Internationalisation at LUSEM

Why internationalisation?

There are several reasons for higher education institutions to increase international cooperation and the international elements of education and research. The most important of these is to enhance the quality of activities. There are also political, economic and social/cultural reasons that benefit society as a whole when universities and colleges become more international in their activities.

The report on increased internationalisation of universities and colleges (U 2017:02), whose task has been to propose goals and strategy for the internationalisation of universities and colleges, left their interim and final report in 2018 (SOU 2018:3 and 2018:78). The purpose of the strategy is to improve conditions for the internationalisation of higher education institutions by indicating a direction for internationalisation initiatives at various levels.

A prioritised area

In Lund University's strategic plan for 2017–2026, internationalisation is one of six priority areas we as a university shall work with together.

The Strategic Plan states that:

• There shall be an international perspective and global engagement in the organisation, in its approach to people and in their experience of the University. 
• There shall be good opportunities for international mobility for students and staff. 
• The University shall be attractive to international students and staff. 
• The University shall have strategically supported international partnerships and take an active part in influential international networks, such as LERU and U21. 

Link to Lund University’s Strategic Plan for 2017-2026 (PDF)

LUSEM International Council

This council formed of representatives from the various departments as well as the International Office and the Academic Skills Services.

 The International Council has three purposes:

• To give input to the Dean (who represents LUSEM in Internationella rådet) in preparation for the meetings at University level.
• To discuss strategies when it comes to internationalisation and take questions and information further to our faculty management as well as to the departments.
• To discuss questions important to the International Office.

Intercultural Competence Initiative

Intercultural competence has been identified as one of the key skills that students will need in the twenty-first century. The Intercultural Competence Initiative (ICI) is led jointly by representatives from various departments, the International Office and the Academic Skills Services (ASKS). The aim of this initiative is to increase the level of  intercultural awareness and competence among our staff, both academic and administrative, and our students at every level. Workshops in intercultural competence have been offered for international Bachelor students in the IBU and EoS programmes for several years now, and this has been extended to both outgoing and incoming exchange students. The ultimate aim is to offer training to all staff in this area, and provide workshops to all students at some stage in their programme.

COIL (Collaborative Online Intercultural Learning)

COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) is a cross-border cooperation between at least two higher education institutions in two different countries, which then collaborate on a course of five to fifteen weeks. The collaboration can either be within the same discipline or interdisciplinary. The collaboration can be implemented in all study areas at all levels. The teachers develop the learning objectives together, design what the collaboration should look like, choose online tools etc. The grading is set separately per university.

Link to pages on COIL(PDF in Swedish)