Old dog learning new tricks

So your postdoctoral research is over – years ago, and you feel that you still want to learn new directions to your research. Well, longish research visits do not have to be past life – it might be time to a new visit to foreign university! That was just what happened to me. I decided to get new skills in chemical ecology, and decided to get it from the University of California Berkeley, just a side of San Francisco. Fulbright Finland has just perfect grant option for this kind of trips: Fulbright Finland grant for research collaboration. The funding is aimed for visits from one week to three months. For me five weeks was possible, and luckily, I got the grant. Continue reading “Old dog learning new tricks”

Why in Ohio?

“I actually changed my college. I left my first one and came here. Ohio University is a better place. Here, people are friendly. This is more like at home.”

    –  Alexis, second-year student, Social and Communication studies

Ohio University has been ranked first in the nation for overall student satisfaction, based on a survey ranking more than 600 colleges and universities in the U.S. Ohio University has enthusiastically worked for a student community that feels like home. This is confirmed by several family-engaging activities, such as parents’ and siblings’ weekends, during the semester as well as Bobcats athletic events on campus.

Ohio University is located in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio. Its historical and astonishingly naturally beautiful campus makes students’ stay very comfortable. Walking the brick walkways of the very hilly and tree-lined campus makes students and faculty feel like they’re staying at a small college rather than a large university. Meanwhile, the distances are short, and the campus is very compact. Campus routes are busy, when more than 23,000 students head to their classes. Continue reading “Why in Ohio?”

Why on the Move?

One of the key objectives of the Finnish universities is to reach a high international level in rankings. Several indicators for achieving this status have been determined, but clearly the main door is opened with the help of impactful and scientifically relevant collaboration. This sounds like an easy problem to be solved. Academics travel to conferences and meet colleagues, and they have good access to virtual communication. They have plenty of opportunities to join international research groups. However, all researchers are not on the top in this sense. We may need to work more and especially work more with our international collaborators.  Again, an easy task! Let’s go abroad!

Currently, several associations provide a variety of possibilities to apply for research scholarships for longer and shorter periods, but faculties nevertheless suffer from low staff mobility rates. I do not know the reasons behind this accurately, but I would like to shortly review the advantages and to encourage all academics to get on the move!

Colleagues often claim that there is an increasing number of digital tools to keep in touch with fellows abroad, and to work with shared documents across the world. This is correct and evidently makes our work easier. However, alongside the vital research needs, to become an international researcher, we need a wide and strong network of contacts having a good understanding of cultural and local priorities. By obtaining a good understanding of the academic and everyday life of our collaborators, we may strengthen our status as persons to be taken seriously. In addition, as important as how many fellows we know in different countries, is how well we are known within academic communities. Becoming actively visible in several ways is a significant part of our international growth, for every one of us! Continue reading “Why on the Move?”

On the move…literally!

I have great honor to start writing here at the UEF On the move blog. However, I believe I won’t be the only one as there are many UEFians On the move around the world. My blog posts deals about research collaboration trip to the US, Nebraska, to cities called Lincoln and Omaha. In these two cities two universities exist: University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). This trip would not have been possible without funding. I had a great honor to receive a Fulbright Research Collaboration Grant  from the Finnish Fulbright Center (FBC) on May 2015. In addition, this trip would not have been possible without the help of my home institution UEF and very kind letters of invitation from UNO and UNL faculty members. Thank you!

My journey to UNL and UNO begins at October 23 and ends at Novemeber 14 2015. My main idea of blogging (this is the situation at the moment, but this idea might evolve) is to share information of research collaboration and provide tips/idea for collaboration. In addition, I will do my best to write about the US culture (and differences to Finnish one), and everything else interesting I’ll experience during my trip. To keep my promise of sharing information, here are some good tips for those planning research collaboration trip somewhere: Continue reading “On the move…literally!”