International
Internationalization strategy
Our philosophy
Hochschule RheinMain (HSRM) is a university of applied sciences with a global outlook. It facilitates and promotes international experience and cultural exchange at all levels, in line with the recommendations of the German Science and Humanities Council:
“For science, internationalization is not an end in itself, but an indispensable tool for ensuring and improving the quality of research and teaching. International exchange and international cooperation serve to promote encounters and cultural exchange, train the intercultural skills of individuals and provide important qualifications for employment in an international labor market and for responsible citizenship." (Citation German Science and Humanities Council: Recommendations on the internationalization of higher education institutions, 6 July 2018).
This enhances the visibility and attractiveness of our university and positions it in the political and social arena.
The university’s internationalization strategy creates a common basis for action and, building on this, internal structures that support and promote internationalization as a cross-cutting task across all faculties, central services and administrative units, thereby ensuring that internationalization is an integral and sustainable part of the university’s future.
Goals
Promotion and expansion of quality-oriented international cooperation in degree programs, teaching, research and transfer
Reliable and diverse university partnerships are essential for sustainable internationalization. In this context, a wide range of partner universities around the world is equally important for mobility as strategic partnership networks with selected partners. These are known as strategic university partnerships, and we focus on the following aspects to promote them:
We accomplish this by focusing on the following areas:
We support all forms of collaboration to enable international experiences for all members of the university.
We continuously evaluate our diverse partnership portfolio for potential professional collaboration and expand it to provide a wide range of mobility opportunities.
We develop criteria for the establishment of strategic university partnerships with the goal of promoting close institutional collaboration in research, teaching and transfer.
Preparing students for an international labor market
The working and professional environment our graduates enter after completing their studies is becoming increasingly international. In order to succeed, it is crucial to develop key competencies for dealing with linguistic and cultural diversity.
We qualify our students by focusing on the following areas:
We offer all our students the opportunity to learn (foreign) languages by making general and specialized (foreign) language courses, as well as opportunities to use the languages, an integral part of all our study programs. English - as the lingua franca of the academic world - plays an important role and we therefore particularly support the expansion of English-language courses. At the same time, we are expanding the catalog of courses in German as a foreign language for international students and integrating them into the curricula. For more details, please see our language policy.
We enable our students to gain international experience by promoting student mobility in all areas of their studies, including semesters abroad, internships overseas, and short-term mobilities, and by addressing any barriers to mobility. We also provide opportunities to gain virtual international experience. At the same time, we promote the internationalization process on our campuses by offering international courses and workshops as well as opportunities for students to work in international groups and to learn from international guest lecturers, thus creating an international teaching and learning environment that provides our students with valuable experiences and skills.
We incorporate international perspectives into our teaching by establishing links to current international developments in the respective disciplines, in particular through international research results and practical examples. Our students are thus able to develop a comprehensive understanding of the content and methods of their discipline. This is supported by the content and structure of our curricula as well as the integration of international teaching staff.
Attracting talented international students to our university
International students bring with them a wealth of ideas and perspectives that enrich academic discourse and contribute to a stimulating international teaching and learning environment. After graduating, they also benefit the German labor market and our society as highly qualified professionals and managers.
We accomplish this by focusing on the following areas:
We present ourselves as an attractive place to study for prospective international students by promoting our degree programs through targeted international marketing. This is accompanied by the optimization of our external communication in German and English as well as communication in both languages within the university, especially in areas that directly affect international students.
We take international students into account when designing the content and structure of our degree programs by addressing global topics and incorporating international perspectives into the curricula. In addition, we make it easier for international students to enter the German job market by providing them with practical experience during their studies and providing them with specific opportunities to improve their language skills.
Our structures enable international students to develop their potential. To this end, we offer a range of activities to accompany their studies, from their first day at our university right through to graduation, which are designed to promote both academic success and social integration.
Improving the quality of research/development/transfer
International collaboration in the areas of research, transfer and development provides a positive impetus for scientific exchange. This is conducive to good quality and outstanding results.
To provide the best possible support, we focus on the following areas:
The university’s executive board, dean's offices and administration actively support teaching staff in planning and implementing international projects and cooperation, thereby promoting collaboration in the areas of international research and practical experience in the industry. This includes increasing the number of international research proposals, establishing international partnerships with companies and other organizations in the field and supporting international start-up projects.
By supporting active participation in networking events, conferences and trade fairs as well as the organization of international events, we offer our university members the opportunity to participate in international professional communities.
We enable our junior researchers to gain international experience and further develop key skills for dealing with linguistic and cultural diversity, by involving them in collaboration and exchange with international scholars at the earliest possible point in their careers and by supporting them in their own international activities, such as study visits, research stays and short-term mobilities.
Enhancing our attractiveness as an international employer
An international working environment with a culturally diverse workforce and a wide range of international training opportunities enhances the university's attractiveness as an employer. To achieve this, we are creating the appropriate environment, service structures and training for our staff.
To this end, we focus on the following areas:
We recruit international academic and administrative staff by specifically targeting applicants with international experience in our job advertisements. Our recruitment strategy and processes are designed with this audience in mind.
We continuously develop the language and intercultural skills of our employees by offering a comprehensive training program and encouraging participation, both at home and abroad, thus supporting our employees as they bring the idea of an international campus to life on a daily basis.
Our service structures are designed for international staff and support the onboarding processes and social integration of all our employees. Administrative processes are also geared towards international staff and our goal is to establish a consistently bilingual infrastructure.
HSRM is taking a holistic approach to internationalization that encompasses measures for integrating an international and intercultural dimension into all areas of the university. Internationalization is key for offering excellent teaching and research. To underline this, HSRM successfully underwent the audit "Internationalization of Universities" by the HRK (German Rectors' Conference) in 2021.