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ADDITIONAL DIMENSION: INTERNATIONALISATION ACCREDITATION OF MASTER’S DEGREE PROGRAMMES: Master’s in International Relations Master’s in International Security A joint degree of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona and Universitat Pompeu Fabra Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) Universitat Pompeu Fabra (coordinating university) Barcelona, 30 January 2017 SUMMARY ADDITIONAL DIMENSION: INTERNATIONALISATION ..................................................................... 2 1. Academic programmes ..................................................................................................................... 2 2. Internationalisation initiatives............................................................................................................ 2 a) Admissions ...................................................................................................................................... 2 b) Student Exchange Programmes .................................................................................................. 4 c) Mundus MAPP ................................................................................................................................ 5 d) Study Abroad Programme and IBEI Summer Schools ............................................................. 5 3. The international nature of our staff ................................................................................................ 6 a) Visiting researchers and faculty stays abroad ........................................................................... 7 b) Faculty participation in scientific activities and international research networks .................. 8 4. Results: .............................................................................................................................................. 10 1 ADDITIONAL DIMENSION: INTERNATIONALISATION 1. Academic programmes IBEI submits for assessment two master's programmes: the Master in International Relations (MIR) and the Master in International Security (MIS), both taught in English, although there is also a bilingual (English and Spanish) programme in International Relations. Thus, the large majority of courses offered by IBEI are in English (MIR and MIS). All the compulsory courses are taught in English, as well as 43 electives courses as of 2016-2017, making up over 77% of the Institute’s academic offer (76.47% (MIR) and 83.93% (MIS)). IBEI also runs an Erasmus Mundus Master Programme in Public Policy, as a joint degree from the three public universities in Barcelona, the University of York, the Central European University and the Erasmus University Rotterdam, fully taught in English. The study programme is strongly international by the very nature of its field – international studies. From the syllabus (MIR and MIS), focused on international relations and international security, to the internship opportunities offered in international organizations, as well as in most master dissertations (MIR; MIS), which discuss international policy and security issues, the skills developed in both Master degrees help prospective graduates to fully understand the processes of internationalization and play a significant role in such dynamics. IBEI is an affiliate member school of the Association of Professional Schools in International Affairs (APSIA) – a membership that allows us to share ideas and best practices in the study of international affairs with established centres in the field. Participation in the network also enhances the visibility of IBEI’s Master’s programmes internationally, especially for prospective students. Besides, IBEI holds the mention of the “International Master’s Programme” bestowed by AGAUR (Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i Recerca) in the resolution of May 29 2014, awarded to the most internationalised Master’s programmes taught in Catalonia. 2. Internationalisation initiatives IBEI operates in a completely internationalised environment, not only because of the composition of its permanent and visiting teaching staff and the diversity of origin of its students, but also because of its collaboration with foreign institutions and faculties and its involvement in international networks. English has gradually become the working language even in teaching. In this respect, it should be noted that almost 64% of IBEI’s students are foreign nationals (33% from outside the European Union), and over 50% of IBEI’s researchers are also foreigners. a) Admissions IBEI seeks to attract students internationally. In the admissions form, students are asked to list the other universities to which they are applying in order to gauge with which institutions IBEI is competing. Among those often listed are SciencesPo, the Graduate Institute in Geneva, CEU, King’s College, University College London, LSE, Georgetown University, University of Kent, or Leiden University. This list shows that IBEI’s competition comes primarily from high-ranking universities in Europe – an indication of IBEI’s international orientation. 2 IBEI’s admissions criteria require that students are fluent in English in order to follow the courses, most of which are taught in this language. Students can be admitted in the English language programmes only with a minimum score that ensures proficiency (TOEFL 90 iBT, 560 paper-based; IELTS 6.5; Cambridge Advanced Certificate or Proficiency A-C), or if they are native speakers or have done their previous studies in English. The minimum scores for the bilingual programme are slightly lower - TOEFL 80 iBT, 550 paper-based; IELTS 6.0; Cambridge First Certificate A or B; Cambridge Advanced Certificate or Proficiency A-C. IBEI strives to facilitate the process of moving to Barcelona for all students, and especially international students. To this end, admitted students are provided in advance with the IBEI Welcome Guide which contains information about the process of obtaining a visa, finding accommodation and living in Barcelona (information about the different neighbourhoods of the city, transportation, opening a bank account, living costs, etc.), as well as about life on campus. In particular, IBEI seeks to provide timely assistance to students who need to be issued a visa as the process is lengthy and complicated. Before coming to Barcelona, students also receive information about the academic calendar and the course schedule as well as the pre-sessional courses in case they are recommended to take one of these preparatory courses. On the first day of the academic year, IBEI provides students with a folder containing all the necessary information for the academic year and an academic guide. IBEI also offers an assistance programme for incoming students enabling them to connect with former international students who volunteer to serve as mentors to incoming students and share with them their knowledge and experience with studying at IBEI and living in Barcelona. All IBEI students are assigned a personal tutor whom they can address with doubts not only regarding academic matters but also concerning practical issues related to their life in Barcelona. IBEI’s international profile is demonstrated by the number of international students in our programmes. Over time, the percentage of international students in IBEI’s student body has fluctuated around 60-65%, while the number of their countries of origin and their regional distribution has been steadily growing since the launch of the IR programme in 2004. In particular, over the past three years IBEI has managed to attract more students from the USA and Canada while retaining its appeal for Latin American students. Thus, for example, there were over 1,500 applications for the two scholarships for the MIR offered by the Carolina Foundation in collaboration with Banco Santander (MIR and MIS). IBEI received more than 470 applications submitted by candidates from almost 80 countries all over the world for the MIR 2016-2017, whereas the application profile of the MIS is even more international: more than 178 applications were submitted from candidates from 53 countries. In 2012-2013, there were 47% international students that came from 32 countries in Europe and Latin America. In 2013-14, there were 78% international students in the two master programmes and Mundus MAPP (the highest percentage so far) from 34 countries. In 2014-15, the percentage of international students returned to the average figures (61%), but they came from 35 countries spanning five continents (Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Australia). In 2015-16 there were 72, 8% international MIR and MIS students that came from 27 countries and 63, 8% international students from 28 different countries as of 2016-17. IBEI is striving to increase the numbers of students from Asia and Africa in order to diversify the student body furthermore. 3 b) Student Exchange Programmes Over the past years, IBEI has launched a student exchange program that has drawn significant interest among students. As part of it, IBEI has signed a number of exchange programmes with a number of international universities in order to offer students of the Master’s programmes the opportunity to spend a semester at one of these partner universities. Six of these exchange agreements are within the Erasmus+ framework, whereas the rest are bilateral agreements. IBEI is currently working towards extending include universities from Asia and North America in its exchange network. Students participating in the exchange