High-ranking partners from Moscow come to Weimar
In order to discuss the expansion of the strategic partnership between the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering (MGSU) and the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Prof. Elena Gogina, Vice-President for International Affairs at MGSU and Natalia Samotesova, director of the International Office at MGSU, came to visit the Bauhaus-Univerisät Weimar on 19 May 2015.
»I am delighted that the professional and personal cooperation with the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering has such an outstanding foundation«, says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Karl Beucke, President (Rector) of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. He himself has already travelled to Moscow many times in the past. The two universities have a long-standing cooperation in civil engineering and friendly relations between the two universities have existed since 1967.
Two concrete issues were on the agenda for the discussions: the creation of a joint double-degree programme in the area of civil engineering and the development of a link between the urbanism faculties at the two universities.
»We would like to take the very positive experience that we have had as strategic partners of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and begin to think about a joint Master's programme in the area of civil engineering. I can imagine that we could create an all new degree programme or that we can integrate a more in-depth course of study into one of our already existing degree programmes«, Prof. Gogina suggests.
Moreover, the cooperation between the two universities will be expanded to include the field of urban studies. After the initial workshop on the topic of »Urban Infrastructure Systems« in March 2014, there will be further workshops conducted next year regarding urban and traffic planning issues. These workshops will be conducted in cooperation with the professorship Traffic System Planning. The Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism in Weimar would also like to create an opportunity for urban studies students to spend an exchange semester in Moscow. In order to get to know each other a bit better, the professorship Urban Planning as well as the professorship Spatial Planning and Research plan to conduct a workshop this year together with their colleagues from Moscow.
As a souvenir of their trip, Prof. Gogina and Natalia Samotesova will be taking back a lot of positive impressions and ideas for the planned expansion of the partnership.
Members of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar who participated in the discussions:
Rectorate: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Karl Beucke President (Rector), Prof. Dr. Jutta Emes Vice-President (Prorector) of Academic Affairs and International Relations
International Office: Dr. Christian Kästner, Dr. Anne-Maria Stresing, Marina Glaser M.A.
Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism: Achim Schröer (Urbanism)
Faculty of Civil Engineering: Anne Bellmann (Transport System Planning), Dr. Hans-Bertram Fischer (Construction Materials), Dr. Raimo Harder (Transport System Planning), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Eckhard Kraft (Biotechnology in Resources Management), Dr. Heiko Kirschke (Computing in Civil Engineering), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kay Smarsly (Computer Science in Civil Engineering)
More about the cooperation between MGSU and the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Moscow State University of Civil Engineering is one of the leading technical universities in Russia and is one of the Bauhaus-Univeristät Weimar's oldest partner institutions. A cooperation contract was first signed between the two universities in 1967. Since 2013, MGSU has become one of three partner universities to be supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as a »Strategic Partnership«. Plans for 2016 include a joint research project, the internationalisation of the civil engineering degree programme and the doctoral candidacy qualifications. Another aim of the cooperation is to increase graduates' success on the international job market.