Internationalisation @ home
Acquiring intercultural skills from home
We live in exciting times: rapid advancements in digitalisation combined with an increase in commitments at home means internationalisation does not necessarily have to go hand in hand with spending time abroad. Intercultural skills and training in this area can also be gained ‘at home’. Indeed, it is even advisable to increase your knowledge of other cultures in familiar surroundings before using your new skills in preparation for a potential stay abroad.
Improving language skills
If you would like to brush up on your language skills or even learn a completely new language, FAU is the right place for you. The Language Centre at FAU offers a wide range of language courses, which are open to both students and staff across the University. Further information is available on the Language Centre website. The internal professional development programme for FAU staff (see below for more information) also regularly offers language courses for staff.
All regional adult education centres (Volkshochschulen/Bildungszentren) also offer a wide range of language courses. Specialist institutions such as the Institut Francais in Erlangen offer courses as well. Another highly recommendable institution is the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst – see below for more information), which has several locations across Germany and offers a large number of qualified language courses.
Training at FAU
FAU staff often find themselves in international and intercultural settings. All employees – in research, administration and technology – have regular contact with international clientele. Intercultural skills are particularly important in these situations. A range of professional development opportunities give employees the chance to expand their skills and gain new insights and experiences.
- The internal professional development programme for FAU staff enables staff to learn more about how to act in intercultural contexts. Included in the programme are English language courses for University Administration staff, a targeted training course on giving presentations in English, seminars on intercultural skills, and courses on writing and publishing academic articles in English.
- The Centre for Continuing Education in University-Level Teaching (FBZHL) offers advice and a comprehensive range of courses for all aspects of university-level teaching and teaching in English.
The Bavarian government’s qualification initiative
- On behalf of the Bavarian government, the School of General Administration at the University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration and Legal Affairs in Bavaria offers seminars on customer service, administrative management, and modernisation and reform in administration for staff from all areas of administration. The seminar on intercultural skills and the courses on European integration and law on foreign nationals are of particular interest. It also offers a seminar about the Czech Republic.
- Bayerische Verwaltungsschule also offers subject-specific and general professional development seminars for administrative employees at various locations, such as a seminar on intercultural communication.
Information on applying for seminars offered by both of these institutions and possible funding is available from P7 at University Administration.
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DAAD Akademie
The Internationale DAAD-Akademie (iDA) offers a professional development programme that focuses on topics related to internationalisation at universities in Germany and abroad.
The programme consists of three main areas in which the DAAD has particularly strong expertise:
Seminars on regional skills provide participants with a comprehensive overview of the education system, higher education and research, and other aspects that are relevant for collaboration in selected countries and regions.
Communicating with groups of people from various cultures while taking their specific needs into consideration is a very important interdisciplinary qualification. Training courses in intercultural awareness can help to prevent misunderstandings and build bridges.
Language courses ensure language barriers can be overcome in everyday situations with students and lecturers from other countries.
Seminars about topics relevant to international university marketing. These include workshops on designing websites, print media and other forms of communication, as well as seminars in which participants share knowledge on how to position their universities internationally.
Seminars about digitalisation, basic knowledge about internationalisation, quality management, legal aspects, and much more.
FAU is a member of GATE-Germany. This means that FAU members pay the reduced fee for these seminars. If you are interested in participating in a seminar, you must discuss this with your supervisor at FAU to determine if or which institutional or administrative funds can be used to cover the costs (participation fee, travel and accommodation).
Please be sure to discuss all professional development measures with your supervisor. We cannot guarantee that you will be granted time off to attend these events.