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Vision & Project Benefits

University of Galway has a long history of welcoming and inspiring scholars. Our university offers high-quality research, teaching and learning in a safe and welcoming environment embedded in the heart of Irish culture. Our internationalisation vision is a global university that welcomes the world and goes out into the world. Where we further extend our global impact and research and enhance our reputation for dynamism, equality and diversity while rooted in our distinct and vibrant region. We will have a diverse student and staff body involved in research and learning who are well supported, with a broad portfolio of high-quality partnerships and a curriculum that values mobility and international perspectives. This will enhance the recognition, innovation and employability of our students and staff. It will increase our reputation regionally, nationally and internationally, enabling us to attract high-quality students, staff and partners to further our research goals and the education of future leaders

Our journey to a global university has already begun. We have increased the recruitment of international students for teaching and research, broadened and deepened international collaborations by staff, and increased the mobility of students to and from partners worldwide. However, this success has been achieved with limited investment and international and domestic student support have become separated so what has been achieved to date is not sustainable or scalable. The Quality Review of the International Office in April 2019 confirmed these challenges to further growth. It recommended that University of Galway create a clear strategic direction and agenda for internationalisation, restructure and resource the International Office, and realign roles and responsibilities across campus.

The Global Galway Project has established internationalisation structures and ways of working that support the growth of our global university journey and encourage a culture where we all share responsibility for internationalisation and our global future.

Contribution to University Strategy

The Global Galway Project is delivering structures and ways of working that enable a globalised campus with internationalisation embedded as the responsibility of everyone. Our globalised campus has a diverse student and staff body involved in research and learning who are well supported, with a broad portfolio of high-quality partnerships and a curriculum that values
mobility and global perspectives.

Respect: An Enriched Global Experience

Our global university:

Increases appreciation and understanding of different cultures and perspectives amongst students and staff, leading to a richer academic and campus experience and contributing to a fairer and culturally rich society regionally, nationally and internationally.
Promotes more diverse approaches to teaching, learning and research allowing the development and growth of teaching and research in specialist areas, which in turn further increases our attractiveness to students and staff who bring more innovation, knowledge and talent into the Galway region.

Open: A Global University for Everyone

The global university will:

Include culturally diverse students and staff to create a rich educational and innovation environment which will benefit all our students and staff and enhance our education and research.
Deliver a broader mix of international students across taught and research programmes at PG and UG level which will lead to improved communication, language and teamwork skills, increasing student motivation leading to higher levels of academic outcomes which enhances employment opportunities.
Improve the academic and personal support for international students and staff through improved understanding of different cultures leading to an increased sense of community and alumni, staff and students acting as ambassadors for our university across the Globe.
Enhance the pool of experience, research and knowledge production leading to an expansion of the skillset and development of expertise of researchers and teaching staff, raising standards of teaching and learning, and increasing innovation and professional satisfaction which in turn enhances the professional development of staff and enables us to attract better quality staff and students.

Sustainable: Owning our Global Future

The global university will:

Be a place where we each understand and value our individual role in internationalisation and appreciate that our global future is a shared responsibility
Engage with sustainability challenges at a global level so that we play our part in addressing issues, appreciating perspectives and creating solutions.
Promote research and academic collaboration and discourse leading to new approaches to teaching and an elevation of teaching standards.

Excellence: Creating Opportunities to Broaden our Global Horizons

The global university will:

Attract more partners and grow our reputation, giving us access to better data and best practices at all levels leading to higher quality research processes and outputs improving our reputation and ranking which attracts further partnerships with higher-ranking institutions.
Increase integration in networks and open collaborative opportunities leading to enhanced global research and scholarship collaboration which allows us to invest in high-quality research facilities.
Enhance our education by developing and expanding areas of strength and excellence and improving industry engagement

‘Comprehensive internationalisation is a commitment, confirmed through action, to infuse international and comparative perspectives throughout the teaching, research, and service missions of higher education. It shapes institutional ethos and values and touches the entire higher education enterprise. It is essential that it be embraced by institutional leadership, governance, faculty, students, and all academic service and support units. It is an institutional imperative, not just a desirable possibility.’ - Hudzik 2011 in “Comprehensive Internationalisation. From Concept to Action”, NAFSA.