International opportunities abroad – for TA staff
Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology
Travel abroad for work and gain international experience and intercultural competence! Finding it hard to take the first step? On this page and in the Canvas course you will find plenty of support and guidance.
Professional development abroad
There are great opportunities for LU staff to develop their skills and expertise abroad. It is in the interest of both the individual and the organisation for staff to strengthen their intercultural competence. Talk to your immediate manager to see whether staff training mobility abroad is a possibility. Such mobility should be possible within the framework of your position, and you should not have to make up work time when you return home.
Funding for mobility can be provided through the Erasmus programme. You can apply for funding for a study visit, job shadowing or other training (such as a Staff Week) at a university somewhere in Europe. Please note that it does not have to be a university, it could very well be a company, organisation, publisher or any other interesting organisation that you want to visit. The main thing you gain from the mobility is the opportunity to strengthen the skills needed for your position at LU.
Take inspiration from the EU-funded SUCTI project (“Systemic University Change Towards Internationalisation”), which highlights the importance of all categories of staff having, developing and maintaining intercultural competence.
- Concerned about your English skills? You do not have to be. If you would like to prepare for mobility abroad, you can take an English language course for employees (more information in Swedish).
- Are you worried about applying for funding? You do not have to be. You can find a lot of practical information (template letter to send to a foreign colleague, application and insurance information, etc.) in the Canvas course “Planning and applying for a European mobility placement”. The International Office also provides administrative support.
Where can you go?
The Erasmus programme allows university staff to travel to any of the Erasmus+ participating countries, i.e. EU countries, as well as a number of so-called third countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkey). It may be easier to find a contact person and obtain funding if you choose one of the partner universities with which LU already has an established collaboration.
Would you like to participate in one of the Staff Weeks regularly organised around Europe? Use the database provided by the EU project iMotion (“The Integration and Promotion of Staff Training Courses at Universities across Europe”). You can check whether there is anything offered in your particular area of interest by searching by staff category or country.
The DOREA Educational institute offers a range of competence development courses abroad, among others English language courses and courses in intercultural communication.
Subscribe to the External Relations newsletter to receive updates on all kinds of international activities and opportunities at LU and beyond. Send an email and ask to be put on the mailing list.
The funding scheme provided for all categories of staff is Erasmus+ staff training. You can apply for mobility lasting between two days and two weeks (job shadowing will usually be granted for only one week, while training can be carried out during two weeks). No underlying exchange agreement is needed, you just need a host at a receiving organisation to welcome you and sign your Mobility Agreement. Your department pays for the exchange (travel, accommodation, daily allowance) and it is also the department that receives reimbursement from Erasmus+ after you return home.
Here you can find more information on Erasmus+ staff training.
Perhaps you want to do what is known as blended mobility? First you job shadow a foreign colleague virtually (meetings via Zoom, for example), and then you visit them by applying for Erasmus+ staff training funding (job shadowing).
Take inspiration from the EU project “Best+” (“Blended Erasmus Staff Training”), which aims to combine virtual and physical “mobility”.
Read about how finance officer Malin Stråby travelled to Athens with funding for Erasmus+ staff training.
Librarian Andrea Mervik received Erasmus+ staff training funding for a mobility period to Oxford.
- Visit an exciting organisation abroad and see how they work
Read about how research coordinator Valeria Naters job shadowed colleagues in Rome.
Read about how librarians Annakim Eltén and Ann-Sofie Zetterberg job shadowed colleagues in Oxford.
Read about how accountant Malin Stråby job shadowed colleagues in Athens.
- Study a language abroad
Read about how Lu Yi Nilsson travelled to Nottingham, job shadowed and studied English.
- Job shadow colleagues who have exciting equipment and give them assistance
Read about how Stefan Lindgren travelled to Pisa and Rome with staff training funding.
- Travel with a colleague who has similar duties as you
- Travel with a colleague who has different duties
It can be an advantage for administrative and academic staff to travel on exchange together and help spread the new impressions and knowledge on their return home. A study counsellor or librarian could go abroad with a teacher, an economist could go abroad with a head of department, an IT technician could travel with a head of department, a programme administrator could go abroad with a study counsellor, a communications officer could travel with a researcher, a study counsellor could go abroad with an educational support officer. The list goes on and on.
- Travel abroad and learn about something important and interesting of a more general nature
A study counsellor could learn about broader recruitment, a member of staff who wants to advance in their career could job shadow a manager at another higher education institution, etc.
- The Erasmus programme does not provide funding for staff training at EU institutions.
- It also does not provide funding to organisations managing EU programmes.
- You cannot travel to several different destinations within the same Erasmus exchange. However, it is possible to visit two institutions located in the same city or less than 100 kilometres apart.
