Skip to content

Planning your placement or visit

Once your placement or visit is agreed, a little planning can make a big difference to the experience. Whether you're hosting, visiting, working remotely or travelling internationally, the aim is to make time for meaningful knowledge exchange and help everyone get the most out of the opportunity.

If you're still developing your idea or thinking about applying, see our guidance on developing your CAKE placement or visit idea first.

Planning is particularly important for virtual placements. It can be harder to become embedded in another team or set aside your usual responsibilities when working remotely. With some extra thought, however, virtual visits can be a valuable way to share knowledge and build connections. See our guidance on virtual placements for detailed advice.

Sort out the practical arrangements

Whilst there is more logistical planning for in-person visits, virtual ones also require a lot of thought. In either case, the aim is to protect time for collaboration and make sure everyone knows what to expect.

These little details can make a big difference to how welcome and comfortable everyone feels.

If you're visiting:

  • Make space in your calendar. Move meetings where you can, and protect time to focus, especially if you're working virtually.
  • Let your host know about any accessibility requirements, reasonable adjustments or other support that would help as early as possible.
  • Be clear about your availability and any practical constraints.
  • For in-person visits, organise travel and accommodation in good time.

If you're hosting:

  • Share useful information in advance, including travel and accommodation tips, arrival instructions, working hours and lunch options.
  • Arrange somewhere suitable to work and explain how to access any facilities you'll be using.
  • Ask if there's anything you can do to make the visit more comfortable, including any adjustments or flexible arrangements.
  • For international visits, discuss any additional practical arrangements well in advance, including travel requirements, time differences, local working practices and cultural considerations.
    • Don't assume visitors will know how things work at your institution or in your country! Sharing practical information in advance can make a big difference to how welcome and comfortable everyone feels.

Planning your time together

It's worth having a rough plan, but you don't need to schedule every minute.

  • Agree on your goals. Have an initial chat about what you'd like to achieve and what a successful visit would look like.
  • Arrange key meetings in advance. Think about who you'd most like to speak to and get some time in their calendars, be proactive.
  • Ask about team meetings, seminars, workshops or training you could join while you're there.
  • Make introductions. Hosts could share a short bio about their visitor and what they're interested in, so other colleagues can get in touch if they spot a shared interest.
  • Leave time for informal chats over coffee or lunch, casual conversations are great opportunities to meet people and discover things you hadn't considered.

The value of a visit can go well beyond your original goal - Spending time with another team can introduce you to new ideas, different ways of working and unexpected opportunities to help each other.

Attending a workshop or event? Think about how you'll make the most of the opportunity to exchange knowledge and connect with others, rather than simply attending. Are there particular people you'd like to meet or topics you'd like to discuss?

What next?

A placement or visit doesn't have to end when the time together is over. If you've made a useful connection, keep it going!

You might want to: * Arrange follow-up conversations before your placement or visit ends. * Share useful notes, resources, ideas or key takeaways. * Look out for opportunities to meet again at conferences, workshops or other events.

There is no expectation that every placement will lead to a formal project, publication or further funding. A new connection, a useful skill, a different perspective or an idea worth exploring can be valuable outcomes in themselves!