Viadrina's Specific Profile
A number of conclusions can be drawn from this expanded set of goals relating to the internationalization of science, particularly for Viadrina. Topics in research and instruction should be as internationally oriented as possible in order to truly benefit from the wealth that cultural diversity offers. Because of Viadrina's research and instruction traits, it is obvious that the university should place particular but not exclusive geographical emphasis on Europe, specifically Poland, East Central Europe, the EU and adjacent regions. This not only applies to topics in research and instruction but also for the university community. Therefore, a plausible goal of Viadrina European University is first and foremost to create an international student and faculty body whilst maintaining exchanges and partnerships with a large number of international universities. In order to remain fruitful, the international partnerships should revolve around common interests in research, or the partner institutions should at least offer comparable fields of study and degree programs. In addition to the primary focus on student exchanges, another objective should be the advancement of instructional faculty, especially those without tenure.
International internships and practical application programs are now part of the norm in education; therefore, international cooperations and partnerships are offered in the areas of practica and internships. This not only applies to politics and culture, but students of business and economics greatly benefit from international training due to marketplace globalization.
In addition to its concentration on Poland, East Central Europe and the EU, Viadrina has placed emphasis on multiple language competencies in addition to English. Graduates are not only required to have had completed study abroad programs, but they are expected to have a high level of proficiency in multiple languages including field-specific language skills.
Aside from the geographic focus of Viadrina, the motivation to impart its students with multilingual communication skills shall be furthered to expand the university's unique profile. In Germany, multilingual academic programs are currently not offered. In this regard, Viadrina European University has the opportunity to be a pioneer. At the same time, many recent political-scientific initiatives point to the fact that the rationale for multilingualism is being increasingly accepted and recognized.
The rationale for multilingual education is quite simple. Europe will continue to be a multilingual region well into the future. When European citizens allow themselves to become multilingual and develop multicultural competencies through language learning, there will be a twofold positive result. Not only will Europe's global engagement improve qualitatively, but European citizens will also be in high demand in all regions and fields of the global economy due to their multilingual skills and multicultural competencies. Because Viadrina emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to science--above all in the Faculty of Cultural Science--there exists a key complementarity between interdisciplinism and multilingual internationalism, with a particular focus on building bridges between cultures. Multilingualism offers the three faculties a specific orientation, with which each respective faculty can associate itself.