University internationalisation

Before I joined the University of York in 2008, I worked for the Technische Universitaet Darmstadt in Germany. Just like in my current position, that job involved research, teaching and academic administration. My main academic administration task was to support the creation of an international master programme, which I then coordinated for seven years (from 2001 to 2008). It was one of the first international master programmes in Germany, and the first at TU Darmstadt. It was taught mostly in English, aiming to make it easier for international students to obtain a degree in Germany. It was a lot of work, since I had to oversee all aspects related to the programme: admission process, student support, curriculum management, accreditation, marketing, website, among other tasks. I have learned a lot in the process, and had the chance to attend several events to share my experiences with other academics playing similar roles in other German universities. It also made it easier for me to play similar roles here in York (where I have already coordinated three master programmes, and I am currently coordinating one of our PhD programmes).

Last year, I was invited to be a guest speaker in the celebration of the 20th anniversary of that study programme. Due to covid travel restrictions, the event was postponed to July 2022, and it was a success (even though the programme was almost 21 years old by then!) Among the guest speakers, Prof. Manfred Glesner (the main force behind the creation of the programme, and one of my PhD supervisors) and three former graduates. Manfred spoke about the history of the programme, and how it contributed to change the university landscape in Germany, which now attracts a much larger number of international students. The former graduates talked about the different ways that the programme kickstarted their professional lives, giving them a multidisciplinary foundation in the areas of microelectronics, communications and computer engineering. It was very rewarding to see the impact of the work we did all those years ago, and to see that even though I left TU Darmstadt in 2008 some of my contributions to that institution are still bearing fruit.

For my talk, I decided to focus on the goals and challenges of university internationalisation, and I highlighted that all success stories I am aware of required a careful inter-play between grassroots and institutional drives: motivated individuals willing to invest time into building international initiatives (degree programmes, summer schools, university networks, etc.), and flexible university structures willing to support those individuals' visions and ambitions. I also remarked that university internationalisation is a microcosm of world politics, so it is directly influenced by events around the world but it can also influence the way we understand and react to those events, and therefore discussing and putting internationalisation in practice is perhaps the best way for academics to express their world views.

Below, a few pictures from the event (photo credit: etit TU Darmstadt).