650 people with 53 different nationalities currently work at CISPA. Together, they create a wealth of perspectives, knowledge and skills that contributes to the center's scientific excellence and enables it to take its place at the forefront of international cybersecurity research. A seven-member team led by Michaela Neumayr and Peter Haffke coordinates an extensive welcome and integration program aimed at making the start in Germany as pleasant and smooth as possible for international talents. "CISPA is open, inclusive, international – this is part of our sense of self. At Onboarding and Integration, everything we do is based on this and we aim to constantly develop our services further“, says Neumayr. „This is also what motivated us to participate in the "Welcome Star."
Welcome Star in the "Coming" category
The “Welcome Star” competition called on Saarland-based companies to present their best practices for integrating international talents. In line with Saarland's strategy for the attraction of qualified professionals, prizes were awarded in the three categories “Deciding”, “Coming” and “Arriving and Staying”. CISPA's concept won the award in the “Coming” category, which evaluated the support provided during the immigration process as well as the corporate integration program. In addition to a seal of quality, the award includes prize money of €10,000, which is earmarked for the expansion of the welcome and integration strategy.
"Remaining flexible and open-minded every day"
At the award ceremony held at the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Thursday evening, Neumayr said: "Our biggest challenge is to support each new employee individually as they adjust to life here. To do that, we want to remain flexible and open-minded every day. We would like to use the prize money to offer further communication and networking opportunities and to organize events. For us, the best part of the job is when someone has settled in well and is able to devote themselves to their work with ease."
CISPA's welcome program
CISPA's established welcome program already offers extensive support in many areas of daily life. The Onboarding and Integration team actively supports incoming colleagues in their search for accommodation in Saarland, for example, by searching for suitable housing ads, communicating with landlords and viewing apartments. As part of the CISPA Family Service, it helps international colleagues find kindergarten places and babysitters. In order to provide orientation in the German bureaucratic system, it also provides support with visits to the authorities or doctor's appointments. To support the partners of new employees, CISPA has set up a dual career service. This service helps them, for example, with job searches and preparing application documents and interviews.
Onboarding & Integration has summarized all the relevant information for starting at CISPA and living in Germany here: https://international.cispa.de
