Advancing Professional Competence through Collaborative Internships and Applied Research Initiatives

While pursuing higher education at different levels, students of Swiss higher education institutions from various disciplines complete professional internships abroad. With this project, the KFPE improves the learning experience of students participating in such internships and improves the benefits for participating institutions, sending and hosting the students. Such internships contribute to the qualification of students as future experts for global collaboration and they strengthen the global collaboration between higher education institutions.

The project aims to prepare students for professional internships abroad and addresses an important challenge: How can we ensure that internships not only impart technical skills but also foster intercultural competencies and deepen understanding of global development challenges? The project is led by a team from the HAFL Hugo P. Cecchini Institute. It involves analyzing past and current practices and consulting stakeholders to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities of internships abroad. The goal of the project is to develop guidelines and compile best practices to optimize the quality of these internships. The project makes a contribution to preparing students as methodologically and technically competent, solution-oriented, flexible, and multicultural experts. This project benefits not only the students but also the educational institutions and internship organizations involved by promoting improved collaboration and a better understanding of global development challenges.

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