & Daily Life Language Support, Language Policy Profesional & Academic Development Networking Administrative & Legal Support Institutional Processes | Administrative staff |
Welcome buddies/guides for international PhD students and academics | Social Integration & Daily Life Family Matters Networking | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Checklists/How to do lists for international PhD students/hired academics/academics on mobility - PRE Arrival | Social Integration & Daily Life Language Support, Language Policy Family Matters Administrative & Legal Support Accommodation Safety, Healthcare & Wellbeing Social security, Health Insurance, Taxation Visa, Residence & Work Permit | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Title | Description |
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Welcome package for international PhDs/scholars |
Well-designed, clearly structured and regularly updated bilingual PDF document that serves for orientation and support of international PhD students and staff. It is also useful to have the Welcome Pack downloadable from the website which international PhDs/visiting scholars use to get informed about their stay and activities at your university. The package should contain:
By providing such a pack the institution ensures that the incoming researcher/PhD student will be able to:
|
Soft skills trainings for PhDs/academics |
The main benefit of this practice is that such training improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the international PhD students and academic staff and increases their satisfaction and social integration. Soft skills are at the core of making any mobility programme successful. Soft skills related to intercultural communication can facilitate researchers' and PhDs' adaptation and social integration. Researchers and PhDs need to receive regular training in the full range of soft skills to perform best in their jobs/academic and research tasks. As a result of that training, it is expected that the atmosphere in the academic teams will improve substantially since a lot of conflicts and misunderstandings will be avoided and communication will run more smoothly. The most important thing for this practice is that to have sustainable results such courses need to be offered on a regular basis.
|
International scholar safety guide |
The higher education institution is responsible for ensuring personal safety and security of its employees and students including international ones. International academics might not be familiar with the surroundings and lack awareness of local risks (e.g. related to accomodation, streets at night, use of transport, health safety risks). The objective of the international scholar safety support/guide is to provide concise English-language information about off-campus and on-campus risks and guidelines on how to act in specific situations and where to seek help.
|
Networking institutional events for support staff |
The main aim of institutional events for support staff is to strengthen the professional knowledge of support staff through different types of meetings/events but also optimize information flows and procedures. Via these events, they can share experience and ideas, develop and share contacts within and outside of the organisation and improve internal processes. External experts/partners can be invited to such events or they can be organised jointly with them to expand and deepen collaborations for the sake of a smoother incoming researcher and academic staff mobility. The practice could eventually prepare the ground or even lead towards a broader scope of further professional development activities for support staff, including various focused trainings. |
Networking events for family members |
The networking events for family members can contribute to both the researchers' and their families' better integration in the host country. Regular meet-ups can improve opportunities for networking, making in-person contacts, sharing knowledge, asking questions, and for receiving advice about the local environment. In addition, regular meetings can strengthen the local community, also involving local players - HEI management, research, administrative staff, and local stakeholders among others.
|
Mobility data collection and management |
Collecting and managing data about mobility could significantly affect the quality of the institutional process related to assisting mobile researchers and internationalization in general. It produces a body of evidence for strategic decision-making, facilitates smooth and effective communication with mobile researchers, provides a framework for a flow of activities related to assistance, and improves the efficiency and productivity of the service center.
|
Mentoring scheme for support staff |
The aim of this activity is to pair employees involved in providing services to international academics in a mentoring relationship to foster professional development and career growth while building an inclusive culture and diverse networks.
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Local language courses for international PhDs and academics |
This is a key service for effective social integration of international PhD students, academics, and researchers, especially in everyday life outside the academic context. It is an advantage if the hosting HEI can provide the service within its own resources (by Language Department/ Language Centre) with experts trained in teaching the national language as a foreign language. Moreover, the language department could also offer other foreign language courses. If the hosting HEI does not have sufficient capacity, partnerships with other HEIs in the city could be formed or HEI should create a database of language schools in the city/region. The starting point could be the existing practice of providing language courses for incoming Erasmus+ students. A complementary option is to explore whether there are any already existing e-learning national language courses and offer them to internationals as an opportunity to get acquainted with the basics of the language even before their arrival in the host country. |
Dictionary/glossary of common phrases used in academic and institutional life |
This could be a combination of a dictionary and glossary of the most common phrases and their definitions in English used in the academic and institutional life of the host institution/country. Special attention should be paid to country/region specific terms that have no actual parallel outside the host country/region, for instance, academic ranks and their hierarchy in the region of Central and South-Eastern Europe. It could be also extended by terms related to the administrative duties that need to be done shortly before or fight after arrival to or upon departure from the host country/institution. Such a tool would be of immense help to both international as well as local PhDs and academics struggling with proper vocabulary when talking to their colleagues. |
Free legal advice for international PhDs/academics |
International students and researchers often face a broad variety of legal issues during their stay in a host country. Professional legal advice can be rather costly and therefore not accessible to all scholars, particularly for early stage ones. Free legal advice offered to international scholars can help resolve and prevent difficult situations that could require more time and resources, compormise their security or cause reputational damage to the institution.
