For the past 15 years, there have been regular contacts between our universities. Members of the university administration, faculty, and students have visited the Zittau campus on several occasions. In 2017, our Rector, Prof. Friedrich Albrecht, attended the 25th-anniversary celebration of TURAN University in Almaty.
During Prof. Giese’s recent visit, discussions regarding further collaboration focused on the following three areas:
- Supervision of doctoral students from TURAN University (guest lectures on issues related to transformation processes in the economy and society in Europe) as well as direct supervision of our own doctoral students. This year, Ms. Elmira Elanira successfully defended her PhD thesis on the topic “The Kazakh Higher Education System as a Factor in Future Economic Development.”
- Consulting and professional exchange on teaching issues. This year, the focus was on working with case studies. Discussions were held with faculty members and master’s students on how this tool can be used to enhance learning outcomes.
- Sharing German (European) experiences in university management and the transfer of scientific knowledge from academia to practice with staff at TURAN University and other institutions.
As part of his cultural engagement, Prof. Roland Giese also had the opportunity this year to participate in the celebrations marking the 4,350th anniversary of the founding of the first Kingdom of Korea at the South Korean Embassy. TURAN University, like many other Kazakh institutions, looks not only to Europe (the West) but also very closely to Asia—and, given the scale of the situation, primarily to South Korea.
Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
