A group of American university management executives are spending about a week in Baden-Württemberg. The occasion is the 60th anniversary of the exchange of students and teachers with the University of Massachusetts. On Wednesday, the members of the delegation visited Ulm University, where they exchanged ideas with researchers and students.
Science thrives on exchange – and in the case of Baden-Württemberg and the University of Massachusetts, this has existed for 60 years in the form of a state programme. Reason enough for a visit: for a week, a high-ranking delegation from the USA is travelling around the country and visiting its universities. The aim of the visit is to promote student exchange and strengthen research cooperation. On Wednesday, 30 October, the representatives of the five campuses of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Boston, Lowell, Dartmouth and Worcester stopped off at the Oberer Eselsberg campus. In the N27 research building, they met scientists, doctoral students and students from the Ulm University. On Monday, the group had already been received at Hohenheim Palace by the Baden-Württemberg Minister of Science, Petra Olschowski.
In Ulm, the guests were welcomed at the university by the head of the International Office, Daniela Englisch. "The state programmes with the USA are very important pillars of our transatlantic bridge," Englisch said. "They were created in the last century and are more important today than ever." Professor Joachim Ankerhold, Vice President for Research, not only explained the structure of the university and its strategic priorities in the field of future energies and quantum sciences to the guests. He also paid tribute to the special Ulm spirit, thanks to which the citizens once built the city's cathedral and defied the odds to establish their university. Professor Maximilian Fichtner, Managing Director of the Helmholtz Institute Ulm, presented battery research; Professor Hartmut Geiger, Director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine, talked about ageing research at Ulm University.
The guests were particularly interested in the ecosystem of the science city and how students and doctoral candidates benefit from close exchange with other research institutions such as the German Aerospace Center and the companies located here. The tenor of the Ulm doctoral students present: Although they originally came to Ulm because of a specific research interest, they now appreciate the good connections established with the local business community. The Massachusetts executives found it hard to believe that students at Ulm University only have to pay around 160 Euros in semester fees for most courses – in addition to the fees charged by the state for foreign students. The guests were also deeply impressed by Ulm Minster, which has the highest church steeple in the world. They were given a short tour of the minster in the afternoon.
About the state programmes with the USA
Student exchange is the focus of the state programmes that Baden-Württemberg runs in the USA with Massachusetts and also with the states of California, Connecticut, North Carolina and Oregon. In addition, the development and maintenance of scientific contacts is promoted through the exchange of professors.
Further information:
Daniela Englisch, Director of the International Office, email: daniela.englisch@uni-ulm.de
Text and media contact: Christine Liebhardt