|
FAQs for international PhDs/academics/family members |
The FAQ section/page with well-structured quality content organized by relevant topics/categories and easy to navigate is a useful way to organize valuable information that incoming academics often ask. The FAQ page offers a lot of benefits, including:
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Collaboration with alumni |
Database of PhD students/academics and a structured programme how to engage alumni in the academic and public life of the HEI. Various forms of collaboration engaging alumni are possible e.g.: information sharing/distribution, organising events, alumni as academic and cultural ambassadors, alumni as academic and intercultural mentors Active alumni networks of international PhDs and academics play an important role in strengthening the HEI reputation at the international level. Their knowledge and working and life experience represent a valuable resource from which potential/future Ph.D. students and visiting academics can greatly benefit. Active alumni are valuable assets for the HEI, their experience of living in a host country and the knowledge of how they incorporated their study or research/academic activity at the particular HEI into their further professional career can help the HEI optimize their study/research programmes, academic or research conditions, and external cooperations. Alumni can help in achieving higher visibility of the HEI nationally and internationally, they can create bridges among different cultures and reach out to broader academic and public audience. On the other hand, the alumni can benefit from a variety of professionals and workplaces and continue their lifelong learning and develop rewarding collaborations.
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Mental health support for international PhD students and staff |
The aim of this service is to provide mental health and wellbeing support to all interested international PhD students and members of staff in order to ensure they feel psychologically safe and to enable them to focus more effectively on their professional/academic goals. |
Bilingual internal documents/forms (English and local language) |
Considering the fact that English is not the native language in countries, many international PhD students and academic staff members face problems when it comes to filling in the forms necessary for the application process or collecting documents that would confirm their mobility/study/research abroad. Therefore, it would be extremely important (and favorable for both parties involved) to create forms in both the national language of the receiving institution's country as well as in English. The aim of this practice is to produce bilingual documents that can be filled in without seeking assistance or causing confusion. |
Bilingual campus signs (English and local language) |
The use of bilingual signage at key university areas creates an internationally welcoming environment by facilitating orientation and access to main university sites and helping international students and staff navigate the campus. |
Comprehensive welcome well-structured webpage in English |
The institutional welcome website is usually the first source of information about the HEI, typically containing information on the most important aspects related to smooth preparation and actual onboarding. It is important that the information is structured in a way that reflects the logic of end-users perspective. The webpage should be easy to navigate and high-quality SEOs should be used. The information on the website has to be regularly updated including the FAQ section which typically draws the highest traffic.
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Bilingual institutional administration processes |
Bilingual or multilingual policies and practices enhance the international dimension of a higher education institution. They foster the inclusion of international students and staff in the academic and social life of a university by improving communication on key issues. |
Glossary of common phrases used in welcome processes for support staff |
Preparing and circulating a Glossary of common phrases used in welcome processes for support staff and its regular update will raise support staff's awareness of the institutional processes related to welcoming incoming researchers, academics, and PhDs. It is also likely to increase the level of their confidence in dealing smoothly with the most typical needs and expectations of incoming researchers, academics, and PhD students as well as following the institutional rules at the same time. This practice is best implemented in collaboration with the HEI management structures, the institutional legal matters office and language specialists. It is also a good idea to consider having the Glossary multilingual rather than maintaining it in English only. |
Welcome buddies/guides for international PhD students and academics |
This is a form of personal assistance that helps international PhD students and academics with the adaptation process in the new environment handling not only practical issues but also help them with social and cultural integration. While the basic services such as airport/train transport assistance or arrival to the hosting university/faculty can be provided by local undergraduate students (Erasmus+ buddies), international PhD students and academics, especially in terms of social and cultural integration, need a more sophisticated approach and the commitment of his/her new colleagues. |
Checklists/How to do lists for international PhD students/hired academics/academics on mobility - PRE Arrival |
Well-structured checklist covering the necessary steps to undertake to prepare for arrival efficiently. It can help improve the efficiency of preparing for the arrival in a host country/institution by minimizing mistakes. It should be precise, efficient, easy to use, and straight to the point. It may include a roadmap of the necessary steps. |