Erasmus Mundus Aurora Staff Exchange at the University of Turku – Useful International Experience

​At her home university, Samsonova works at the international students academic unit of the international students office.‒ We provide our exchange students with academic advising, helping them with their curriculum during their studies, including course registration and exam registration. We also take care of their timetables and assist them in finding internships within the university, Samsonova states and continues.

 ‒ In addition, as we are part of a larger unit, directorate on internationalisation, it is also a part of our job to change the current system to make it more international. We have meetings with other university structures to give them advice on how to make life and study processes for international students more comfortable, and we provide training for staff members such as study officers and administrative staff.

As to the motives for applying for an Aurora grant, Samsonova states: ‒ We work on the internationalisation of our educational environment, and it would not be possible to do so without having international experiences. In order to make our environment more international, we need to learn what the best practices are. It is crucial to see how thingswork in other universities.

During her staff exchange at the University of Turku, Samsonova has attended several meetings to learn about the functioning of the university system, including the structure of the university and the responsibilities of different staff members. She has written notes regarding the best practices so that they could be implemented at HSE in the future. Samsonova has also done translation tasks and given presentations to students, promoting her home university. Moreover, she has visited CIMO in Helsinki to learn more about the Erasmus + programme.

‒ When I return to my home university, I will give a presentation about what should be taken into account when designing programmes for Master students. I will also give tips on university structures:  the structure of HSE is quite different from that of the University of Turku. The University of Turku is older than our university, so it has had more time to develop. Therefore, I think it would be good to use some of your practices. Now that I have seen how things work here, I can give recommendations at HSE. As I have some experience in database design, one of my particular tasks is to see the functioning of the University of Turku databases. In this way, I will learn how HSE databases could be improved.

Samsonova says having enjoyed her time in Finland and her staff exchange very much and recommends applying for Erasmus Mundus grants. – The exchange has been useful and I have had an intensive cultural programme. I have visited Helsinki and Tampere and tried sports activities, for instance.

As to what has been the best experience during the stay, Samsonova states: – Just being part of the University of Turku International Office team.

>> Apply for Erasmus Mundus mobility grant

Text: Aino Koivisto
Photo: National Research University Higher School of Economics