Title | Category | Target group |
---|---|---|
Induction trainíng program for new support staff | Institutional Processes Capacity Building of Support & Management Staff | Administrative staff |
Checklists for internal support processes | Administrative & Legal Support Institutional Processes | Administrative staff |
Collaborations facilitating social integration (e.g. administrative procedures, accommodation, language, family issues, socialising) | Social Integration & Daily Life Family Matters Networking Language Support, Language Policy Accommodation Safety, Healthcare & Wellbeing Administrative & Legal Support Social security, Health Insurance, Taxation Institutional Processes Promotion & Visibility Visa, Residence & Work Permit Profesional & Academic Development Institutional strategy | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Internationals spouses/family members |
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 |
Workshop on career planning for international PhD students | Profesional & Academic Development | PhD student/Early career researcher |
Title | Description |
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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. |
Checklists for internal support processes |
The goal of preparing a check-lists of internal support processes is to collect and describe information in a user-centered manner.
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Collaborations facilitating social integration (e.g. administrative procedures, accommodation, language, family issues, socialising) |
Social integration, in a narrow sense, may refer mainly to socio-cultural integration enabling the creation of personal connections/networking of international PhD students/researchers/academics, and their family members with their local and other international doctoral and academic fellows. In a broader context, it covers also other integration activities like finding a proper place for living, opportunities for career development, language learning, smooth access to the labour market and education to family members, access to health care, etc. However, also handling all the administrative issues related to relocation (residence permits, health/social insurance, tax, vehicle registration, pets, etc.) in smooth, clear procedures helps a lot for better navigation in the new setting. Being comfortable with the local environment may be substantial to the overall PhD/academics' performance. Often international welcome centres or one-stop shops established by local/regional/national authorities or associations of several HEIs/research organisations in the city can take over many of the mentioned responsibilities, provide services in a structured manner for a critical mass of clients, promote the city/region efficiently, organise various events about life in the country/city, provide labour-market orientation and dual-career counseling services, offer domestic language courses, etc. Here we focus on listing possible partners for collaborations to provide more advanced and higher quality services and a broader portfolio of them. Practical steps on how to establish them are also briefly drafted. Although establishing collaborations with numerous external partners might seem a laborious effort, such synergies might bring fruit in clearer/more detailed guidelines, databases, shared responsibilities, better information flow, and even saved human/financial resources. |
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. |
Workshop on career planning for international PhD students |
Short interactive workshop to familiarise PhD researchers with basic career planning methods and tools and introduce them into the job search strategies and tools for researchers (in both local and international labour market). By the end of the workshop participants should:
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