Just pack your bags, take your family with you – and then off you go abroad. Kine Korsmo has done just that. Experiencing another country for two months, albeit not as an excessively long vacation or downtime. Instead, she saw all the different facets: work, leisure, everyday life. The Norwegian lives in Drammen, not far from Oslo, and works at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN). The institution of higher education is a member of EDUC – and Kine Korsmo is part of the EDUC team there. She works on the new digital teaching and learning worlds. Her remit includes advising teaching staff who are keen to lend their course or study program an international dimension. It is a dream job for her: "EDUC presents a unique opportunity to experience and help shape the European educational area," she explains. "The European dimension sometimes seems remote – even or especially for us in Norway. This is where EDUC comes in and offers staff as well as students concrete opportunities to gain international experience and to network."
New temporary workplace
Kine Korsmo frequently bumps into her EDUC colleagues in the alliance's working groups, albeit almost exclusively virtually. When staff secondments were advertised within the alliance for the first time mid-2024, she did not have to think twice and applied for a short-term transfer to Potsdam. "I thought: this is the perfect opportunity to get to know the University of Potsdam and my colleagues better," she says. Staff secondment entails institutions "borrowing" staff temporarily across national borders – for example, federal civil servants regularly head off to the EU Commission for months or even years without changing employers.
Kine Korsmo came to Potsdam, specifically to the International Office (IO), for two months at the beginning of May. There, she dealt with the question of how the IO is dealing with the issue of sustainability. "Sustainability is a major concern for the IO – precisely because of the obvious conflict of targets inherent to 'more mobility but less flying'," says Korsmo. "Mobility is, of course, an important area, but so too are sustainability as a topic in teaching, long-term approaches and cooperation with partners worldwide." For the IO, staff secondment meant additional manpower and hence the capacity to tackle this issue. Kine Korsmo's work is to be incorporated into the University of Potsdam's new internationalization strategy, which is currently being developed.
Thanks to the flexibility of the secondment, she spent half of her working hours at the University of Potsdam’s Am Neuen Palais campus, but the other half – remotely – at the USN to continue whatever could not wait for two months. "That made it easier to make the move," she says. "I didn't have to drop everything."
Return to an old love
Incidentally, this was not Kine Korsmo's first time in Germany. Instead, it seems that she is constantly drawn to the country across the Baltic Sea: "I studied German at school for many years. But after graduating from high school, I thought: now I can read and write German, but I can't speak it. So I went to Thuringia for a year as part of the European Voluntary Service." She later spent another three months at the German-Norwegian Study Center in Kiel. In 2012, she worked at the Norwegian embassy in Berlin for six months – and during this time met her husband, who comes from Germany. In 2025, she brought her whole family with her: her partner and their two children, who attended kindergarten in Berlin. Quite a culture shock for all four of them, as she laughingly "confesses": "None of us were used to that level of urban hustle and bustle – and with children in tow! But the children settled in incredibly quickly," she says. The plan worked out for them: The two of them were immersed in German for two months, in terms of both the language and everyday life.
What does she take home with her? "Plenty input, knowledge, inspiration, and ideas for my colleagues in the IO at the USN – how we too can deal with the topic of sustainability," says Kine Korsmo. "I am very grateful for the support, patience, and flexibility of my colleagues at the Potsdam International Office, who made this great experience possible. I very quickly felt part of the team." Moreover, the stint tremendously benefited the work within EDUC. Although they had met regularly before, they had always done so online and in larger groups with colleagues from all eight partner universities. "But sitting down together bilaterally is something that hardly ever happens. And this informal, unplanned exchange is very helpful."
Real opportunity for everyone
Hence she has no problem promoting the next round of staff secondments, which is scheduled for 2026: "I would recommend that everyone give it a shot. Of course, you have to plan it well and adapt it to your own circumstances. It is also advisable to set clear expectations on both sides in advance and remain flexible so that it works for everyone. But I received so much support – both from the USN and from the University of Potsdam – it was great." Kine Korsmo definitely wants to come back: "Despite being here for two months, I didn’t see all that much. I want to make up for that!"
University of Potsdam staff have until September 15, 2025 to apply for a secondment in 2026. Details on the call for applications and the new mobility format are available on the following website: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/de/educ/fuer-mitarbeitende/secondment
Further information on EDUC opportunities for staff: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/de/educ/fuer-mitarbeitende-2