– What I liked most about UiS and the Business School is the degree of internationalization

Andrei Mikhailov and Cleber da Costa Webber are both PhD-students from Brazil and have been at the university from August til November. Mikhailov is from Unisinos Business School in Porto Alegre, and da Costa Webber is from the University of Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos.

They have been actively engaged in the centre's activities through presentations in our PhD brown bag seminars, Innovation seminar series, and social events.

The purpose of the stay is to work as a guest researcher carrying out research on university-industry relations and innovation capabilities as a part of PhD dissertation together with Professor Marte Cecilie Wilhelmsen Solheim. The expected deliverable will be submitting one research paper to an international academic journal.

Valuable learning

Mikhailov has shared some thoughts about his stay in Stavanger. He had great expectations of the city, the university and UiS Business School, and he says that what he saw and experienced surpassed most of his expectations.

– What I liked most about UiS and the Business School is the degree of internationalization. Most PhD students come from outside of Norway, and listening to their experiences in other countries, and foreign universities have been exciting. As a PhD student at the last stage of the PhD, it is very valuable to learn about that as it makes me understand more about the academic job market, job opportunities and some cultural aspects of different countries. I also made friends here, and we went out many times. For instance, to places such as local restaurants, the Archaeological Museum and Jernaldergården.

His professional experience was as good as his personal one. He managed to start a lot of publications and is also trying to approve a new project for funding in which a researcher from the UiS will take part. Other than that, he really liked the activity called «Brown Bag seminars»:

– It involves different activities, such as paper presentations or even informal activities, such as guided tourist tours or dinners.

Enriching exchange

Professor Marte Solheim at UiS Business School and head of the Centre for Innovation Research says it has been a great pleasure to have Andrei Mikhailov and Cleber da Costa Webber as guest researchers this semester.

– This exchange of diverse knowledge, ideas and experiences is enriching, not only for the international guest researchers but also for the whole research environment.