How to strengthen Ostwürttemberg internationallyParticipants in „TOP – Talents Ostwürrtemberg Plus“ met at the scholarship holders’ and Alumni conference at Aalen University
Eduard Krug, leader of the Regional Chapter Stuttgart for Baden-Württemberg scholarship holders, explains the networking activities in Stuttgart.
The Baden Württemberg scholarship program for students – BWS plus
The Baden-Württemberg foundation supports innovative cooperation between German and foreign universities through its BWS- plus program. The 800,000 Euro per year program was founded in 2011 and now supports over 50 BWS plus projects in Baden-Württemberg Universities.
Current and past scholarship holders of the “TOP – Talents Ostwürttemberg Plus” met at a “Baden-Württemberg Stipendium für Studierende – BWS plus” event organized by the four state universities in the region (DHBW Heidenheim, University of Design Schwäbisch Gmünd, University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd, Aalen University). The event was a scholarship holder and alumni conference at Aalen University. The meeting helped the participants network with one another, and helped set the foundations for a “Regional Chapter East Württemberg” for the Baden-Württemberg Foundation.
The Baden-Württemberg Foundation promotes international exchange via the Baden-Württemberg scholarship. Since 2011, Universities in Baden-Württemberg have had the chance to use aid program to concentrate on building and expanding on strategic partnerships and to make them more sustainable. The four universities in East Württemberg started their TOP activities in 2014 together with Regional Economic Development Corporation in Ostwürttemberg (WiRO) and the city of Aalen’s office for Immigration and Integration. The ultimate goal was also to tie in businesses with the program. What was especially impressive was that the scholarship holders were offered so many programs, including language courses, orientation weeks, excursions, company visits and application training, from the very beginning. The intercultural workshops and information sessions about Ostwürttemberg were held in equal amounts for the internationals and the scholarship holders from Baden-Württemberg. While the one group was being shown the possibilities in the region, the other was being sent abroad with thoughts of representing their region and university well to strengthen the positive perception of Ostwürttemberg in partner universities in the USA, Canada and Japan.
Shortly after, the project’s final event took place. Aside from the representative from the Baden-Württemberg endowment, Christina Pfannkuchen, the leader of the Stuttgart regional chapter, Eduard Krug, and the people from the four universities who were in charge of the program for their school, many BWS scholarship holders, current and past, from all around the world came to the alumni conference. Despite a lot of exciting speeches, there was enough time for everyone to network. There was also a strategy developed at the workshop to found an independent “Regional Chapter East Württemberg” that should be founded early in 2018. This will be used in the future as a networking platform for BWS scholarship holders in the Ostwürttemberg region, tying together current students with alumni and Germans with foreigners.
Photo Credit: © Hochschule Aalen/ Pascal Cromm
Information on the Baden-Württemberg scholarship
The Baden-Württemberg scholarship supports the international exchange of qualified students and young professionals. Since 2001, more than 20,000 young people from Baden-Württemberg have been given experiences abroad or came from abroad to enjoy time in Baden-Württemberg. Every year, over 1000 people get the Baden-Württemberg scholarship. You can find more information here.
www.bw-stipendium.de
The Baden Württemberg scholarship program for students – BWS plus
The Baden-Württemberg foundation supports innovative cooperation between German and foreign universities through its BWS- plus program. The 800,000 Euro per year program was founded in 2011 and now supports over 50 BWS plus projects in Baden-Württemberg Universities.