Title | Category | Target group |
---|---|---|
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) |
FAQs collection for support staff to share cases internally | Institutional Processes Capacity Building of Support & Management Staff | Administrative staff Management staff |
Specialised blogs and podcasts | Social Integration & Daily Life Networking Promotion & Visibility | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Internationals spouses/family members |
Collaboration with external partners and customised assistance in offering accommodation | Social Integration & Daily Life Family Matters Accommodation | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Internationals spouses/family members |
Volunteering programme for spouses/international partners | Social Integration & Daily Life Family Matters | Internationals spouses/family members |
Promotion via social media in English | Networking Promotion & Visibility | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Administrative staff |
Promotion of talent recruitment schemes at international fairs | Promotion & Visibility | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Administrative staff Management staff |
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: visa and residence permit | Visa, Residence & Work Permit | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Customised assistance: work related issues (employment, health insurance and social security, taxation, institutional duties) | Profesional & Academic Development Safety, Healthcare & Wellbeing Social security, Health Insurance, Taxation Institutional Processes | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Internationals spouses/family members |
Customised assistance: social integration and daily life issues (accommodation, health care providers, childcare, etc.) | Social Integration & Daily Life Language Support, Language Policy Family Matters Accommodation Safety, Healthcare & Wellbeing | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Internationals spouses/family members |
Welcome event for new international PhDs/academics | Social Integration & Daily Life Profesional & Academic Development Networking Promotion & Visibility | 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) |
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 Language Support, Language Policy Family Matters Profesional & Academic Development Networking Administrative & Legal Support Accommodation Safety, Healthcare & Wellbeing Social security, Health Insurance, Taxation Institutional Processes Promotion & Visibility Visa, Residence & Work Permit Institutional strategy | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Internationals spouses/family members |
Promotion via collaboration with professional networks (e.g. EURAXESS World Wide, consulates, alumni network) | Promotion & Visibility | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Management staff |
Open positions promoted publicly in English via well established international platforms (e.g. for free EURAXESS Jobs) | Promotion & Visibility | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Workshop on career planning for international PhD students | Profesional & Academic Development | PhD student/Early career researcher |
Cultural orientation courses for international PhD students/academics/spouses | Social Integration & Daily Life Family Matters | PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) |
Soft skills trainings for support staff | Institutional Processes Capacity Building of Support & Management Staff | Administrative staff Management staff |
Title | Description |
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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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FAQs collection for support staff to share cases internally |
The FAQs platform is a practical tool for storage of practical information and good practices for processing the agenda of incoming PhD students and academics. It´s a database of standardized responses/solutions to recurring questions helping thus the support staff members efficiently navigate through administrative processes/issues they typically encounter. It is particularly useful for newcomer support staff as well as for situations occurring just sporadically. It could be part of an internal knowledge-sharing platform or any other type of intranet. |
Specialised blogs and podcasts |
Both the specialised blogs and podcasts are a very effective and efficient way how to better connect with the current and potential target audience of international PhD students, academics, and researchers providing an insight into host HEI's institutional life and culture and welcoming environment. Those media allow you not only to keep the members/followers up-to-date with the latest events, but also promote vital topics and new initiatives, inspiring stories, and express opinions. Both activities should bring less formal but still valuable and entertaining content which should be complementary to the content published on the host HEI institutional website and social media. Both activities help encourage their followers/readers/listeners to become host HEI's ambassadors and raise its visibility and global presence. The great benefit of podcast listening opportunities is their mobile nature. Podcast audio content gives listeners the ability to dive into topics without having to set aside time to read or watch a video (e.g.during commuting, jogging, cycling, cooking, etc.). |
Collaboration with external partners and customised assistance in offering accommodation |
Accommodation is the second most important aspect of the successful impelemtation of international academic mobility, right after getting a job/fellowships/scholarship. The requirements for accommodation may vary according to cultural customs, financial possibilities of academic, family conditions (single or with a partner, or children), relationship to ecology (type of transport), health status (need for lift, etc.) In any case, the apartment should have basic equipment: furniture, basic electrical appliances. In the case of international academic and international PhD. student, it is usually a lease for a certain period of time. It is necessary to take into consideration the possibility that some young academics or students may be interested in living together (larger flats), some prefer single living (smaller flats). It is welcome if the institution can offer accommodation in its own accommodation facility, which usually represents a separate room with basic facilities and accessories and a shared kitchen / study room. In case the own HEI lodging facilities are limited, it is desirable to reach out to external partners for ensuring extra rooms, flats. The practice idenifies practical activities, where a HEI can be a mediator between the external contractor and the incoming international. |
Volunteering programme for spouses/international partners |
Volunteering is a great way to meet people, become familiar with the community and develop skills to include on a resume. Volunteer opportunities offered to international partners help spouses connect and feel welcome as international students and scholars embark on a new life in another country. Such opportunities foster the level of satisfaction, social integration and wellbeing of international students and staff and their family members.
