Symposium
Futura Scientia (AFS) and Vilnius University Center for Education Policy (CEP)
Relational Internationalization in the Periphery: Attracting and Retaining International Talent Beyond “Brain Gain”
28th August 2026
Vilnius University, Faculty of Philosophy
The symposium will be broadcasted live via Facebook https://fb.me/e/6M3kDTVsT
Internationalization has long been promoted as a pathway to research excellence and global competitiveness (e.g., de Wit et al., 2015, Rose & Leišytė, 2016). In small and geographically
peripheral higher education systems – such as Lithuania and comparable contexts – recruiting international academics is often framed as essential for addressing staff shortages, increasing research productivity, and strengthening global networks. Yet, while policy discourse celebrates “brain gain” and global talent attraction, retention remains fragile and
underexplored.
This symposium examines the policy and institutional relevance of attracting and retaining international talent in small higher education systems operating under demographic decline,
limited domestic talent pools, and intensifying global competition. We argue for a relational approach to internationalization, distinguishing yet interlinking managed internationalization (strategies, rankings, funding incentives, immigration frameworks) and lived internationalization (career precarity, identity negotiations, language barriers, family mobility, belonging). Rather than positioning these dimensions in opposition, we explore their ambivalent convergences: managerial strategies create opportunities for mobility and
institutional reform, while simultaneously generating insecurity, short-term contracts, and uneven inclusion.
The symposium addresses four key questions:
1. Policy frameworks and structural conditions. How do immigration regulations, funding models, and national higher education strategies shape long-term retention?
How does reliance on fixed-term, project-based employment undermine stability in small systems?
2. Institutional practices and governance. How do universities balance global competitiveness with inclusive employment practices? What tensions arise between English-language research environments and local-language teaching or
administration? How transparent and accessible are tenure and promotion pathways for non-nationals?
3. Lived experiences and academic agency. How do international academics navigate precarious career trajectories, gendered and racialized hierarchies, and “sticky” transnational family ties? In what ways do they reshape institutional internationalization agendas?
4. From talent import to sustainable academic communities. What retention policies foster long-term commitment, belonging, and institutional memory? How can peripheral systems move beyond extractive talent circulation toward reciprocal and socially responsible internationalization?
By connecting macro-level policy, meso-level institutional governance, and micro-level lived experience, this symposium reframes international academic mobility as a transformative and relational process. It offers evidence-based and practice-oriented insights for ministries, university leadership, and academic communities seeking to align global competitiveness with equity, sustainability, and long-term system resilience.
Symposium Programme
28th August 2026, 15:30–18:00
Vilnius University, Faculty of Philosophy, Room 207
15:30–15:40 | Welcome & Framing
Welcome Speech: Prof. Dr. Gintaras Valušis, Vice-Rector, Vilnius University (Lithuania),
Prof. Habil. Dr. Rimantas Želvys, Head of Education Policy Centre, Vilnius University (Lithuania)
Framing: Prof. Dr. Liudvika Leišytė, Deputy Director of the Center of Higher Education, Technical University
of Dortmund (Germany), Visiting Professor, Vilnius University (Lithuania),
Prof. Dr. Rasa Pauliukaitė, Chair of the Board of Association “Futura Scientia”, Faculty Member of Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences, Vilnius University (Lithuania)
15:40–16:15 | Keynote Address “International Academic Mobility and Talent Retention:A Perspective from Japan”
Prof. Dr. Futao Huang, Faculty Member of Research Institute of Higher Education, Hiroshima University (Japan)
16:15–17:15 | Panel Discussion “Attracting Is Not Enough: Retention, Belonging, and Institutional Change”
Guiding Questions:
What structural barriers undermine retention of foreign academic staff in higher education and research systems like Lithuania?
How can tenure, promotion, and language policies become more inclusive of academics from abroad?
What lessons can be learned from lived experiences as a foreign academic, and how have structures, like research funding, helped to build a career abroad?
How can institutions move from competitive talent extraction to sustainable academic communities?
Chair: Prof. Dr. Liudvika Leišytė, Deputy Director of the Center of Higher Education, Technical University of Dortmund (Germany), Visiting Professor, Vilnius University (Lithuania)
Panelists:
Prof. Dr. Gintaras Valušis, Vice-Rector, Vilnius University (Lithuania),
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ainius Lašas, Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences Humanities and Arts, Kaunas Technology University (Lithuania),
Prof. Dr. Eugenijus Butkus, Former Chair of Research Council of Lithuania,
Alina Boutiuc-Kaiser, Faculty Member of Institute of Educational Science, University of Education Freiburg (Germany),
Prof. Dr. Daumantas Matulis, Head of Department of Biothermodynamics and Drug Design, Former Head of Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University (Lithuania),
Dr. Karina Maldonado-Mariscal, Senior Researcher at Social Research Centre, Technical University of Dortmund (Germany), Visiting Professor, Kaunas Technology University (Lithuania),
Dr. Toma Pustelnikovaitė, Lecturer at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University (UK),
Prof. Dr. Ramūnas Stepanauskas, Director of Single Cell Genomics Center, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences (US),
Professor, Aalborg University (Denmark).
17:15–17:30 | Discussion with the Audience (focus on translating insights into institutional practices & identifying policy reform priorities)
17:30–18:00 | Closing Remarks & Reception
This event is funded by Research Council of Lithuania, Project No. P-ACO-26-35.
