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The goal of research consists in identifying trends in academic mobility in Russia and abroad, primarily that of academic staff; contributing suggestions on improving the management of academic mobility processes.

The research uses methods of observation, comparative analysis, as well as statistical method and generalization method supported by the facts. A comparative analysis of statistical data is made; these data were taken from the publicly available reliable sources of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Human Resource Development Department of the Asia–Pacific and others.

It was found that the level of academic mobility rises with the rising level of education. The overall mobility of tertiary students – in particular, students and postgraduate students, is growing throughout the world. Mobile postgraduate students demonstrate better research results during training. Even short-term academic internships for postgraduate students contribute to the successful implementation of research projects at their host university and the spread of new knowledge in general. In general, academic mobility contributes to the accumulation of human and cultural scientific capital that makes a connection between research communities in different countries. Based on the research findings, it was found that no statistics are collected on the foreign academic mobility of postgraduate students and young researchers in Russia. Based on the analysis, it may be deduced that the scope of academic mobility is extremely small. European countries are the main countries of prevailing academic mobility.

Given the importance of participation in foreign academic mobility for the development of the competitiveness of national science in Russia, it appears that there is a need to monitor the foreign academic mobility of Russian postgraduate students and young researchers. The monitoring of foreign academic mobility of Russian postgraduate students and young researchers is a systematic observation of the status and conditions of training highly qualified personnel in Russian educational establishments and scientific organizations, providing educational authorities of Russia with up-to-date information on the status of outgoing academic mobility necessary for analyzing and forecasting the development of the national education system and national labor market.

This chapter presents an analysis of the lived experiences of academic mobility for three educational researchers, at various stages of their research career, from different European national contexts. Lived experiences were explored by examining the metaphors used by each educational researcher to convey their experiences of academic mobility. These metaphors were then explored in further depth via individual interviews. The purpose of this analysis is to extend the debate around academic mobility, which often fails to differentiate between academic mobility and mobile academics. In addition, this chapter explores the impact of the desire for, and experience of, academic mobility on the complex, hybrid and changing process of academic identity formation. In conclusion, the chapter questions whether conventional ideas of research in the social sciences and humanities are essentially connected in one way or another to the nation state, or whether research is fundamentally an international occupation.

Exploring the personal and professional implications of academic mobility, with a special emphasis on the influence of gender, is essential for our understanding of career development in higher education. This chapter focuses on the subjective experiences around career and professional performance of a group of ‘mobilized’ academics. Through data analysis we have found that both gender and cultural factors were mediating in the careers of the participants. Specifically, mobility has an impact on the curriculum and was perceived as a facilitator of career advancement, but also meant costs, especially at personal and family level, but also institutional.

Short-term international mobility has become popular among academics who are seeking new scholarly experiences abroad for a limited period. Short-term international mobility refers to staying abroad for a few days, weeks or months for scholarly work, although there is no specific definition of ‘short’. In this chapter, I describe my experience of a five-month international stay on my first sabbatical. After positioning myself as a researcher on academic mobility and a mobile academic, I describe the international mobile experience from preparing to travel to returning home. Based on personal reflections, the chapter shares the challenges that early-career academics might confront and offers strategies to enjoy meaningful experiences in short-term mobility.

The worldwide interdependency of nations has been acknowledged throughout the globalization literature and by many national and international organizations, including higher education institutions (HEIs), which have become an essential tool to accelerate this process. Financial, cultural, and political motives have driven 21st century higher education (HE) toward a more international direction shaping HE policies and promoting the mobility of ideas and individuals across the world. Utilizing bibliometric and descriptive tools, the article aims to analyze the existing knowledge base on international mobility of academics (IMA) as a core component of internationalization. More specifically, the study examines 423 papers published between 1970 and 2021 in Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases to reveal the big picture of the knowledge base by identifying the volume, growth trajectory, geographical dispersion, the most influential authors, articles, journals as well as the intellectual structure and the topical foci in the field. The findings have produced four distinct schools of thought labeled as “Knowledge Transfer and Mobility Networks,” “Academic Mobility in IHE Process,” “Expatriate Studies,” and “Scientific Mobility.” Moreover, the co-occurrence keyword map has yielded several topical foci: “Internationalization and Expatriate Academics,” “Academic Mobility and Career Paths,” and “Knowledge Transfer, Migration, and Academic Identity.” Considering the general trends and developments in the field, the study might provide more insight into further research.

