Professional Networking and Matchmaking Events

The UniWeliS project emphasizes that both small and large scale events are relevant when networking and matchmaking events targeting international researchers. Key insights include the following strategies described below.

When planning networking events for PhDs/academics, the following should be kept in mind:

institutions should check which networking events could be housed by them. In cases of conferences, seminars, summer schools, they should book venues and find volunteers. They should probably do that around the time when the majority of incoming PhD students and academics are visiting the institutions, because that would be an incredible opportunity to allow their own academics and incoming academics to share experiences and stories, and eventually exchange contact information, so that they could communicate and collaborate in the future.
create a registration form and send out invitations via proven communication channels
publish information with details on the institutional website and social media profile, so that the news of the event would reach interested parties.
when it comes to social media networks, institutions could create a group/subpage providing thus a platform for interaction between local academics and current or potential incoming PhD students and academics. Those platforms could be made on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, where the almost real-time response would immensely facilitate communication and potential collaboration.

Apart from such rather advanced events that need a lot of resources (conferences, summer schools, etc), a great opportunity to support the social integration of incoming PhD students and academics as well as establish social and professional networks are various smaller-scale social events that are less demanding for the budget. Here are some examples:

Regular international get-togethers, social hours, coffee/beer hours, field trips and dinners, guided city tours, balls and galas, sports events, hikes, concerts, cooking classes, board game nights, visits to museum/city hall, Christmas and summer parties, etc.
International Day: cultural events where academics/their family members from different countries can present their culture, lecture on local country culture and history, etc.
Academic events: discussions and talks about their work/career path: conferences, guest lectures, round tables, department meetings, institute seminars, Doctoral Day, regular group meetings (e.g., every Monday), Ph.D. seminars, science breakfasts, symposiums, business meetings, job-related talks
Various mentoring activities, tandems, peer group meetings,
Language cafe enabling internationals/their family members to exchange languages/learn/practice other languages
Family events: get-togethers; joint social events (e.g. joint planting or campus cleaning, clothes exchange, city tours, cooking classes, visits to museums, field trips, etc)
Creating a mixing-up space where internationals can mix with their local peers/fellows

REBECA toolkit

The Guide to Prepare a R2B Matchmaking Event developed by EURAXESS serves as a practical resource for organizing effective research-to-business (R2B) matchmaking events. These events aim to connect researchers with industry stakeholders, facilitating collaboration and knowledge transfer that can lead to innovative solutions and enhanced commercialization of research.

Overview of the Guide

Designing the event

Setting up the platform

Running the event and the follow up

Lessons learned