Working at SERI: Priska Barghouthi

What do you do exactly?

I work in the Talent Promotion Unit as a project manager for the ESKAS-NG project. The aim of this project is to digitalise the entire scholarship allocation process for foreign students. Each year, the federal government awards around 160 Excellence Scholarships to foreign researchers and artists. My main task in the project is to ensure that the needs of the various stakeholders are met as the processes are digitalised and the new system is rolled out.

What do you like about your work in particular?

My work is very diversified, which makes every working day different. It is very exciting to delve into the activities of the various interest groups to gain an understanding of why they perform their tasks in a certain way. I need this insight to satisfy the various needs that arise during the digitalisation of processes. I also enjoy interacting with project participants across institutions and, in some cases, from other countries.

What challenges do you expect in the near future?

The new system will be launched in August, allowing candidates to register online for the first time. Quite a bit remains to be done by then: the system has to be finalised and thoroughly tested. After that, all users – 180 embassies worldwide, 12 Swiss universities and 16 delegates – all need to undergo training. At the same time, our team is preparing for fully digitalised workflows, which is a major transformation. This means a lot of work and a host of new things to learn. We are looking forward to it.