The OeAD (Österreichischer Austauschdienst GmbH) is an agency owned by the Republic of Austria that aims to promote the cooperation in the fi elds of education, science and research and organizes an annual “Hochschultagung“ - a conference for higher education institutions in Austria.
This year‘s OeAD-Hochschultagung took place virtually and put a special focus on internationalization in higher education. The main topic of the online conference was the change in international cooperation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Numerous presentations and webinars dealt with issues about how to encounter this paradigm shift, what are the global challenges to be kept in mind, and what strategies will support universities and colleges in the years to come?

Another focus was given on “Brexit“ and the new challenges that will arise in the higher education system after the UK‘s leaving of the European Union. How will previous entry and residence requirements change? How will negotiatons about the long-term relations with the other members of the EU have to be concluded? Universities and research institutions in Austria, as well as the UK, have expressed their strong interest in continuing student and research exchange. Ways to fund such research and academic stays abroad, are being discussed intensively. The Austrian government already committed to off er mobility grants to Austrian students for a course of studies in the UK also after 31 December 2020.
​In addition to the ongoing discussions on “Brexit“, there was also a presentation of the National Higher Education Mobility and Internationalization Strategy 2020-2030 “Internationalization in Many Ways“, by representatives of the OeAD. The rector of the University of Innsbruck, Tilmann Märk, participated at the panel discussion “Quality of International Cooperation between Universities in fragile Times“. Together with high representatives of universities and colleges in Austria, the new possibilites and challenges due to Covid-19 were discussed.

In order to counter the new challenges faced by the corona pandemic, to keep up-to-date with developments within the International higher education environment and to continue with staff training, the BritInn-Team participated in a series of online training courses, conferences and workshops in the past months.

Workshop “Design virtual events creatively“

The International Services at the University of Innsbruck organized a two session webinar on “Designing virtual events creatively” for all interested staff members. Both BritInn coordinators participated in the event and learned about how to make virtual events more exciting and creative. Different platforms were introduced that are suitable for organizing virtual guest lectures, readings, conferences etc. Special attention was paid to the organization and planning of such events; participants could immediately apply and implement their acquired theoretical knowledge in small teams on the basis of practical case studies.​

Workshop “Big Blue Button“

​With the start of the winter semester 2020/2021 “Big Blue Button“ becomes the the official online conference tool of the University of Innsbruck. The BritInn-Team participated at a workshop in order to maximise the knowledge about the program.

Workshop “How to deal with Social Media“

Another workshop addressed the challenges and opportunities of social media channels. Especially nowadays, many people rely on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram to find information and connect with each other. While each has its benefits, it’s important to remember that social media also bears it‘s risks. The workshop helped analyzing the benefits of social media channels and how the channels can be used successfully.

Dear Friends of BritInn,

due to the current worldwide situation, we have to cancel all planned guest lectures, conferences etc. for the summer semester 2020. We regret this very deeply, but we will try to catch up on all events as soon as possible. We are already working to reschedule and re-organize and would be happy to welcome you again soon at one of our events!

With the best wishes for health during these challenging times, 

Your BritInn-Team

Prof. Graham Worth from the Department of Chemistry at the University College London visited the University of Innsbruck in February and March 2020.
The visit was hosted by Prof. Roland Wester and his team from the Department of Ion Physics and Applied Physics at the University of Innsbruck.

The project aimed to bring together two different approaches to study the formation of small molecules found in space. Prof. Francesco Gianturco from the University of Innsbruck uses calculations that examine all the available quantum states of a molecular reaction to see how it then populates some of them under the chosen conditions, whereas Prof. Worth directly simulates the time evolution of the atoms as they come together. The visit of Prof. Worth helped the two researchers to learn more about each other's methods.

During his visit, Prof. Worth also gave a public lecture on "Watching Fundamental Chemistry as is Happens Using Lasers and Computers". 

