Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Central

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | Projects | Central | CENTRAL Staff Mobility

Staff Mobility Programme

CENTRAL’s Staff Mobility Programme is addressed to members of the administrative departments of all five partner universities. Participants meet once a year for three-day workshop in Berlin. The thematic frame is set annually during the network’s Governance Meeting and is aimed to promote exchange between the university administrations. It offers the participants the chance to become even more familiar with the people, processes and structures of the CENTRAL partner universities. The goal is to include colleagues from the university administrative departments more strongly in the internationalisation of the university as they have fewer opportunities for international exchange than students or academic staff. Therefore, administrative staff also benefits from the CENTRAL network and contributes to the professionalisation and internationalisation of their universities.

 

 


2017 - University Museums and Collections

Fig.: Sylvie Weisshäupl

 

The third CENTRAL staff mobility workshop on the subject of “University Museums and Collections” took place from 20 – 22 November 2017 at Humboldt-Universität. Staff responsible for collections at the University of Vienna, ELTE Budapest, Charles University Prague, University Warsaw and Humboldt-Universität got together for a three-day workshop in Berlin. Strategies for digitisation, networking, and conservation were discussed as well as modern quality criteria and collections governance. The participants, as representatives of diverse central European university collections and museums, enriched the programme with short presentations about their respective fields of work and lively discussions. Thus proving once again, how valuable the CENTRAL network can be for a particular area of university administration.

The lecture and workshop programme was complemented by visits to the Berlin Museum of Medical History at the Charité, the Veterinary Anatomy Theatre (TAT), the Museum of the University Library, the sound archive and the Winckelmann-Institute.

 

 

Participant reports 2017

 

The workshop confirmed me also how important it is to promote the university museum heritage using websites and participate regularly in international meetings of ICOM and UMAC. All participants of the workshop had also a chance to see all the most important Humboldt University collections. Such a visit allowed us to get acquainted with the work of local museologists and librarians. The contacts obtained in those institutions could be very useful in the future, too. Undoubtedly, some information and lessons learned in Berlin will allow us to establish the co-operation between university museums in Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Budapest in the future.

Adam Tyszkiewicz, University Warsaw

 

The CENTRAL Staff Mobility Workshop at Humboldt University in November 2017 was very inspiring for me in every respect. While it was of general interest to hear from different Central European university collections, I am especially grateful for the opportunity to have learned about quality criteria that professionalize the status of a university collection in its often marginalised situation within its institutional setting, and for the discussion of these criteria with their authors.

Katarina Matiasek, University of Vienna

 

 

 


2016 - EU and third party funding and research management

Fig.: Wendy König

 

Research managers and experts on third party funding met for a three-day workshop in Berlin in November 2016. Collectively applying for third-party funding is an important pillar of the university collaborations within the CENTRAL network. Therefore, the workshop served not only as a platform for professional exchange and networking but also as a forum to collect and discuss ideas on how to apply for research funding for future collaborative projects of researchers from all five CENTRAL partner universities. Presentations by representatives of varied departments at Humboldt-Universität such as the Research Service Centre, the Humboldt Innovation, and the Integrative Research Institute for the Life Sciences complemented the programme. Additionally, the involvement of the KoWi (European Liaison Office of the German Research Organisations) allowed for ideal guidance for possible future applications for EU funding for the CENTRAL network.

 

 

 


2015 - University Libraries

Fig.: Simona Binkova

 

The first staff mobility exchange programme took place in Berlin from 21 – 23 October 2015. Librarians from all four partner universities were welcomed by Humboldt-Universität for a three day workshop. They were given the chance to exchange ideas with their German colleagues and discuss their respective work areas and fields of responsibility as well as future challenges of librarianship.

The programme was thus not only designed to get to know each other’s function and workplace but primarily to promote lasting networks between administrative staff of the CENTRAL partner universities. In collaboration with staff from the library of the Humboldt-Universität, participants shared their experiences with and discussed the broader influence of Open Access, digitalisation, digital infrastructure and digital publication on the accessibility of research findings and the operational procedures of libraries. Michael Kleineberg and Ben Kaden from Future Publications in the Humanities (Fu-PusH) presented their project and talked about the consequences of digitalisation on the service offers of information infrastructures.

The programme was complemented by guided tours through the university and state library as well as a visit to the Berlin Wall Memorial.  

 

 
Participant reports 2015

 

Für mich war die wichtigste Erfahrung, dass Bibliotheken aus unterschiedlichen Ländern heute mit den gleichen Herausforderungen konfrontiert sind. Daraus ergibt sich, dass ein internationaler Austausch wichtig wäre, um auf die jeweiligen Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse aufbauen zu können. Mein Fazit daraus lautet, dass es nicht bei einem einmaligen Treffen bleiben sollte, sondern der Austausch kontinuierlich fortgeführt werden sollte.

Dr. Susanne Blumesberger, University of Vienna

 

I appreciate the opportunity to be one of the participants of the CENTRAL Network at HU Berlin in October 2015 very much. We (librarians) do not have so many opportunities to meet our colleges from other countries and therefore I find this occasion enriching. The most precious thing on this meeting for me was to meet and discuss the same problems with people from other countries.

Lucie Korhoňová, Charles University Prague

 

We are both really grateful for such a great opportunity to be in Berlin at Humboldt-Universität and meet you all. The first thing that we will be both remember was the cosy atmosphere. The smaller the group, the better the atmosphere to talk and exchange experiences. That made us closer and more integrated according to similar fields of work we do. We also enjoyed the workshops and it was a pleasure for us to see how it works at HU compared to our library, which is one of the three biggest in our country. We are really grateful to our hosts and guides for such a kind welcome and for showing us a lot from the inside of your institution... and even more than we have expected.

Anna Białanowicz-Biernat und Magdalena Kokosinska, University of Warsaw

 

The Staff Mobility Exchange program offered a fantastic opportunity to exchange experiences and views, to present good practices and to plan common developments. During the program we could get an insight into everyday routine of each other’s work. The topics we were discussiong about (digitalization, electronic publications, open-access publications and long-term preservation) were interesting, as were the discussions about technical, legal, cultural, financial problems and their possible solutions. The presentations of our colleagues offered us interesting tips and also new inspirations in developing our services. But the most important benefits of this event are the personal relationships, getting to know people whom we can directly ask in the future and to whom we can turn with solving problems and thinking together. So communication became more effective and easier. It became clear, how important it is to exchange views and experiences, and to have regular professional meetings. This initiative is a very good starting point for further cooperation, which is useful and valuable for all participants, because everyone can benefit from helping each other.

Katalin Szépvölgyi, ELTE Budapest