Elena Gorbacheva
Administrative stay

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Mission statement

The goal of my visit to QUT was to finalize preparation of the Joint PhD Agreement between QUT and WWU Münster, discuss future collaboration on the NSS follow-up project “Propelling Business Process Management by Research and Innovation Staff Exchange” (RISE_BPM), and establish further structures for student exchange.

The goal of my visit to the University of Waikato was to discuss further collaboration opportunities after the NSS project completion.

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Research results

During my stay at QUT, I collaborated with the following decision makers:

• Prof. Dr. Michael Rosemann – Head of the Information Systems School, NSS project partner
• Leonard Fitzpatrick - International Partnerships and Mobility Manager

Joint PhD Agreement between QUT and WWU Münster has been approved and signed by the Dean of Research and Research Training of QUT. The professors of the Department of Information Systems at WWU Münster have also approved the Agreement and it is in the process of being signed by the Dean of the School of Business and Economics of WWU Münster.

The first PhD student within the Joint PhD Program between QUT and WWU Münster will be funded within the RISE_BPM project, which was set up to ensure sustainability and further extension of the collaboration ties established during the NSS project. RISE_BPM is the first favourably evaluated project proposal submitted by WWU Münster in cooperation with ERCIS partners within the Horizon 2020 EU funding programme. RISE_BPM project is aimed at networking world-leading research institutions and corporate innovators to develop new horizons for Business Process Management (BPM). Project consortium, besides WWU Münster as the project coordinator, includes partners from Australia (QUT), South Korea (UNIST), Brazil (Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro), Austria (Vienna University of Economics and Business), Spain (University of Seville), Netherlands (Eindhoven University of Technology, Cupenya B.V.), Liechtenstein (University of Liechtenstein), and Germany (PICTURE GmbH). It is planned that RISE_BPM lasts four years starting from May 2015.

Moreover, further options for student exchange were discussed with Mr. Leonard Fitzpatrick. In particular, we plan to apply for a group mobility grant for QUT students offered by QUT central international office. In addition to that, in 2015 we would like to apply for the Australia-Germany Joint Cooperation Scheme – a new funding initiative of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

During the short visit of the University of Waikato, Dr. Armin Stein, Sebastian Bräuer and I met with Prof. Dr. Bob McQueen, Assoc. Prof. Eric Deakins, Dr. Stuart Dillon and Dr. Karyn Rastrick from the Department of Management Systems. All together we discussed the opportunities of further collaboration between the University of Waikato and WWU Münster and general development of the ERCIS network. We agreed to establish a Memorandum of Understanding to provide facilities and supervision of guest researchers from either university. In case of success and high intensity of researcher exchange, we might further formalize this process in the future. We also agreed that it might be beneficial for all ERCIS members to establish an online platform for collecting e.g. slides and/or recorded presentations done by the ERCIS members and their colleagues during the ERCIS Lunchtime Seminars and/or other events. The results of these initiatives, as well as the next steps will be discussed at WWU Münster during the visits of Dr. Stuart Dillon in May 2015 and Assoc. Prof. Eric Deakins in July 2015.

The NSS project final report is currently being prepared and will be finalized by the end of January 2015.