Information for Hosts

Since 2018, international guests from teaching, research and practice have been coming to HSBI for one week in May to share their international perspectives on all campuses. They participate in research projects, hold lectures and workshops and present their home universities. There is no overarching main topic for the IW. Instead, guests can contribute to the topics that are currently relevant to the hosting faculty/department. The IW programme is rounded off with numerous information offers on stays abroad and activities organised by international students.

Professors, research assistants / academic staff and lecturers for special assignments can invite guests to participate in teaching and research projects. Potential guests are lecturers and researchers from universities abroad, practitioners (e.g. from companies, NGOs or social and medical institutions abroad) as well as international artists and designers.

Technical and administrative staff can invite colleagues from related fields at universities abroad. Please note that these guests cannot receive a honorarium from the HSBI and must finance their visit themselves (for more information, see below ‘How is a guest's visit financed?’).

Your guests can participate in the IW virtually or on site, either for the entire week or on individual days.

As an academic host, you include your guest in your teaching and research activities at HSBI. Your guest can be involved in teaching, for example in the form of lectures, workshops or discussion groups in German or English. In research, joint experiments, kick-off meetings for joint research projects or even small conferences are possible. We will require details about your teaching and research sessions in March 2026 when we compile the programme. In addition, you can organise visits to industry partners, meetings with colleagues, Q&A sessions with students, excursions or joint meals.

As technical and administrative staff hosting a guest, you give your guest insights into your everyday work at HSBI (job shadowing). Your guest can also offer information sessions for your department, for example to present their home university and the working methods there. This exchange with your guest can provide inspiration for your own work. In addition, you can organise visits to industry partners, meetings with colleagues, Q&A sessions with students, excursions or joint meals.

Of course, you do not have to look after your guest around the clock. There is also a small accompanying programme provided by the International Office in which guests can participate. On Monday afternoon, 18 May, the Welcome Reception of the IW will take place in the conference hall and on Tuesday, 19 May, guests will be able to participate in an information session on  HSBI, a campus tour in Bielefeld and various city tours. In addition, your guests will receive advice on which sights they should see and which activities they can pursue to explore the OWL region on their own, and they can take part in events by other IW guests.

Guests organise their arrival (including visa application, if necessary), accommodation and departure themselves. The organising team provides guests with travel information and a list of accommodation options.

Guests attending the IW virtually will receive no funding from HSBI.

Guests participating in the IW on site have the following funding options:

1. Home Institution
   In many cases, the home insitution is able to fund the visit. For instance, guests from countries participating in the Erasmus+ programme can apply for funding for a staff mobility at their home institution.
   
   
2. Honorarium from HSBI (only for teaching and research)
   Guests who cannot be funded by their home insitution receive a honorarium from HSBI (International Office) for participating in a research activity or teaching in a regular course taking place during the IW:
   • Honorarium for guests from within Europe: €400 + €85 per day of participation
   • Honorarium for guests from outside Europe: €1,000 + €85 per day of participation
   • Honorarium for international guests residing in Germany: Travel expenses by train (2nd class) + €85 per day of participation
   • The possible days of participation are 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 May 2026. Guests receiving a honorarium must submit their travel tickets/hotel bills as proof of the days on which they have attended. The International Office organises the payment of honoraria after the end of the IW in May/June 2026. There is no additional compensation for travel and hotel expenses.

Please note: We try to enable as many people as possible to participate, but we only have a limited budget for honoraria. Therefore, we ask all guests to let us know through the registration form if they can finance their stay through a grant (e.g., Erasmus+) or funds from their home institution and do not require a honorarium. If we reach the budget limit for honoraria, we will ask the faculties/hosts with the most guests to check for alternative funding options or to decide which of their guests cannot receive a honorarium this time.

As a potential host, you have received a digital flyer (German | English) in October, which you can forward to your potential guest(s). Please discuss with them for which activities you would like to invite them and whether they want to attend the entire IW (18–22 May) or just individual days. Your guest(s) can then register using our online registration form (linked on the digital flyer), indicating that you will be their host. The deadline for registration is 4 January 2026. The IW organisation team then reviews the incoming applications with regard to export control (see ‘Note on export control’ below) and financing options.

You and your guest will receive feedback presumably by the end of January as to whether the guest can participate. If so, your guest will then receive an official invitation letter from the HSBI and both of you will receive information on further planning and organisation. For guests coming from a sanctioned country, the feedback may take longer.

Universities in Germany are obliged to control and, if necessary, limit the dissemination of scientific knowledge that can be used and abused for military purposes. If you would like to invite guests whose main place of residence was outside the European Union, Australia, Iceland, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the United Kingdom or the USA during the last five years, the invitation must be examined under export control law.

When registering, your guest must state truthfully whether they have been staying outside the above-mentioned countries during the last five years. If this is the case, we will contact you and ask you to complete an additional questionnaire regarding the guest’s planned visit.

Please find background information on export control in the video below (German with English subtitles):