Practice Explorer

Use the form below to search for the best practices that will help you achieve the selected goals, address problems of the different target groups in different categories.

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There are 65 found practices.
To read more about the the practices in this table, click on Description tab above. To review the personnel efforts, time and cost for implementation of the found practices, click on Implementation tab above. To find out all details of the selected practice, click on its title.
Title Category Target group
Labour market information for spouses Social Integration & Daily Life Family Matters Profesional & Academic Development Internationals spouses/family members
Academic mentoring programme for international PhD students Profesional & Academic Development PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers
Academic skills training for international PhD students/researchers/academics Profesional & Academic Development PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers
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)
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
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)
Career planning skills trainings/labour market preparation for PhDs/academics Profesional & Academic Development Networking Institutional strategy PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers)
Career promotion criteria published in English Profesional & Academic Development 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
Central IT mobility system/database Administrative & Legal Support PhD student/Early career researcher Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers) Administrative staff
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)
Checklists for internal support processes Administrative & Legal Support Institutional Processes Administrative staff
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)
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)
Collaboration with alumni Profesional & Academic Development Networking Promotion & Visibility PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers)
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
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
Comprehensive welcome well-structured webpage in English Institutional Processes Promotion & Visibility PhD student/Early career researcher R2 - R4 researchers Lecturers (incl. Language Teachers)
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)
There are 65 found practices.
To review the personnel efforts, time and cost for implementation of the found practices, click on Implementation tab above. To find out all details of the selected practice, click on its title.
Title Description
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.

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.

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.

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.   

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. 

 

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. 

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.

Career planning skills trainings/labour market preparation for PhDs/academics

One of the reasons why career planning skills trainings are being held is to encourage proactive career planning by equipping participants with the skills, resources and self-assessment information necessary to make informed career choices both inside and beyond academia. Organizing career planning skills trainings and labour market preparation trainings focus on professional career of PhDs and academics who are often uncertain in terms of decision-making for their next future career life. Therefore, the training possibilities for PhDs and academics can help, maintain and improve job skills, professional level of employees and prepare them for possible promotion.

By organising these events the HE institutions can benefit in terms of the overall job satisfaction level of their PhDs and academics.

 

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.

 

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:

  • Understand the specifics of job search in the labour market for researchers
  • Explore career opportunities within and beyond academia
  • Navigate them in terms of decision making of their future job and
  • Develop their skills to match the requirements of potential employers.

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:

  • Increase the attractiveness of your institution for international talents as they see that the support for their next step will be available to them
  • Retain international researchers (and your potential collaborators) in your region
  • Develop collaboration with local employers who gain an access to wider pool of highly skilled candidates.

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.

Central IT mobility system/database

IT mobility system/database is an important segment in organizing information regarding mobility. Each institution should develop its own database, and, if needs be, offer information from it to the other institutions. 

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/otherderegistration 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.

 

 

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.

  • This checklist can improve the understanding of the most common service delivery paths across the whole organisation.
  • It can be designed for several users' scenarios, facilitating service delivery description and visualisation.
  • It can improve understanding of the services provided by every department and the organisational capacity to support researchers' needs.
  • It can facilitate the training of the newly appointed staff. 
  • The checklist can improve service delivery, easily orientating visitors about specific service paths across different departments.
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.

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.

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.

 

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.

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.

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. 

 

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:

  • Avoid miscommunication;
  • Ensure good athmosphere at work;
  • Achieve better scientific results and
  • Retain attracted foreign students and researchers,

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.

There are 65 found practices.
To read more about the the practices in this table, click on Description tab above. To find out all details of the selected practice, click on its title.
Title Importance Scale of change Setup cost Setup time Setup personnel Delivery cost Delivery time Delivery personnel
Labour market information for spouses Nice to have
Academic mentoring programme for international PhD students Important to have
Academic skills training for international PhD students/researchers/academics Important to have
Bilingual campus signs (English and local language) Important to have
Bilingual information systems (English and local language) Essential to have
Bilingual institutional administration processes Important to have
Bilingual internal documents/forms (English and local language) Essential to have
Career planning skills trainings/labour market preparation for PhDs/academics Important to have
Career promotion criteria published in English Important to have
Career support for international PhDs and junior academics Important to have
Central IT mobility system/database Important to have
Checklist for international PhD students/hired academics/academics on mobility - On DEPARTURE from a host county/institution Essential to have
Checklists for internal support processes Essential to have
Checklists/How to do lists for international PhD students/hired academics/academics on mobility - AFTER Arrival Essential to have
Checklists/How to do lists for international PhD students/hired academics/academics on mobility - PRE Arrival Essential to have
Collaboration with alumni Important to have
Collaboration with external partners and customised assistance in offering accommodation Important to have
Collaborations facilitating social integration (e.g. administrative procedures, accommodation, language, family issues, socialising) Important to have
Comprehensive welcome well-structured webpage in English Essential to have
Cultural orientation courses for international PhD students/academics/spouses Important to have

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