Dr Marita Grimwood, Senior Adviser in Teaching Fellowships at Advance HE, hosted a webinar bringing together higher education professionals from across Europe to explore how the Professional Standards Framework (PSF) is being used to enhance the quality of teaching and learning beyond the UK.

The session featured institutional case studies from Munster Technological University (MTU) in Ireland and the University of Luxembourg.

The Professional Standards Framework in a European context

Opening the session, Marita introduced the PSF as a globally recognised framework with over 220,000 Fellows across more than 110 countries, and in Europe (not including the UK), with accredited CPD provision now established in France, Denmark and Ireland. She emphasised the framework’s adaptability – its strength lies not in replacing existing national quality structures, but in complementing them, offering a shared vocabulary for learning and teaching enhancement that can be tailored to institutional context and strategy.

The four Fellowship categories – Associate Fellowship, Fellowship, Senior Fellowship and Principal Fellowship – were outlined as a means of recognising the full breadth of professional activity in higher education, from student-facing teaching and learning support through to institutional strategy and policy leadership. Dr Grimwood was clear that the categories are not a hierarchy: the right Fellowship is the one that reflects what a member of staff actually does.

Munster Technological University (MTU): building a fellowship community from the ground up

Catherine Murphy, who manages the Advance HE Fellowship programme within MTU’s teaching and learning unit, gave an account of how the university has developed its approach since its earliest pilots. MTU now has 95 Fellows, with Senior Fellowship – reflecting leadership influence on colleagues rather than formal management roles – proving the most common category.

Catherine described a carefully structured support journey for applicants, including peer groups, writing workshops, interim check-ins and draft feedback, all scaffolded within a shared Teams site that brings resources and communication into one accessible space. Celebration of achievement has been central to the programme’s culture: Fellows are recognised through a ceremony with the university Registrar and celebrated publicly across social media, alongside branded merchandise that marks the significance of the award.

Looking ahead, MTU is working to integrate Fellowship more seamlessly into early career development pathways, and is tracking closely the development of a new national professional recognition framework from Ireland’s Higher Education Authority, which is expected to complement existing Fellowship achievement.

University of Luxembourg: fellowship as a career-long qualification

Yevgeniya Inozemtseva, from the University of Luxembourg’s Institute for Innovative Teaching and Learning, described how the PSF has become foundational to the university’s ambitions around teaching excellence. At an institution that is both young (23 years old) and highly international  – with staff and students drawn from across the globe – the portability of Fellowship has proven a particular draw. For researchers on fixed-term contracts and doctoral candidates beginning their teaching careers, the qualification travels with them, providing a tangible, internationally recognised credential wherever their career takes them next.

The programme, introduced at institutional level in 2022, has seen rapidly growing interest: where previously ten or fifteen colleagues might express interest in a given semester, the university now sees registrations of forty or fifty potential applicants. The current cohort stands at 60 Fellows across all categories, with further applications in the pipeline.

Yevgeniya highlighted the particular challenge – and reward – of supporting applicants to shift from research writing to reflective narrative. Writing retreats, peer workshops and access to Advance HE’s own expert review for Senior Fellowship applicants have all played a role. Crucially, the programme operates without fixed deadlines, allowing each colleague to progress at their own pace in line with their other commitments.

The power of peer support

A question from the audience highlighted a theme that ran through both institutional presentations: the value of peer support and mentoring in sustaining applicants throughout the fellowship journey. As the number of Fellows at an institution grows, so does the pool of people who can support and encourage colleagues – and the effect, as one participant noted, can be transformative once a critical mass is reached. Both Catherine and Yevgeniya spoke to the importance of role models, peer groups and community in making the process feel achievable.

Frameworks don’t create culture – people do

Marita closed her introduction with an image created live at a recent EUA conference, capturing a sentiment that framed the whole session: frameworks don’t create culture, people do. The PSF provides the structure; institutions and individuals bring it to life. The webinar offered a vivid illustration of what that looks like in practice – and an invitation to others across Europe to explore what it could mean for them.

Marita said, “It’s genuinely inspiring to hear directly from institutions putting the framework into practice in such different contexts. What comes through so clearly from both Catherine and Yevgeniya is that the PSF isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution – it’s a flexible, internationally recognised framework that institutions can shape around their own strategy, culture and priorities, while still connecting to a shared global community of practice. That’s what makes it so valuable: it gives institutions a tested foundation to build on, but it’s the people who bring it to life.”

A recording of the full webinar is available here