Service Portfolio

1. Strategic Internationalisation: Comprehensive institutional advice and support

With its audits, the project HRK-EXPERTISE Internationalisation supports German universities to develop or amend their institutional internationalisation strategy. It provides advice in expanding from basic motives to specific goals and in developing individual tools to reach their goals. The audit is an independent and systematic analysis of internationalisation processes and gives specific recommendations in four dimensions of activity (Planning & Steering, Study & Teaching, Research & Technology Transfer, and Advice & Support).

The Audit’s main focus lies on assessing and analysing the university’s internationality (i.e. its current situation and the status quo of its internationalisation measures) and developing recommendations for the development of the amendment of an institutional internationalisation strategy on this basis. Small universities have the possibility to participate in the Audit compact or the Audit strategy workshop. Those instruments are condensed versions of the Audit, tailored to the needs and resources of smaller universities. 

The Re-Audit supports universities which have already completed the Audit process in their transition from developing their strategy to actively implementing their internationalisation goals. The main aims of the Re-Audit are to devise a medium-term implementation plan, to monitor the implementation process, and to provide a final assessment of its success.

More information about the Audit "Internationalisation of Universities" can be found here.

2. Sustainable Anchoring and Consolidation of Internationalisation within the institution: process development and consolidated discussion of a topic

With four different instruments (topic workshop, process workshop, round table, peer-to-peer) the project HRK-EXPERTISE Internationalisation target the implementation of internationalisation strategies and measures. They offer needs-oriented advice and assistance to German higher education institutions in exploring a specific topic in depth or in analysing and improving processes and procedures regarding various aspects of internationalisation. With their specialized knowledge and experience, national and international experts purposefully support the institutional advisory service.

In a thematic workshop, individual internationalisation topics are analysed and deepened while a process workshop focuses on the analysis and improvement of processes of internationalisation. The instrument round table offers the possibility to discuss activities and solutions to questions of internationalisation which are regionally relevant with other local actors. Higher education institutions' staff participating in the format peer-to-Peer benefit from a systematic exchange on a special topic with a peer group.

3. Dissemination: Provision of expertise for a quality-oriented internationalisation of the German higher education system

In addition to the practice-oriented support to German higher education institutions, the project HRK-EXPERTISE Internationalisation pools and documents the knowledge and findings acquired in the course of the implementation of the various instruments. Identified strengths and weaknesses of the German higher education system and determined needs for action are communicated to the professional public and relevant stakeholders. Both networking conferences and symposia as well as publications and manuals make the compiled know-how available and usable to all German higher education institutions.