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Promotion via social media in English |
In the era of technology, it is a great idea to use social media for promotional purposes. Welcoming institutions should set up a page where they can promote the incoming academics and staff members, and do so in English so that other institutions could have access to it. It might significantly contribute to greater visibility and new possibilities for cooperation. |
Promotion of talent recruitment schemes at international fairs |
Using physical and online exhibit marketing can be powerful for higher education institutions to foster their visibility and attract new students and early-stage researchers through the promotion of national and institutional opportunities for study and research. Higher education institutions can use this channel to communicate externally about their institution and possibilities to engage with it, including existing scholarships, grants and other forms of support to collaboration. |
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: visa and residence permit |
Customised assistance provided to international Ph.D. students, academics, and researchers that fits best their specific needs, especially regarding information that may not be readily available on the institution's website or checklist. Immigration issues are the most crucial area of support. This service requires well-trained support staff in this area, with understanding of legal issues, practical procedures and possibly also collaborations and contacts for exact expert information provision. The goal is to provide the highest level and quality of service. Various levels/intensities of service provision might be opted for based on specific needs and available resources.
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Customised assistance: work related issues (employment, health insurance and social security, taxation, institutional duties) |
This service requires well-trained support staff in the area of work-related issues such as employment, health insurance and social security, taxation, and institutional duties with a focus on a specific group of academics – international academic staff. The goal is to provide highest level and quality of the service which might also require in-house legal advice. Safety, healthcare and wellbeing are essential for good functioning and a particular challange facing guests from abroad. It can be safely assumed they would be needing assistance all the way from the simplest general information, through getting through the necessary paperwork, to personal assistance and intervention. |
Customised assistance: social integration and daily life issues (accommodation, health care providers, childcare, etc.) |
Customised assistance regarding social integration and daily life of incoming international PhD students, academics and their families helps to make a better experience of settling-in in a new place, whether it is finding housing, opening a bank account, finding a suitable health care provider (s), securing childcare, building a new social network, learning a foreign language and generally, getting accustomed to a new culture and way of life. It can also include information on local/regional public transportation, host city parking policy, waste collection, registering a car, bringing in a pet, etc. Various levels/intensities of service provision might be opted for based on specific needs and available resources. The service might also be helped to deliver by a trained buddy/guide.
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Welcome event for new international PhDs/academics |
This is an opportunity to welcome the international PhD students, academics and researchers, distribute information and meet hosting HEI’s staff in person. It can also be a way to promote HEI research and didactic work among international PhD students and academics. HEI’s external partners can enrich the sessions with their presentations and other events as a way of popularising their work. Social events accompanying the welcome event are an important way of establishing social and professional networks.
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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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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. |
Promotion via collaboration with professional networks (e.g. EURAXESS World Wide, consulates, alumni network) |
Using professional networks could significantly facilitate promoting the host institution HEI as a study and academic/research destination, promoting its strength areas and funding opportunities, and fostering its global presence. This could substantially lead to attracting more of international talent.
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Open positions promoted publicly in English via well established international platforms (e.g. for free EURAXESS Jobs) |
EURAXESS portal is the unique, single point of access to content and online tools, related to relocation of researchers and their families and career development. It hosts an online marketplace of CVs, jobs, funding, and hosting ads, connecting PhD students, academics, and researchers with their employers. It is one of the top science job platforms in Europe - with over a million visits per month, 80000 job ads published annualy, 65000+ registered organizations, and 18000+ researchers. In this video you will find out all you need to know about registering on the EURAXESS portal and start posting your first job vacancies. Publishing job ads on the EURAXESS portal is FREE. It helps HEIs and R&D organizations get unprecedented visibility and reach at no cost, and thus facilitate access to the best talents for the newly open positions. The ads, submitted by the organisations awarded with HR Excellence in Research logo will be flagged with the logo to highlight the highest standards in HR practices in that organisation. |
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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Cultural orientation courses for international PhD students/academics/spouses |
Short course/series of courses on local cultural specifics. These include both specifics of everyday life and of organisational culture. The trainees will be able to deal better in everyday communication and to act more efficiently as a member of your ourganisation. Their spouses will find it easier to adapt to local cultural specifics.. Intercultural differences, sometime invisible, may destroy any team. The best way to:
Is to integrate them as much as possible into the local and organisational culture. The easiest and most effective way is to offer a series of short (preferrably 1-hour-long) courses on different themes from your local and your organisational culture. It is even more efficient if each of them is combined with a relevant informal event involving local researchers or visiting an external event, museum or exhibition. This way the international PhD students/academics and their spouses will be able to combine theory and practice, which in turn will facilitate their integration in the local/organisational culture providing them with opportunities to further socialise and with (hopefully) nice memories. |
Soft skills trainings for 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 satisfaction levels of international PhD students and academic staff. As a result, the atmosphere in both administrative and academic teams becomes much better since a lot of conflicts and misunderstandings would be avoided and communication will run more smoothly. The most important thing for this practice is that to achieve sustainable results such courses need to be offered on a regular basis. |