Title | Category | Target group |
---|---|---|
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) |
Customised assistance: funding offers, application preparation | Profesional & Academic Development | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Labour market information for spouses | Social Integration & Daily Life Family Matters Profesional & Academic Development | Internationals spouses/family members |
Labour market preparation for spouses | Social Integration & Daily Life Language Support, Language Policy Family Matters Profesional & Academic Development | Internationals spouses/family members |
Academic skills training for international PhD students/researchers/academics | Profesional & Academic Development | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers |
Interdisciplinary summer schools | Profesional & Academic Development Promotion & Visibility | PhD student/Early career researcher |
Career promotion criteria published in English | Profesional & Academic Development | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Induction trainíng program for new support staff | Institutional Processes Capacity Building of Support & Management Staff | Administrative staff |
Knowledge sharing intranet communication platform for support staff | Capacity Building of Support & Management Staff | Administrative staff |
Inter-institutional events/study visits/job shadowing for support staff | Capacity Building of Support & Management Staff | Administrative staff Management staff |
Top management leadership development and induction scheme | Capacity Building of Support & Management Staff | Management staff |
Study/networking visits for top managers | Networking Capacity Building of Support & Management Staff Promotion & Visibility Institutional strategy | Management staff |
Strategic approach to building a welcoming environment and offering quality support services for international academics | Institutional Processes Institutional strategy | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Administrative staff Management staff |
International scientific committee | Profesional & Academic Development | R2 - R4 researchers |
Open, transparent, merit based recruitment policy | Institutional Processes | R2 - R4 researchers |
Institutional fellowships to attract/retain international talent | Profesional & Academic Development | R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Academic mentoring programme for international PhD students | Profesional & Academic Development | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers |
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) |
Career support for international PhDs and junior academics | Profesional & Academic Development | PhD student/Early career researcher |
Title | Description |
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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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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. |
Labour market information for spouses |
Employment is one of the ways to facilitate the integration of foreign academics’ family members. This service will help the target group to acquire basic information about the labour market quickly. As a result, they will maintain continuity in their professional activity and improve their professional portfolio. This may also increase the financial stability and comfort of the researcher's spouses during the mobility. |
Labour market preparation for spouses |
This practice aims to establish additional services and more systematic assistance for better integration of the spouses of international researchers for medium or long-term stay.
An integral part of the preparation of the accompanying spouses for the local labour market are local language courses or foreign language courses, in general as well as voluntary activities that could help expecially at the beginning of stay.
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Academic skills training for international PhD students/researchers/academics |
By offering a wide range of possibilities for helping international research staff (in addition to local staff), including PhD students, develop their professional knowledge and skills higher education institutions enable them to fulfill their potential as researchers, make their stay more meaningful professionally and academically and thus contribute to their professional integration in the institution or the national labour market. |
Interdisciplinary summer schools |
Interdisciplinary summer schools are a rather efficient way of universities and their faculties to introduce international PhD students and academic staff members to the fields of study they could offer. These summer schools could also offer a great opportunity to international PhD students and academic staff members to extend their knowledge on certain topics, introduce them to new ways of teaching certain fields of study as well as to meet new colleagues, and potentially establish connections within academic circles. |
Career promotion criteria published in English |
Allotting a space on the institution's website for the list of career promotion criteria could greatly contribute to foreign researchers seeking a more permanent involvement at the welcoming institution. Career paths should be structured, transparent, and clear for foreign researchers.
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Induction trainíng program for new support staff |
The main benefit of this practice is that this kind of training improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the support staff work. It also increases the levels of satisfaction of the end-users such as researchers in mobility, international PhD students and academic staff. This training should be offered to all newcomer staff. It will enhance the procces of introduction to the newcomers and shorter the time for their integration. As a result the newcomers will be able to engage in the process faster and deliver high-quality service, improving their capacity for the job. |
Knowledge sharing intranet communication platform for support staff |
An effective tool/forum platform to build up the community of experts. The support staff members can contribute their ideas in the knowledge that will be stored-archived in shared online workplace and can be referred back to at any time. Posting issues and receiving responses will create over time a network amongst colleagues that will be actively supporting each other. It could grow to become an FAQ or Wikipedia-style resource platform for support teams involved in internationalization or even for the other HEI departments/units.
