Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia are the only countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) that have adopted official strategies for internationalization in higher education (Crăciun Reference Crăciun, Curaj, Deca and Pricopie2018, 100). These strategies provide incentives for public universities and impact their specific development strategies. Understood as an intentional process of integrating an international and/or intercultural dimension into the goals, functions, and delivery of higher education, internationalization aims to improve the quality of national education and research and their global impact (De Wit and Altbach Reference De Wit and Altbach2021, 29). More generally, it is a set of strategies that promote the idea of internationality in higher education. One strategy is the development of English-taught degree programs (ETDPs) in non-English-speaking countries. This Spotlight article illustrates that offering international ETDPs in the field of political science requires not only internationalization of the curriculum and student learning outcomesFootnote ¹ but also may significantly strengthen the internationalization of research. Moreover, internationalization of research in political science may contribute to further development of international degree programs. This trend is visible in some CEE countries, especially Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.Footnote ² EDTPs usually are offered by leading public universities and private institutions to increase additional revenue and achieve better results of internationalization. Based on nine interviews conducted at three political science departments in Poland, we contend that the benefits of these education and research statistics and existing scholarship accrue when teaching and research in the area of internationalization are treated intentionally as supportive of one another. Thus, the development of ETDPs is designed to contribute to the quality of education and international visibility but it also enhances research potential in political science.

To examine this proposition, three political science departments—at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the University of Warsaw, and the University of Wroclaw—were selected for interviews. They are leading centers of political science that offer bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD ETDPs (including joint and double degrees as well as study-abroad programs) in politics and international relations for both Polish and international candidates. Additionally, all three universities were granted the designation of “research university” in 2019. They treat internationalization as a key process in their long-term strategies of development, which requires, for example, “creating strategic partnerships with prominent academic institutions from abroad, which will make it possible to work together in all the dimensions of the University’s mission” (Jagiellonian University 2019). Such an intentional strategy of building partnerships contributes to the quality of both education and research (Kwiek Reference Kwiek2020).

Nine structured interviews were conducted online with faculty from these institutions who have been involved in designing, managing, and teaching for ETDPs. Open-ended questions were intended to determine whether there is a positive correlation between running successful ETDPs and the internationalization of research in each department. The interviews suggested that two components of internationalization work especially well in political science and international relations departments as if in tandem: internationalization of research and internationalization through ETDPs. There is significant evidence from these departments and the statistics they provided that there are certain visible benefits to offering ETDPs in political science and international relations that contribute to expanding research potential and international visibility (tables 1 and 2). The trend of internationalization through ETDPs in social sciences has been practiced by many European universities, especially in Nordic countries and the Netherlands (Wächter and Maiworm Reference Wächter and Maiworm2014, 131). Strategies of CEE universities are similar in this respect, but the process also has another desirable effect: greater international research activity by those involved in teaching for ETDPs, prompted by their teaching experience and the opportunity that results for international collaboration. These statistics support the qualitative analysis presented in table 2.

Table 1 Teaching to Research

Notes:

* Number of all students studying in ETDPs in the academic year 2020/2021.

^** Number of political science faculty members teaching in ETDPs.

^*** Funded in the past five years, including 11 Horizon 2020 projects.

Source: Statistics provided on request of each department as of July 2021.

Table 2 Benefits of ETDPs for Internationalization of Research

There is significant evidence from these departments and the statistics they provided that there are certain visible benefits to offering ETDPs in political science and international relations.

Selected political science departments have increased their research potential and visibility due in part because they had established ETDPs and thus international collaboration. As indicated by interviewees, this increases the number of journal articles and books coauthored with partners from other countries.

The interviewees indicated that faculty’s involvement in ETDPs, which attract mainly international students, resulted in a broader, more interdisciplinary research perspective, higher mobility, as well as high English-language competence, research collaboration with foreign partners, and joint grant applications with partner universities. Supervision of international master’s and PhD students also may have a positive impact on innovative research perspectives. Investment in high-quality instruction stimulates teaching, which informs research benefits and vice versa. Faculty members who were involved in managing ETDPs also have been successful in international research collaborations, for which they can use existing partnerships. For example, a political science professor from an American university who taught a six-week course to international bachelor’s students in an ETDP at Jagiellonian University became the leading foreign partner in an international research project. The American professor brought two more well-established research partners from North America into the project which secured funding in Poland as a result of the expected high impact of this collaboration on research quality and international visibility. Similar partnerships were established at the other two institutions.

Internationalization through ETDPs impacts results in four areas: incentives and innovation, teaching that informs research, mobility, and international cooperation. As indicated by the data in table 1, internationalization also contributes to research quality and productivity, creating potential for higher international visibility of research results. This can be measured by the number of peer-reviewed international publications, the number of international collaborative research projects (including 11 EU Horizon 2020Footnote ³ projects in the politics and international relations departments of Jagiellonian University and University of Warsaw), and membership in international scholarly organizations (e.g., International Political Science Association) and participation in their annual conferences.

These findings suggest that political science departments in CEE can use internationalization strategies to broaden educational offerings and improve quality, strengthen research collaboration, and increase the visibility of an institution. Some interviews suggested that the reverse process also takes place, whereby already-developed internationalization of research fosters the successful implementation of ETDPs, especially at the PhD level. It also is evident that potential for high-quality research requires a careful strategy of both individual scholars and their institution. Selected political science departments have increased their research potential and visibility due in part because they had established ETDPs and thus international collaboration. As indicated by interviewees, this increases the number of journal articles and books coauthored with partners from other countries. This trend in social science in Poland is growing, but the number of publications is still low in comparison with other EU countries (Kwiek Reference Kwiek2020, 58).