Supporting universities in the further development of their internationalisation is the goal of the new project "HRK ADVANCE - Optimising Governance and Processes of Internationalisation." After initial preparatory work, the official kick-off will take place at a digital launch event on 8 December.
The project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) until the end of 2024 and has been set up at the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), is centred around concrete organisational and legal issues at institutional and system level. German universities are the main target group. However, the project is also directed at key political actors at federal and state levels.
"We are pleased that the HRK ADVANCE project will enable us to make an important contribution to the optimisation and quality-driven further development of the internationalisation of German universities in key areas," said HRK President Prof Dr Peter-André Alt. "Securing the future and maintaining the global competitiveness of German universities require a continuous recalibration of internationalisation processes."
HRK ADVANCE is centred around key topics including legally secure governance of the internationalisation of research and teaching as well as ensuring suitable framework conditions for international cooperation. As part of the project, expert legal reports on specific issues will be commissioned and used as a basis for preparing guidelines in expert panels. Examples of good practice will be included in these guidelines, which will subsequently be discussed with interested members of the university public in a series of workshops. The different perspectives of the German university types and function levels will be included in order to initiate further development of internationalisation across the system.
At the digital kick-off event "Future-proof internationalisation! Next Steps for the German Higher Education System" on 8 December 2021 (4:00 to 6:15 p.m.), Prof Dr Hans de Wit (Former Director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College) will give the keynote address. A subsequent panel of university leaders, researchers and administrators will discuss current challenges and future perspectives of internationalisation. Further information and programme: www.hrk.de/advance
