International teamwork is becoming increasingly important in research and higher education.

Not only the collaboration in intercultural teams itself but also the leadership of such teams can be associated with challenges that need to be reflected upon and resolved. But the differing cultural perspectives present in such teams can be leveraged to achieve innovative outcomes.

Through the presentation of case studies and practical exercises, participants in this seminar will be encouraged to reflect on their own behavioural patterns and experiences and to develop new skills to deal with and utilize cultural and disciplinary complexity.

Course objectives:

The aims of the course are to enable participants to:
• deal more effectively and appropriately with the challenges and opportunities of cooperation in international teams at universities of applied sciences and in higher education more generally

• leverage the culturally diverse perspectives and practices of such teams as a resource to generate innovative results and new practice

• understand better their own experiences in handling the complexity of intercultural interaction and leadership and to develop new approaches

• expand their repertoire of competencies necessary for intercultural team interaction (i.e., skills and behavioural patterns, attitudes and personal qualities)

The course, which will use a range of interactive training methods, will be conducted in English by a native speaker of British English able to provide immediate explanation in German of possibly unfamiliar terms.

Target group: Higher education staff who work in intercultural projects or teams as scientists, researchers, teachers, supervisors, team leaders, administrative employees