External relations

The external relations programme is focused on connecting our university and its researchers to global stakeholders to help shape solutions to the world's most pressing issues as well as fostering international visibility and networks. We work with a variety of international partners and organisations to strengthen our university's presence and outreach on the global stage. Science diplomacy and international engagement drive our activities.

Faryal Mirza is a seasoned manager of international relations and stakeholder engagement, focused on institutional partners ranging from diplomatic representations to international organisations. Advising researchers and senior management on international opportunities is central to her work, as well as strategy conception and implementation focused on relations with external partners to foster internationalisation.

Faryal regularly represents the University of Bern's interests in international working groups on policy and practice in higher education and research and European and international affairs under swissuniversities, The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities and at events abroad. She recently took part in the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program and was generously sponsored by the US Department of State to visit the USA to exchange with representatives on internationalisation strategies.

International to the core

With an international background, Faryal is a University of Oxford graduate with postgraduate qualifications in law and communications. She also holds an executive Certificate of Advanced Study on European Law and Swiss-EU relations from the University of Zurich and is a Chartered Public Relations Practitioner.

She has substantial experience within the United Nations system in stakeholder relations and communications with member states for almost a decade. Prior to that, she worked as a radio producer-presenter, journalist and editor for international media outlets reporting on Switzerland and interned at the European Commission.

Alvin Rindlisbacher supports the external relations manager with administration, research, and updating the unit's website, and owned social-media channels. He is also responsible for managing large dispatches of branded materials for international student fairs and strategic partners. Other duties include financial tracking and maintaining internal processes.

He completed his master's degree in English Literary Studies and World Literature in 2023 at the University of Bern, having completed his bachelor's degree in English Literatures and Languages with a minor in Sustainable Development. In his academic studies, he specialized in the Environmental Humanities and North American Fiction and holds an in-depth knowledge of Ecocriticism, American Transcendentalism, and Science Fiction.

UniBE International

For enquiries concerning student mobility, international-exchange agreements or the summer schools, please contact our colleagues at the UniBE International.