Join us and increase the international awareness of KI
You and the unit or department of KI you work at can contribute to increasing KI's impact globally. All forces are needed! Increased visibility and awareness of KI can give us better conditions to drive the development of knowledge about life and strive for better health for all.
Why does KI need to be more visible globally?
If KI is to remain a world-leading university, in addition to providing high quality research and education, it requires collaborations that can support KI's ability to operate. To be part of the international landscape is absolutely crucial today for a university's success and impact. Many important decisions concerning research, but also higher education, are taken at EU level.
Increased competition requires a clear offer
Large parts of the funding come from international sources outside Sweden. Competition has intensified internationally as several countries have invested in higher education and research in recent decades, which places KI in a context where it is more difficult to distinguish itself (oneself?). With increased knowledge globally of what KI stands for and what KI can contribute with in the field of health, opportunities are created to attract and engage students, researchers, funding and partners, as well as contribute with evidence to political decisions that affect health for all.
Increase your own international visibility
KI's strength is our employees, students and alumni and the education and research conducted at the university. What KI stands for is communicated in all the contacts and networks in which KI operates. All employees at KI are important and carry the brand. You are an ambassador for KI and represent KI's values, especially in international contexts. You can contribute to strengthening and giving a positive image of KI internationally.
- Your profile on ki.se. Is it bilingual? Complete and updated? If someone googles your name, it is probably your KI profile that comes up first. Then LinkedIn (if you are present there) or Researchgate, which you can connect to your KI profile.
- Your signature. Does it contain KI's logo and does it say Karolinska Institutet – a medical university? We know for sure that the name creates ambiguity internationally and through such a simple thing as an email signature, you can help increase awareness.
- Your professional networks. Do you specify your connection to KI in your various networks?
- Your participation in international contexts such as meetings, business trips and conferences. If you present or participate in international contexts, do you use KI's official presentation material? (Link) Do you mention or signal in any way that you come from KI? Do you highlight KI as a higher education institution in connection with your presentation?
- Your social media. In your professional social media, you are an ambassador and can contribute to increasing awareness of KI by creating, liking and sharing posts related to KI.
Increase international visibility for your unit, department or research group
The goal of KI's Strategy 2030 is to increase KI's international visibility. Many small efforts and increased awareness throughout the institution can make a big difference. How can you contribute to KI's visibility and at the same time boost your operations internationally?
Increased awareness gives increased visibility and vice versa. To increase awareness, our website ki.se is unbeatable. Ki.se is KI's window to the world. Complete and searchable information in both Swedish and English strengthens our visibility both locally and centrally at KI.
- Create and complete (and update) employees in education and research and research groups' presentations at ki.se
- Support and prioritize the implementation of RIMS, which also involves ongoing system support
- Consider more languages when publishing information and news (English and other languages). Ki.se is bilingual. Sometimes a reference from the Swedish to the English page is enough or vice-versa.
- Is there an international angle to the text you want to publish on ki.se? Get support from press office for advice..
How our employees receive support from communication officers and use platforms and information channels affects the visibility of their own work and the visibility of KI internationally. There is a central communication support and many units or departments have communication officers that are part of a central network. (LINK)
- Take advantage of the research support available to communicate research internationally. Career Service as well as the Communications and Public Relations Office and the library offer information opportunities in this area with the support of both external and internal expertise. The Conversation. (Link)
- Use target group-adapted presentation material (on ki.se) that facilitates contexts when your staff represent KI internationally (link)
- Encourage the professional presence of staff and researchers in social media
- Offer internationally recognized KI profiles in your area feedback and support for their communication you are able to make that a priority.
- Use the support of the Communications and Public Relations Office’s press service for international media exposure.
Networking is one of the most important communication channels available to organizations. The employees' networks are also KI's networks. At your unit you can:
- Identify ambassadors, i.e. employees who are willing to take on a great deal of responsibility to represent KI in international contexts and possess a large international network themselves. An inventory of ambassadors could provide an overview of the activity's potential to increase visibility and be a resource for coordinating international efforts locally and centrally
- Make an inventory of and engage leading international alumni in your field of research
- Strive to have representatives from your work participate in relevant national networks in international contexts
- Participation in and hosting international conferences benefit both KI's researchers in their research and the international visibility of the university. The researchers are ambassadors and there is much to be gained from presence, being made visible and making contacts in these contexts.
- Identify, keep in touch and provide continuous information to strategic staff at embassies, authorities and companies globally
- Develop opportunities for international visibility for activities in connection with the Nobel Prize and strive to find synergies internally and externally
- Strengthen your employees' knowledge in responsible internationalization (link)
- Provide personal opportunity to develop skills in English and intercultural communication
Projects for increased international visibility
Based on Strategy 2030, a project was carried out in 2020-2021 to develop a strategic action plan for increased international visibility. The report identified twelve areas of intervention and some 50 activities that can contribute to increasing KI's international visibility.
The project proposed prioritising the following actions:
- Target group-adapted and coherent cohesive? Vad avses, att det är helt lika på svenska o engelska? website (ki.se) in English (and Swedish)
- Alumni activities
- Function focusing on international strategic media exposure
- Support for implementing a Research Information Management System (RIMS)
- Strengthening EU coordination (Brussels office and locally)
- Strengthened support for KI staff's presence in social media
Follow-up of the project in 2023
The project group consisting of members from the International Relations Office and the Communications and Public Relations Office has been given an extended assignment by the University Director until the summer of 2023.
In addition to internal information efforts to raise awareness of the importance of increased international visibility, the project group will support priority areas of intervention and follow up on proposed activities in the strategic action plan. A summary will be presented in September-October 2023.