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The changing times of German higher education
The international dimension in the German higher education has always been strong, but in recent years innovations in the way in which German teaching and research programs have been brought into contact with an international audience has altered. In 2002, TU Munich established German Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Germany’s first international college campus in Singapore in partnership with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Economic Development Board of Singapore. Intended to develop teaching and research programs with regional collaborative partnerships, GIST now offers four Masters degree programs, with a fifth to be launched later this year. GIST Director, Dr Markus Wächter, believes that the initiative has been a success: “Singapore is a highly interesting location from an academic standpoint. With the help of GIST we want to expand academic cooperation with the universities in the region.”
Through the development of close links with both the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, also based in Singapore, GIST meets the needs of Singaporean, German and other international students interested in a European education delivered in an Asian context. Through such Masters programs as Microelectronics, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Integrated Circuit Design and Industrial Chemistry, GIST has managed to capture the segment of the international market that otherwise may not have considered studying in Germany. Szu Lui, Tey is one such student. Graduating earlier this year from GIST with a Masters degree in Industrial Chemistry, Szu Lui benefited from this unique educational experience: “Being in a class of not more than 20 students, I am glad to have classmates from many countries. Despite our differences, close bonds were forged and our friendships strengthen incredibly with time. We had the good fortune of being taught by wonderful professors, dedicated to both their work and their students.”
A further development is the announcement of the Germany-Vietnam University project, the first of its kind for any German initiative. Intended to deliver German academic expertise and know-how in Vietnam in the form of educational and aid assistance, the plan to establish a new university on the ground will establish German higher education in an educational sector long dominated by the Australian and UK education providers.
Interestingly, such developments internationally are occurring simultaneously with an increasing number of initiatives through German diplomatic missions to extend the teaching and promotion of the German language in countries as diverse at Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. Though there are clear cultural, diplomatic and economic benefits to such promotion of the German language other factors may also be at work here. According to Dr Barz at the University of Heidelberg, although more academic programs are being launched in the English language to make them more accessible to incoming international students, it is unreasonable to think that all degree-level programs where German research and teaching is of a world-class level should be taught in English: “There are academic areas in which we are very strong that would lose some of their complexity if translated into another language. We still see sufficient numbers of students from outside of the country willing to learn German to study in our native language of research and instruction.”
Though there are undoubtedly more changes ahead for German higher education, the signs are there for all to see that the recent years of upheaval have made the system stronger and potentially more internationally competitive. With the development of an international dimension at the heart of many agendas, the increasing attractiveness of Germany for international students and the harmonization of the German education system with the broader European context can only be reassuring.
