Cooperation with elite university in Russia

The partnership with ITMO University (State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics, and Optics, Saint Petersburg) will be further strengthened in the future. After an “interinstitutional agreement” was signed between ITMO and HSZG in July 2016, the first student exchange took place during the 2016–17 winter semester and the first faculty exchange in January 2017, funded through the ERASMUS program. These “pilot” programs served to gain experience in academic collaboration. The “Industrial Ecology” faculty offers a bachelor’s and Master's degree programme with a profile comparable to our bachelor’s degree programme in Ecology and Environmental Protection and our Master's degree programmes in integrated management systems / “integrated management.”

The first student in the “integrated management” degree programme successfully completed her semester abroad at ITMO in January. Not only did she pass all her exams with excellent grades, but she also successfully completed a study-related internship at Coca-Cola in the quality management department. The focus was on adapting the integrated management systems to the requirements of the revised ISO standards. St. Petersburg is one of 11 Coca-Cola bottling sites in Russia.

During their visit at the end of January, Prof. Dr. Jana Brauweiler, Prof. Dr. Bernd Delakowitz, and Anke Zenker-Hoffmann met with the Dean of the “Industrial Ecology” faculty, the director, and representatives of the International Office to agree on a future dual-degree program, a study trip to St. Petersburg in September 2017 on the topic of “Resource and Energy-Efficient Management,” as well as further student and faculty exchanges. Although these agreements initially pertain to the Master's degree programmes in “integrated management systems” and “integrated management,” there is potential to expand these activities to include the bachelor’s program in “Ecology and Environmental Protection” in the future.

With 11,600 students (including 1,400 students from 70 countries), ITMO is one of the top three universities in Russia and ranks 56th in international rankings (for more information, see en.ifmo.ru)

Students in both our Bachelor’s degree programs and Master's degree programmes are warmly welcome to apply for additional internships at Coca-Cola in St. Petersburg. A minimum of very good English proficiency is required; knowledge of Russian is desirable but not mandatory. To prepare for a stay abroad, ITMO offers Russian language courses (1 week—300 euros, 2 weeks—360 euros, 3 weeks—390 euros, including a cultural program). For more information, see http://schools.ifmo.ru/en/1).

Here’s what the student has to say:

The semester abroad was a valuable experience for me, both from an academic and a personal perspective. During my time in St. Petersburg, I had the chance to live in a unique city, get to know life there in a truly authentic way, and immerse myself in a new culture. In addition, I was able to make many international connections.

In some respects, Russian professors take different pedagogical approaches and base their arguments on different theories. This shift in perspective, compared to the German educational system, broadened the horizons of my academic education and provided me with new insights.

Through the internship I completed, I was also able to gain valuable insights into the private sector and apply my theoretical knowledge to solving concrete problems.”

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the ERASMUS+ program for its financial support, as well as to the Academic Administration for its academic and organizational support of our student’s semester abroad and our faculty exchange programs.