Brno, April 12 (CTK) – Masaryk University (MU) has established an office in support of its foreign staff within its long-standing effort to promote international research and instruction, Ema Wiesnerova, from the Czech university press department, told journalists on Thursday.
The office will help foreigners come to Brno, deal with technicalities, search for the right school for their children and interpreting at authorities.
Wiesnerova said this was the first specialised office of this type at Czech universities.
The new service relates to the employees who come to Brno for more than three months. Their numbers have been growing in past years. In 2013 there were 232 of them at MU and last year 281, but the figure does not include Slovaks.
“A good university must attract quality academics from abroad, maintaining competitiveness in research and instruction,” university vice-rector for internationalisation Ivan Maly said.
“MU wants to be an attractive employer for foreign experts. This is why after their resettlement to Brno, it offers them the services that are routinely provided at the universities of our type and standing in the world,” he added.
The university staff contacts the new employees from abroad before their arrival to the Czech Republic in order to help them deal with the technicalities necessary for the stay here.
“We tell them whether they need the visa, what documents they have to bring with them and when it comes to the foreigners from outside the EU, we also arrange their visits at the migration and asylum policy departments where they must announce their stay within three days after their arrival,” Sylvie Pospisilova, head of the International Support Office, said.
“We also help them find an accommodation,” she added.
The International Support Office is in charge of the foreign employees and their families throughout their stay.
“We have a one-year pilot operation behind us during which we finished roughly 1,000 consultations of various type,” Pospisilova said.
