Universities, City Hall and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce want to keep international students in the Wissensregion Düsseldorf after they graduate. (C) Featured image: Wilfried Meyer
Premiere for the Welcome Day
The first Welcome Day for international Master’s students in the Wissensregion Düsseldorf took place with 15 selected students on Tuesday, November 23.
Lord Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller personally welcomed the young representatives of Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, Robert Schumann University and the Otto Beisheim School of Management (WHU) to Düsseldorf City Hall.
His concern and that of the participating universities: promising Master’s students from abroad should remain in the Wissensregion Düsseldorf as specialists after their training. [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”Wissensregion Düsseldorf offers good specialist studies and excellent career opportunities.”[/perfectpullquote] Managing Director of the Wissensregion Düsseldorf e.V. association, Dr. Kai de Weldige: “In the Wissensregion Düsseldorf, it is important to us not only to provide international students with a good professional education. We also want to introduce them to excellent career opportunities at an early stage so that they can apply the knowledge they have acquired in the region’s companies and research institutions.”
This concern is also supported by the IHK Düsseldorf.
Together with the universities and well-known global players such as Henkel and the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research, it gave participants an insight into their options for transitioning from a Master’s degree to a career.
The lectures and workshops, which took place at the University of Düsseldorf, also served the purpose of networking with each other.
Master’s students from Brazil, India and Thailand, among others, got to know each other better and made their first important contacts.
Their first common ground: studying in Düsseldorf and a warm invitation from the Lord Mayor.
The festive musical setting was provided by the student duo of the Robert Schumann Hochschule, Carlotta Malquori (violin) and Matthias Balzat (cello), with works by F.A. Hoffmann (1877) and R. Glière (1909).
A guided tour of Düsseldorf’s old town and a visit to the Christmas market rounded off the day with cultural and culinary delights.
Blueprint for the coming years
The Welcome Day is part of a series of events (“Innovation Semester”, “Come & Cooperate”) that are jointly organized by universities, companies and chambers to show young people that they are supported within the Wissensregion Düsseldorf and can grow together with others.
Due to the pandemic, the first Welcome Day 2021 was designed as a pilot project.
Next year, the group of participants will be expanded to include international Bachelor students.
It was largely funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and thus by funding from the Ministry of Culture and Science NRW.
Time to say … thank you!
Thanks also go above all to the members of the working group who, with their commitment, creativity and flexibility, ensured that the first Welcome Day could take place and celebrate a successful premiere.
This is not something that can be taken for granted, especially in the current climate – and makes us all the more excited about further events, which, in keeping with the core idea of the association, will once again be initiated and organized jointly!
