Universities, by their very nature, are huge institutions with many different faculties and departments and hundreds of academic and other staff. Therefore, it’s not surprising that most academic staff from one faculty haven’t met their counterparts in another.
Bar-Ilan University (BIU) is well-known for bringing academics together through multidisciplinary programs and impact centers – and creating collaborations with international universities on the same basis. Recently, a BIU delegation combining nine different faculties and departments visited the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK, a valuable experience for everyone who attended.
Staff from the University of Kent Engagement Directorate Office with the full Bar-Ilan University Delegation
“The interdisciplinary aspect of a trip of this nature is critical to creativity, generating new ideas, and developing innovative research, not only with other universities like the University of Kent, but also within Bar-Ilan itself,” said Prof. Rivka Tuval-Mashiach from BIU’s Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Social Sciences.
“Getting to know faculty members from other disciplines in a direct and indirect way, which doesn’t often happen, was one of the most unexpected, but relevant and important results of the shared trip. This meeting was fruitful and fascinating both on a personal and professional level.
“The joint brainstorming and the introduction to our different research fields created a pleasant atmosphere that allowed us to get to know each other in-depth. Not only were we thinking about collaborations with our Kent partners, but we were also coming up with ideas to partner with each other in various ways. This is a wonderful opportunity for every faculty in all universities everywhere; one that will benefit academic staff and, as a result, our research and our students,” she said.
The five-day program at the University of Kent was funded by the Erasmus+ program and organized by Primrose Paskins, Senior International Partnerships Officer, University of Kent Engagement Directorate; and Daniel Schuval, BIU International School’s Director of Academic Partnerships and Projects and the Erasmus+ Institutional Coordinator for BIU.
The theme of the visit was “Research, Teaching, and Innovation” and topics of discussion included Global Engagement, Digital and Lifelong Learning, Turing Global Mobility Scheme (opportunities for collaboration post-Brexit) and post-Erasmus Student Exchange collaboration, Internationalization at Home and Virtual Exchange, and of course, Research and Innovation.
During the visit, the Bar-Ilan delegates also managed to do some sightseeing in Canterbury and around Kent
Meetings took place with the University of Kent’s senior leadership including Prof. Shane Weller, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation; Dr. Anthony Manning, Dean for Global and Lifelong Learning; Simon Barnes, Funding and Partnership Development Manager; Dr. Caroline Li, Deputy Director, Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (iCCi); Hannah McNorton, Director, International Partnerships; and many other leading scholars and members of management.
BIU’s delegation included Daniel Schuval; Prof. Rivka Tuval-Mashiach, Department of Psychology; Ariel Sela, UnBox Ventures, BIU’s incubator for researchers and entrepreneurs; Dr. Olga Goldin, Director, Libraries and Information System; Prof. William Kolbrener, Department of English Literature and Linguistics; Dr. Manal Totry-Jubran, Faculty of Law; Prof. Tamar Juven-Gershon, Faculty of Life Sciences; Dr. Ethan Fetaya, Faculty of Engineering; and Prof. Orly Shapira-Lischinsky, Faculty of Education.
“On behalf of the Bar-Ilan delegation, I would like to commend the International School for developing such an organized and comprehensive exchange and cooperative program,” said Tuval-Mashiach. “Besides ensuring we had a wonderful experience, the international teams from both universities created an extremely interesting program and the personal meetings with our counterparts in Kent were valuable and encouraging.
“Our encounters with them have opened many doors for both sides. There was a genuine desire for cooperation and we look forward to developing this relationship, not only regarding faculty exchange and sharing of ideas, but also for the successful continuation of our student exchange programs. We look forward to having the same type of interdisciplinary trip with other universities in the future,” she said.
