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NCU Officially Joins the European EURAXESS Network
The Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń has officially joined the European EURAXESS network – an initiative that supports the mobility and career development of researchers and the internationalization of the European research community. The Nicolaus Copernicus University's declaration of membership in the network has been approved by the European Commission.
The EURAXESS is a pan-European network of institutions that support researchers, particularly those undertaking research outside their country of origin. It offers information and support regarding, among other things, international mobility, career development, working and living conditions, as well as practical aspects related to the arrival of researchers and their families in a new country.
Joining the EURAXESS strengthens NCU's efforts to create an open and welcoming environment for the international academic community. Membership provides access to the knowledge, resources, and best practices developed within the European network, as well as the opportunity to participate in training sessions and meetings of its members and to exchange experiences with institutions supporting researcher mobility in Poland and other European countries.
Andrzej Romański
The development of comprehensive support for researchers coming from abroad is of particular importance. After all, academic mobility involves not only starting work at a university but also the need to navigate a new legal, administrative, and social environment. Access to reliable information and well-organized support can be crucial both for deciding where to conduct research and for the subsequent integration of researchers and their families.
The EURAXESS contact point at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń will be the International Point, which operates as part of the Copernican Center for Integration at the Nicolaus Copernicus University. It is there that interntional researchers will be able to obtain information and support regarding their arrival, stay, and daily life at the University and in their new environment. Locating the EURAXESS point within the International Point will make it possible to combine the opportunities offered by the European network with the system of direct support for the international academic community currently being developed at the Nicolaus Copernicus University.
EURAXESS and the REGIOSTAFFNET regional network
The NCU's accession to the EURAXESS is also an important component of the REGIOSTAFFNET project being carried out by the University, which is funded under the NAWA–EURAXESS program. The project aims to build a regional cooperation network in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship to support international researchers, doctoral students, and their families, as well as to raise the standards of support for the international academic community. The project coordinator is dr Jagoda Jaskulska from the NCU Faculty of Law and Administration.
Andrzej Romański
The REGIOSTAFFNET network is made up of universities in Toruń and Bydgoszcz:
- Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń – project leader
- Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz
- WSB Merito University in Toruń
- Bydgoszcz University of Economy
- Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz
One of the project's objectives is for at least 40 percent of the REGIOSTAFFNET's partners to join the European EURAXESS network. NCU's membership therefore represents an important step toward achieving this goal, and creates an opportunity to link the regional support system for international researchers even more closely with the solutions, knowledge, and best practices being developed at the European level.
The REGIOSTAFFNET is expanding the regional scope of its activities, which—thanks to the NCU's membership in the EURAXESS – are directly linked to the European system for supporting researcher mobility. Project partners are jointly developing the competencies of staff who support international academic personnel, exchanging experiences and best practices, and building cooperation with public institutions and organizations whose services are used by researchers coming to the region. These activities include, among others, specialized training, study visits, and the development of solutions aimed at further internationalizing the partner universities. The knowledge and best practices available through the European network will be utilized to develop services for international researchers at the NCU, and the experiences gained through the REGIOSTAFFNET will be shared among the partner universities.
The accession of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń to the EURAXESS is another step in the development of services supporting international academic mobility and in strengthening the position of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship as a place open to international researchers, doctoral students, and their families.
The “NAWA-EURAXESS Network" program is funded by the European Union through the European Social Development Fund 2021–2027 (FERS) as part of the project entitled: “Support for Higher Education and Research Institutions in Serving Foreign Nationals and Poles Going Abroad," No. FERS.01.05.IP.08-0003/24 (FERS Projects).
