Staff Exchange at Tampere University Three TU employees travelled to Finland
The European exchange programme Erasmus+ enables not only students, but also university staff and teachers to benefit from international exchange. The programme aims to promote professional development and facilitate dialogue among international colleagues by enabling visits to universities in participating Erasmus+ countries. Additionally, under certain conditions, exchanges outside Europe are also possible.
In September, three employees from TU Braunschweig made use of the staff exchange programme and spent five days at the Tampere University, a strategic partner university of TU Braunschweig.
The city of Tampere is located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi, in south-west Finland. Photo: Daria Horte/TU Braunschweig
Annika Kleinwächter, the programme coordinator for the interdisciplinary degree programme „Computational Sciences in Engineering (CSE)“, and Daria Horte from the prospective student management team of the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences at TU Braunschweig, share insights about their stay:
“We decided to go abroad to identify best practice examples from Tampere University and to transfer these findings to our own work areas. The organisation before the stay was easy – we were able to establish direct contacts in Tampere as well as rely on contacts from colleagues. This allowed us to quickly find the right contact person for our request. We also had to apply for funding from the Erasmus+ programme at TU Braunschweig. Francesco Ducatelli, Erasmus+ University Coordinator at TU Braunschweig, guided us well through the process.
We then organised our travel and accommodation for the five-day stay, got to know a little bit about the Finnish language and researched the most important cultural customs.
Daria Horte (left) and Annika Kleinwächter (right) travelled to Tampere together. Photo: Annika Kleinwächter/TU Braunschweig
During our visit to Tampere, we gained valuable insights into national and international student recruitment. A central topic of our exchange was the identification of successful best-practice strategies. To this aim, we spoke to various departments, including Marketing, Social Media Management, Event Planning, International Student Onboarding and Alumni, which opened up new perspectives for our own student recruitment strategies. The exchange on specific approaches to recruiting students from certain countries was particularly interesting, as well as the effective involvement of students as study ambassadors, which proved to be extremely successful in Tampere.
Visiting the Hervanta Campus of Tampere University. Photo: Daria Horte/TU Braunschweig
In general, the work culture in Finland tends to be more egalitarian and workplaces are often organised more openly and flexibly. There are also many areas that encourage employees to work together. Team leaders in Finland see themselves more as supporters of their employees, less as traditional superiors, and there tends to be a stronger emphasis on work-life balance with greater home office opportunities.
In addition to many interesting meetings, we were able to explore Tampere a little on a city walk and get to know the Finnish sauna culture. Annika’s Erasmus exchange in 2000 led to friendships that have lasted to this day: we met up with Finnish friends “from back then” who showed us the culinary side of Tampere. That’s how we learnt that chicken wings and cinnamon rolls are very popular in Tampere.
Overall, the stay was a great experience for us! The five days in Finland gave us an insight into Finnish university life and the working structures at our partner university. We gained insights into innovative concepts and ideas and were able to further expand our professional network. In addition, not only a winter scarf from Tampere University and many bars of delicious Finnish chocolate will find their way back to Braunschweig, but above all many enriching insights and experiences.”
Another guest in Tampere was Christian Stascheit, Coordinator of Engagement Projects and Co-Creation as well as the SQM project “tu4society” in the Knowledge Transfer | Transfer Service:
“I decided to do an Erasmus+ Staff Mobility at Tampere University because I was looking for new impulses and ideas for my work life. Thanks to the existing strategic partnership between the two universities, I was able to get in touch with Juho Väisänen, Head of Innovation Services at Tampere University, quite easily. He and his team gave me a very warm welcome and put me in touch with numerous other colleagues from all three campuses who work in the fields of knowledge transfer, co-creation, service learning and social innovation. All the staff members at Tampere University were very interested in our activities at TU Braunschweig – especially with regard to engagement projects via the sandbox platform – so there was a lively exchange.
During his stay, Christian Stascheit (right) visited the “Proakatemia” team, among others. Photo: Christian Stascheit/TU Braunschweig
During my five days in Tampere, I had the opportunity to get to know areas that are similar to my field of work at TU Braunschweig, such as “Spark Finland”, “HUBS – Be good. Do good.” and “Proakatemia”. The latter is a Bachelor’s programme in Business Administration in which students set up a company at the beginning of their studies, which then serves as the basis for their learning process as they progress. Next year, “Proakatemia” celebrates its 25th anniversary and the programme’s recipe for success, from which a particularly large number of entrepreneurs emerge, is rooted in peer-to-peer learning and project-based education. Coaches for the project teams offer valuable insights and guidance that foster the further development of both the teams and their projects.
The lakes around Tampere are perfect for an evening stroll. Photo: Christian Stascheit/TU Braunschweig
The facilities at Tampere University were also remarkable: you had to take your shoes off at the entrance to Proakatemia and the whole environment was open and modern. There was fresh fruit and coffee in the communal kitchen, which created a welcoming atmosphere and invited students to stay and work.
In addition to the friendly, diverse and enriching exchange with my local colleagues and the modern and inviting facilities, I will always remember the picturesque location of Tampere and its sauna culture. Surrounded by forests and lakes, Tampere is the perfect place to go for a relaxing walk after work. Afterwards, you can relax in one of the numerous saunas, many of which are located directly by the lake, allowing you to cool off just outside.”