The five German partner universities of the German-Kazakh University (DKU) signed a consortium agreement at the Federal Foreign Office.
A consortium agreement between the universities that have actively supported the German-Kazakh University (DKU) for years was signed at a ceremony at the Federal Foreign Office on November 11, 2019. This group consists of Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences, Wildau University of Applied Sciences and Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. The President Prof. Tippe (Wildau University of Applied Sciences) and the Rectors Prof. Albrecht (Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences), Prof. Heinemann (Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences), Prof. Hilmer (Mittweida University of Applied Sciences) and Prof. Sawatzki (on behalf of Hamburg University of Applied Sciences) attended the signing of this agreement.
The participants of the event were welcomed by Mr. Cecere, Commissioner for Foreign Science, Education and Research Policy and Foreign Cultural Policy at the Federal Foreign Office. This was followed by greetings from Mr. Karipov, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Dr. Geifes, Head of Transnational Education and Cooperation Programs at the German Academic Exchange Service and Prof. Höller, Head of the DKU project. In the further course of this event, Mr. Münch, Head of the Division for Universities, Science and Research; German Houses of Science and Innovation at the Federal Foreign Office, presented the German approach to science diplomacy. This met with a lasting response from those present.
The signing of the consortium agreement between the DKU's partner universities represents a milestone in the history of German-Kazakh cooperation with regard to the development of the German-Kazakh University. For more than ten years, DKU has been reliably supported by this group of five German universities. Kazakh students have the opportunity to obtain a double degree at the partner universities. Professors from these universities form the long-standing core of the all-important Flying Faculty. They work together with DKU on the further development of the study programs. Some time ago, these long-standing partners expressed the wish to give this rather informal network a more formal framework. As a result, an agreement was negotiated between the participating universities and the DKU project management in recent months to form a consortium to support the DKU. In terms of its structure, this consortium is open to further members.
