The celebration, a collaborative project with the Association of Chinese Students and Scholars in the Netherlands (ACSSNL) and PhD Network University Twente (P-NUT), will begin with a Chinese-style dinner for invited guests in the Faculty Club restaurant. At 9 pm, the festivities continue at an open party in the Bastille. For more information, see www.utwente.nl/p-nut.
Throughout the year, the Faculty Club will host get-togethers for international PhD students and staff members, in close cooperation with P-NUT. Nationality-based associations are invited to co-organize these monthly events in the Blomzaal and the restaurant of the Faculty Club. The gatherings will take place as `nationality presentations' of the specific national group (such as Turkish or Indian) within the international community. A culinary component will also be crucial to each event. According to Faculty Club general manager Ineke Baas, `Each group will deliver a few pages about differences or difficulties for international students at the UT for a book on internationalization at the UT.' To collaborate on a nationality presentation and dinner, contact Ms. Baas at [email protected].
In addition to these informal gatherings the Faculty Club and P-NUT will organize themed lunches focusing on specific issues for PhD candidates, for instance: `International demands on PhD programs' (February 21), `Internationalization for PhDs at the UT' (March 13), and `Issues for the PhD defense' (May 8).
But what does `internationalization' really mean? For Ms. Baas, internationalization comprises two aspects: `organization and mental orientation.' In the first category is `how to improve the possibilities of coming and staying in the Netherlands as well as cooperation with other universities within and beyond Europe.' In the second category, Baas points out that `science is international and professors work internationally,' so the UT's academic infrastructure should function accordingly.
For Xuexin Duan (PhD student in Supramolecular Chemistry & Technology), chairman of ACSSNL, it means a chance for `more Chinese meeting more foreigners, more Dutch.' According to Duan, `Chinese want to stay in their small group.' He clarifies that Chinese students brought up before 1980 tend to adhere to ideals of the Cultural Revolution and remain wary of Western values. Chinese brought up after 1980 tend to be more open to Western culture. In recent years, the UT Chinese community has begun reaching out to its colleagues. In 2006, the ACSSNL tried something new and held the Chinese New Year celebration with the International Office. For the first time ever, the event was open to the public. This year, they will try to make it even more accessible to non-Chinese participants by conducting more of the festivities in English. The master of ceremonies will be assisted by a Chinese translator, Han Yong, for the evening.
To Alexander le Fèbre (PhD student in Transducer Science and Technology), P-NUT chairman, internationalization refers to `giving attention to international PhDs and solving their problems.' Le Fèbre sheds light on the situation of PhD students, `Most PhDs are satisfied here. Those who are happiest are in research groups that do a lot for their members. Those in groups which offer less support are less content.' He continues, `There are many plans, but some things are not yet good enough.' Some PhD candidates face complicated visa issues upon arrival. Another problem is that while PhD students are assured that mastery of English is sufficient, they soon learn that much of written and oral communication is in Dutch. Le Fèbre: `According to a P-NUT survey, about 80% of the international PhD candidates want to learn Dutch.' Some research groups offered that possibility, others refused. `Now the UT has promised to pay for every PhD candidate who wants to take a language course offered at the UT.'
Le Fèbre: `P-NUT hears some problems, but we do not have access to enough PhDs.' The Year of Internationalization will offer the chance to assemble PhD candidates from different countries and help solve issues that plague them. With any luck, the Year of the Golden Pig will lend its good fortune to the Faculty Club's Year of Internationalization.
Xuexin Duan (ACSSNL chairman), Alexander le Fèbre (P-NUT chairman) and Ineke Baas (general manager of Faculty Club association) join forces to kick off the Year of Internationalization.
