Project background Lise-Meitner-Schule is a vocational school/technical college in Berlin, Germany. We are specialized in the training of people who are going to work in laboratories and science orientated industry (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Pharmacy, Micro Technology). Since more than 20 years the school is conducting EU projects (Leonardo da Vinci Mobilities, Pilot Projects and Innovation Transfer Projects as well as Comenius-Grundtvig training courses) and has thereby established a large network of partners, i.e. laboratories in universities, research institutes and companies in EU regions from Tromsö to Sevilla, from Galway to Budapest and from French Guyane to New Caledonia. For academics trainings in foreign countries are a common thing to do and widely performed whereas for technical staff going abroad is still unusual and due to the different educational systems generally difficult to arrange. The network of Lise Meitner School allows lab technicians to participate in individual educational trainings in a wide range of subject areas. Activities / Procedure EuMobiL will allow up to 50 young graduates in natural-scientific and technical professions to take part in individual mobilities. The participants will stay a mean of 14 weeks in a research lab or in a company. Usually they are part of an ongoing research project in international research groups. Thereby the participants can extend their professional qualification as well as their language skills and intercultural competences. They learn to cope with an unfamiliar environment and become more self-reliant. This results in a great leap forward in their personality development. The receiving partners are research institutes, companies and laboratories in the natural-scientific departments of universities. They work in a global context and in international teams which makes it easy for our participants to fit in. The participants can apply for a grant via our school website. After a selection process which includes individual consulting in the EU office of the school they are placed according to their qualification and their career plans. The actual period of the stay is being negotiated individually. Travel plans and arrangements with the receiving partner and the mentor are being done by the participants. Still the EU office provides advice face-to-face, via email or telephone. The learning agreement and quality commitment between the participant, the sending and the receiving organisation describes the individual tasks of the participant and the supporting measures during the training placement. During their stay the participants report on a regular basis to the EU office of Lise-Meitner-Schule. On request most sending organisations provide the participants with a job reference. The europass Mobility however is an integral part of the project and will be handed out after all paper work is completed (including the participants report). University labs can moreover award the participant with credit points (ECVET). Then the participants usually come to the EU office for a personal evaluation interview. The receiving organisations are being visited every few years to guarantee the quality of the placements and intensify the contacts to the local mentors and researchers. During the project two such visits are budgeted. Project Aims / Results The participants… - acquire and consolidate professional and methodical competences - gain and extend intercultural competences and language skills - strengthen their self-confidence and ability to work in a team - increase their chances on the labour market The Lise-Meitner-Schule… - consolidates and expands its European network of research groups and laboratories - intensifies its insight into international research and methodology in order to adjust the local curricula according to present needs within the respective occupational area. The receiving organisations… - get the chance to engage well qualified staff which can contribute on a comparably high level to research projects - intensify their insight into vocational education in Germany Long term Benefits Besides of the individual support of young graduates from German vocational schools the project fosters the cooperation between educational institutions of related professional areas between the participating partner countries. A general aim would be to allow for mobilities during the training (instead of after the training) as part of an international education partnership.