BritInn Fellow Report

From 17 February until 28 February 2020, the Winter School on Federalism and Governance took place. The Winter School ​is a cross-border project within the Cooperation Agreement between Eurac Research and the University of Innsbruck.
Since 2010, every year the postgraduate program is jointly organized by the Faculty of Law and the Department of Political Science of the University of Innsbruck as well as the Institute for Comparative Federalism of Eurac Research.
The Winter School is structured in a two-week programme: One week is taking place at the University of Innsbruck and the other week at Eurac Research in Bolzano. The program is a unique opportunity to be trained both on theoretical and practical aspects of federalism and multilevel governance within an international learning environment. This year's Winter School put a focus on the relation of federalism and language.
BritInn supported the participation and stay of two researchers from the UK, Prof. Alexandra Xanthaki from the Brunel University London and Dr. Asanga Welikala from the University of Edinburgh.

Our colleagues from the projekt.service.büro issued the following statement on the UK participation in Horizon 2020:
UK scientists, researchers and businesses can continue to participate in, bid for and lead projects in Horizon 2020, as if the UK remained a Member State, even after the UK´s exit from the EU.
The UK remains the second highest recipient of Horizon 2020 funding for science and innovation and UK organisations are encouraged to continue to bid into calls for grants until the end of the Horizon 2020 programme.
The Withdrawal Agreement means that the UK continues to participate in EU Programmes financed by the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) until their closure. Horizon 2020 is a Programme funded under the current MFF. UK scientists, researchers and businesses can continue to  participate in these programmes and receive EU grant funding for the lifetime of individual projects, including projects finishing after the transition period ends in 2020.

Find additional information here:

https://www.ukri.org/news/uk-participation-in-horizon-2020-the-eus-flagship-science-and-innovation-programme/

https://www.ffg.at/en/europe/brexit

For more information, please get in contact with the research support office at the projekt.service.büro: www.uibk.ac.at/projektservice

Last week, Prof. Darren J. Dixon from the University of Oxford visited Prof. Thomas Magauer and his team from the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Innsbruck.
Prof. Dixon discussed ongoing research projects at the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy with Prof. Magauer and met with PhD students from the University of Innsbruck.

The visit included presentations by the two PhD students Franz-Lucas Haut and Christoph Habiger, as well as one presentation by Postdoc Denis Höfler. The presentations were followed by an intense discussion in order to identify potential solutions for recently encountered problems within the individual projects. Prof. Dixon also took time to give the students more information about the Higher Education System in the UK and discuss options for future research stays.
Moreover, Prof. Dixon gave a talk on "Catalytic Approaches for Simplifying Complex Natural Product and Tertiary Amine Synthesis".
After an intense day of scientific exchange, there was also time to enjoy the city and some Austrian food!

BritInn Fellow Report

BritInn Fellow Dr. Matthias Neuner from the Institute of Basic Sciences in Engineering Sciences at the University of Innsbruck visited the School of Engineering at the Cardiff University in November 2019.
He visited the research group of Prof. Tony Jefferson to start a long-term collaboration on the assessment and development of numerical models to predict the failure process of fibre reinforced cementitious materials such as concrete or shotcrete.

Read the report of his stay here:

BritInn Fellow Report

Prof. Winfried Löffler from the Department of Christian Philosophy at the University of Innsbruck visited the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford in November 2019.
At the University of Oxford Prof. Löffler was working on a project which was based on the working hypothesis that the historical conditions for the emergence of analytic philosophy in Great Britain around 1900 were much broader than the usual view permits, i.e. that the analytic style of philosophizing was foreshadowed by a broader range of figures and that a sort of “para-analytic” philosophy flourished, in relative detachment from the mainstream Moore/Russell/Wittgenstein traditions, well into the 20th century (William R. Sorley and John Cook Wilson might provide initial examples). Beyond catalogue and literature studies, his research consisted in its first stage in large-scale inspections of the relevant shelves of some relatively untouched older philosophy libraries at Oxford.
Beyond conducting his research, Prof. Löffler presented a paper on “Empirical Evidence Against Free Will? A Case Study in Neuro-Mythology” at the Ian Ramsey Center on 4 November 2019.

Read the report of his stay in Oxford here:

BritInn Fellow Report