In this chapter, the author attempts to sketch the phenomenon of internationalization as manifested in the literature on academic mobility. Internationalization is commonly seen as a process contributing to the quality in higher education while academic mobility is often regarded as the most critical dimension of this process. By providing a review of the literature on internationalization and mobility, the chapter highlights rationales for inbound and outbound mobility for higher education systems and institutions in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). It further portrays how Georgia – a small country in the Caucasus and a member of EHEA responds to the global phenomenon employing several reforms, support schemes, and institutional initiatives. Lastly, reflecting on current trends and policies, the author attempts to map the prospects for internationalization of Georgian higher education. This chapter offers a promising area for comparative and international research on internationalization and contributes to the literature on academic mobility in Europe.

The internationalisation of academia has significantly altered the higher education environment. Interactions between academic staff and students from a range of social, political and cultural backgrounds are now commonplace. Within this context, it is important to explore the professional and personal impact of internationalisation on academics and academic environments. This chapter synthesises the global literature on academic mobility and migration through the lens of personal reflections by three international academics at an Australian-based university. The reflections focus on the complexities of transitioning to a new academic environment, the unique challenges often encountered by international academics, and how these impact on their teaching and research experiences as well as on their professional identity. The nature of the adjustments and changes in lifestyle that academics make when transitioning to an overseas academic environment are explored, with reference to implications for future developments in academic mobility.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the current role of foreign foundations in the cross-border mobility of Russian elite scientists.

The methodology is based on a combination of a quantitative survey (December 2004-February 2005) of former Russian Humboldtians and qualitative research (expert interviews in 2005 and in 2012, respectively) of Russian alumni of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation (Germany).

For Russian elite researchers participating in academic mobility, in 2000s it is rather cross-border mobility’ brain circulation’ rather than “brain drain” a dominant form of academic mobility typical. Even in 2000s, western foundations still played a significant while twofold role – promoting emigration of for a small part of Russian elite researchers, on the one hand, while and getting access to top-level labs, etc. and to international academic chains of excellence for the majority of them, on the other. Coming back to the home country, affiliation with foreign foundations reduces the dependence of Russian elite researchers on hierarchical structures within the national state science system and promotes project teams and network forms of interaction their career. However, Russian scientists dependence on foreign funding affect both the scope of research and their academic status (mostly – second-level positions within research projects, etc.). Among the reasons to for leave leaving Russia it is primarily the desire to remain have closer access to their academic community and the equipment to do on the top level in research. The paper formulates some measures to foster incentives to stay in Russia and respectively to support re-emigration of elite researchers, in form of world class research labs and strengthening the motivation of senior researchers to work in the home country.

Research limitations consist in using of only one of the alumni networks of several western foundations database.

The paper is unique as regards the empirical results; its value consists in their organizational, social and political implications.

This chapter identifies factors influencing doctoral candidates’ mobility plans based on empirical studies as well as theories of social inequality and migration. The relative importance of the identified factors is assessed through a series of linear and logistic regressions, which are calculated based on data from a 2010 online survey of doctoral candidates employed at German universities. The theoretical considerations are mostly confirmed: mobility experiences during the previous studies and during the doctorate mobilise doctoral candidates to plan further research periods abroad. Moreover, contextual factors play an important role. For instance, working in an internationalised institutional environment and having regular contact with academics abroad increase the likelihood of developing mobility plans. Regarding social factors, age turns out to be negatively associated with mobility plans. Parenthood also affects mobility plans negatively, but only among female doctoral candidates. Contrary to the hypothesis, we do not find that a high social background significantly increases the likelihood of planning a research period abroad.