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Inter-institutional events/study visits/job shadowing for support staff |
Such events are an efficient way for professionals from different HEIs to share their knowledge, exchange their experience and challenges and build contacts and trust, in other words, a community of experts. Better informed support staff, with well established professional networks, inspired by good practices of other colleagaues can provide more professional and motivated guidance. The events may also include some training part to enhance their competencies (soft skills, intercultural, unbiased communication style), or hands-on activities how to create more internationally friendly institutional environments. The events may include several sessions where support staff participants can collaborate on small tasks and jointly innovate various services (e.g. Orientation week), and suggest new channels of communication, or define practical guidelines. A very effective way of experiential peer learning activity through observation and exchange of knowledge is represented by study visits or job shadowing. They can typically have a cross-border character and lead to further intensification or introduction of new services at the home institution resulting in the high-level provision of assistance to mobile academics and building up professional networks. |
Top management leadership development and induction scheme |
Leadership development schemes vary from induction workshops for newly recruited academic staff to mentoring schemes for doctoral candidates, courses in project management, MBAs, job shadowing, general leadership development programmes to more established programmes in higher education. Prior research revealed that offering leadership development opportunities is closely linked to a wider culture of continuous professional development and to existing national legislative frameworks on work environment (Louisa Bunescu & Thomas Estermann, EUA). The reasons for setting up leadership development and induction schemes can be diverse. First, such professional development opportunities increase the level of preparedness of executive leaders at universities. Institutional induction schemes ensure continuity and a smooth handover of responsibilities. Second, they help acquire specific managerial (e.g. financial, legal, entrepreneurial, intercultural, international) competences while on the job and build confidence. Third, leadership development schemes are also an opportunity for higher education leaders to learn how to better tackle crisis management situations, like the Covid-19 pandemic or influx of refugee students. Training programmes on leadership skills are also offered to emerging leaders in higher education, including doctoral candidates in order to prepare them for the challenging roles that they might take up in the higher education sector (Louisa Bunescu & Thomas Estermann, EUA). |
Study/networking visits for top managers |
Networking and study trips abroad provide an efficient tool to boost the overall visibility of a higher education institution, including various opportunities for study and work it may offer. Participating staff members / managers act as ambassadors of their institutions abroad and also expand their own professional expertise and knowledge through the exposure to other institutions' good practice. Prior research found that informal opportunities for learning sliding into the spaces around formal events were often responsible for unexpected and influential perspective transformations and that these opportunities for learning are often undervalued. It was also proven that international study visits where participants agree their own collective agendas and develop a trusted validating community group are more valuable than transmission models of leadership learning (Andy Cramp, University of Wolverhampton). |
Strategic approach to building a welcoming environment and offering quality support services for international academics |
Building a welcoming environment and improving support services for international students and staff is a high-level goal that needs to be recognized in the institution's strategies and related action plans. Based on such a strategic approach, institutions could reflect on the topic from a broader perspective related to its contribution to the achievement of the other institutional goals and missions. Incorporating this topic in an institutional strategic plan or internationalization strategy reflects the institution's commitment to these goals and, thus, involves an internal discussion on possible ways to achieve them. |
International scientific committee |
Transparency and reliability are one of the key factors of a successful scientific activity. The transparency can be achieved by establishing an international scientific committee responsible for supervision and verification of scientific work. Such committees can be established for the HEI’s projects or units. The committee’s work will improve the HEI’s scientific staff competencies and will be an opportunity for exchange of experiences and knowledge between the engaged institutions. Working with experts from various countries and institutions will be a way to improve communication and cooperation between the engaged institutions and will also increase the HEI’s visibility. The committee members can also be engaged in scientific staff selection and evaluation processes. The experts selection can be based on the HEI’s international partnerships and HEI’s staff personal networks. However, the existence of such committee(s) shall respect the relevant institutional regulations and project funding agreement requirements. Nevertheless, although similar bodies might exist as part of the instututional structures, the practice might provide some inspiration about the mandates it can have. |
Open, transparent, merit based recruitment policy |
Open, Transparent, Merit-based Recruitment (OTM-R) policy is one of the Europan Commission's flagship policies for development of a single European labour market for researchers. OTM-R implies: 1) publication of detailed descriptions of the open positions (including the career development prospects and selection process), on international web-based resources such as EURAXESS portal; 2) transparent and fair selection practices, as well as continuous communication with all candidates about the selection progress and outcomes; 3) taking into account whole range of experiences, skills and traits of the candidates and assessment in both quantitative and qualitative manner. OTM-R includes detailed description of the recruitment process that is inline with the principles of Charter & Code belonging to the Recruitment group. The following recruitment stages are concerned: advertising and application, selection and evaluation, and appointment. Implementing OTM-R policy will help making your institution more attractive place to work with enhanced reputation and image, enabling you to recruit better candidates and to implement equal opportunities.
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Institutional fellowships to attract/retain international talent |
One of the most frequent obstacles is the lack of human resources to participate in different types of research projects in the country. Attracting and retaining highly skilled researchers may help to bring new expertise and skills and also to create and maintain research and business relationships. Promoting international mobility of researchers is for the host institution and inevitable part of maintaining them later in the country which may result in overcoming labour shortages and boosting entrepreneurship in knowledge-based sectors in the host country. |
Academic mentoring programme for international PhD students |
Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be (Eric Pasloe). A dedicated mentoring programme for PhD students allows institutions to encourage students to progress with their thesis, connect PhD candidates with alumni and local peers, support academics in their professional development, and build a vibrant academic community at the institution. International PhD students can particularly benefit from their engagement in an institutional mentoring programme by expanding their professional network in the host country, gaining knowledge about local academic culture and traditions, gain tangible academic/professional experience (e.g. workplace visits, shadowing, interview experience, placements, a graduate job), develop written and verbal communication in the local language. Academic mentoring programmes therefore greatly contribute to the professional and social integration of early-stage international scholars. |
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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Career support for international PhDs and junior academics |
Career development support for PhDs and junior academics is an important part of preparation for future employment. The main aim of career development support is to help PhD students and early career researchers:
If there is career support service for researchers at your institution, make sure that it is also available for international PhD students and researchers and that it takes their specific needs into account. As they probaly have neither knowledge of local labour market nor strong professional network in your country they might benefit from availibilty of career advice a lot. Ensuring accessibility of career advice to international PhD students and researchers might help you to:
Final output: career support services available to international researchers and PhD students. Major activities: Examples of such services might include professional career coaching, individual career counselling, interactive trainings, workshops, online navigation tools etc. |