Title | Category | Target group |
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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 |
Networking events for PhD students and academics | Social Integration & Daily Life Profesional & Academic Development Networking | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Mobility data collection and management | Administrative & Legal Support Institutional Processes Institutional strategy | Administrative staff Management 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 |
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) |
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 information systems (English and local language) | Language Support, Language Policy Institutional Processes | 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) |
Checklists/How to do lists for international PhD students/hired academics/academics on mobility - AFTER Arrival | Social Integration & Daily Life Language Support, Language Policy Family Matters Administrative & Legal Support Accommodation Social security, Health Insurance, Taxation Institutional Processes Visa, Residence & Work Permit | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Checklist for international PhD students/hired academics/academics on mobility - On DEPARTURE from a host county/institution | Family Matters Profesional & Academic Development Networking Administrative & Legal Support Social security, Health Insurance, Taxation Visa, Residence & Work Permit | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Information on recognition of education for international PhDs/staff/family members | Family Matters Profesional & Academic Development Administrative & Legal Support | PhD student/Early career researcher Internationals spouses/family members |
Customised assistance: funding offers, application preparation | Profesional & Academic Development | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Newsletter for international PhDs/academic staff about university life | Social Integration & Daily Life Family Matters Networking Safety, Healthcare & Wellbeing Institutional Processes Promotion & Visibility | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Title | Description |
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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.
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Networking events for PhD students and academics |
Networking events, be it live or virtual, could help connect PhDs and academics with similar interests, and they could also help them discover different ways of approaching certain aspects of academia life. They could be organized in the form of conferences, seminars, lab meetings, various social events as well as online social networks, where social media profiles of academics can be used for a rather useful purpose. Such events bring people from different fields of academia together, creating opportunities for them to hear about other people's research, and also allowing them to discover different institutions they could visit in order to gain new knowledge.
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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.
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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. |
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.
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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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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 information systems (English and local language) |
Information Systems (IS) are an extremely important aspect of any properly organized institution, academic institutions in particular. As its components collect, store, organize, and distribute data throughout the organization, it could be said that in order to get acquainted with an institution, one has to have access to its information system. However, most academic institutions possess information systems in their country's official language. Due to that fact, international PhD students, academic, and management staff members may find it difficult to understand the data.
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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. |
Checklists/How to do lists for international PhD students/hired academics/academics on mobility - AFTER Arrival |
The well-structured checklist should help international PhD students, researchers and other academics efficiently navigate through the administrative duties and procedures right after arrival in a host country /institution. It may include a roadmap of the necessary steps. It should be precise, efficient, easy to use, and straight to the point. |
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.
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Information on recognition of education for international PhDs/staff/family members |
The practice includes collecting relevant information and providing it to international researchers and PhDs in a structured and user-friendly way. It is important to envisage a regular update of the information in case of changes in the legal framework, national or organisational specifics regarding recognition of diplomas, study periods, educational outcomes, etc. This practice will save the support staff effort and time when providing information and support in view of the above. |
Customised assistance: funding offers, application preparation |
Customised assistance ranges from providing an overview of available funding opportunities from various sources to tips for writing an application and pre-screening of application as well as assisting in finding a project team or inter-institutional project team. Individualised support will also facilitate the professional development of the academic staff and will improve communication and cooperation between the HEI’s support staff and the international academics and PhDs. Increased academic activity will influence positively the HEI’s visibility and may increase enrolment and retention of academic staff. This service requires well-trained support staff in the area of academic development, funding opportunities and procedures, and project drafting. However, writing an application is not a simple matter. It requires knowledge of the methods and techniques of creating applications. An indispensable part of the application preparation is a thorough reading of the funding scheme documentation, e.g.call for proposals with attachments. programme thematic priorities, guidelines for applicants and project beneficiaries, funding principles, etc.. These documents describe all major information, including who can apply for a grant (i.e. eligible applicants), what grant can be obtained (grant size and total call budget), the procedure and deadline for application (when and where to submit an application), what the project evaluation criteria are, how will they be assessed, what costs are eligible, or it is possible to find the content of the future contract along with the terms of the project implementation. Before completing the application, each applicant should also check whether the instructions for its preparation have been provided. The task of the support staff is to provide support and assistance to the applicant in the process of preparing and submitting the application. |
Newsletter for international PhDs/academic staff about university life |
A regular newsletter can be a nice-to-have instrument for sharing knowledge and improving the visibility of research activities and supporting services, organised at your institution. This newsletter can be a very useful tool especially for doctoral/post-doctoral students and the junior/project engaged research staff, appointed for specific research tasks. The newsletter can also be used to inform the local community and partner institutions about the activities at your university, strenghtening industry-academia links and opportunities for collaboration. Benefits of initiating a regular Research newsletter:
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