Dr. Emil F. Ubaldo, Chief of the Mobility and Intercultural Exchange Unit at the International Affairs Office, completed the first workshop of the Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIES) Management of Internationalization (MoI) Program for the 2025-2026 cohort held on March 10 to 19, 2025 at Leibniz Universität Hannover and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) headquarters in Germany.
Selected from over 160 applicants across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, Dr. Ubaldo was one of the 30 internationalization leaders chosen for this 18-month hybrid professional development program. This supraregional initiative aimed at supporting universities in developing and emerging countries in managing internationalization efforts, with an equal distribution of 10 participants per region.
The program targets higher education professionals responsible for coordinating international activities at their home institutions. It is jointly organized by Leibniz Universität Hannover, the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), and DAAD, with funding support from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and collaboration with regional university partners in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Dr. Ubaldo views the program as a strategic opportunity to enhance his expertise as an international relations officer, benchmark innovative mobility initiatives, learn from his peers, and gain insights from global experts to advance CLSU’s internationalization activities.
The in-person workshop in Germany marked the first of three interconnected sessions of the DIES Management of Internationalization Program, with Dr. Ubaldo set to continue with a second in-person workshop in Manipal, India, for the Asian cohort in October 2025, followed by a final virtual session in March 2026, where participants will share progress on their internationalization projects.
A core component of the program is the development of a tailored internationalization project, where participants set goals, create roadmaps, and track progress while enhancing their management and intercultural skills and expanding their global networks.
For his project, Dr. Ubaldo will focus on enhancing the student mobility mechanism at Central Luzon State University by streamlining current processes and developing innovative approaches, aiming to improve efficiency, increase student participation in global exchanges, and foster stronger international partnerships.
Since the launch of the DIES MoI program in 2013, two Filipinos have completed it, with two currently participating in this cohort, reflecting its selective nature. This emphasizes the importance of representing Philippine higher education institutions in global discussions, ensuring that the Philippines' perspectives are effectively integrated into dialogues on the internationalization of higher education.
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