Alex Berg: Considering a Research Visit to a New Place? Make it Happen!
Mobility periods may seem overwhelming, but they may have more advantages than disadvantages. Indeed, leaving one’s comfort zone, whether somewhere else within the same country or abroad, can be overwhelming. Researchers may struggle with data collection, analysis, deadlines, revisions, and funding applications. Research visits can impact the progress of some of these core tasks.
However, with planning and good time management, a research visit can yield positive outcomes for researchers. For example, research visits can play a vital role in advancing early-stage researchers’ communication, presentation, and analytical skills. Research visits can also expand researchers’ networks, which can enhance their future career prospects and open new gateways for future collaboration with different people and stakeholders.
A good tip is to agree with the host institute on what to expect from them and what they would expect from you in exchange, as well as to allocate time for your core tasks while making the most of your research visit.
Research visits, whether to research institutes or companies, can enrich researchers’ knowledge about other workplaces’ tasks, culture, routines, and challenges. Additionally, the privilege of living in a new city or country and exposure to new cultures, people, habits, and mindsets are noteworthy.
During my research visit to the Migration Institute of Finland in Turku, I participated in the institute’s staff meetings, research seminars, funding clinics, and social activities. Staff meetings helped me acquire knowledge about the institute’s latest events, news, and discussions. Research seminars have widened my knowledge of various research studies performed at the institute. I have also presented my research findings to different audiences from different fields, which also gave the institute an opportunity to learn about the research conducted at the University of Eastern Finland. Moreover, funding clinics were completely new to me, and I learned how funding applications are drafted, which is a fundamental process for researchers to learn about. One of the social activities involved playing games, where I had a fun teamwork experience while getting to know my colleagues better.
I have also participated as a co-editor of the institute’s journal issue (1/2026) titled Older Migrants and Aging in Finland, which is relevant to my current research work at the University of Eastern Finland. These experiences provided me with a fantastic opportunity for personal development at multiple levels, and I would highly encourage everyone to go on at least one research visit for every project. As my current six-month research visit has been a positive experience, I will participate in another one afterwards, although for a shorter period. I will be a visiting researcher at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bergen, Norway, for one month.
Alex Berg works as a doctoral researcher in the Neuro-Innovation PhD Programme. His research focuses on the legal rights and access to justice for older immigrants and immigrants living with dementia in Finland.