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Outstanding support

Technische Universität Braunschweig wins prize for excellent support of foreign students.

16.11.2016
© TU Braunschweig/Kruszewski

Germany is one of the most attractive countries for international students to study in – it is even the most popular non-English-speaking destination. However, many students from abroad do not find their start at a German higher education institution easy. Most universities offer special programmes to help international students find their feet in their new surroundings. Technische Universität (TU) Braunschweig has been especially successful in this area: for its SCOUT support programme it has been honoured with the Federal Foreign Office Prize for Excellent Support of International Students at German Universities 2016.

The special feature of the SCOUT programme is the way TU Braunschweig brings international and German students together in tandems that jointly complete seven different programme points. These “building blocks”, as TU Braunschweig calls them, include not only a matching and launch event, but also, for example, regular tandem meetings of the two partners, as well as joint leisure activities. The programme is being accompanied by research that will determine which elements work well and where there is need for improvement.

The German tandem partners are prepared for the programme in a three-day training course. Both sides gain something from taking part. German students are not only able to increase their intercultural competence, but also receive a certificate for social engagement and can collect credit points. International students quickly gain insight into German culture and make contacts – and they also receive credit points for taking part. Above all, however, the exchange is meant to be fun for both sides and make it easier for the international students to settle in. And ideally the tandem partners become friends for more than just the first semester.

The prize was presented by Heidrun Tempel, Commissioner for International Science, Education and Research Policy and Foreign Cultural Policy at the Federal Foreign Office, and Dorothea Rüland, Secretary General of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), during the Annual Conference of Heads of the International Offices and International Relations Officers at German Universities.

www.tu-braunschweig.de/scout

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