Sumy National Agrarian University has been cooperating with the Weihenstephan-Trident University of Applied Sciences (Germany) for about 30 years. During this time, the educational institutions have implemented many joint educational projects, including a virtual semester. Two cohorts of Ukrainian applicants have already gone from obtaining the official status of a student at a German university to passing exams and receiving certificates of completion.
HISTORY OF COOPERATION
The cooperation between Sumy NAU and the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Trisdorf began in 1995 with the assistance of professors from the German university: Prof. Dr. Henning Williecke and Prof. Dr. Herbert Strobel. The first stage was the organization of agricultural practice for SNAU students on German farms. Already in 1996, 3 students of our university were the first from Ukraine to be invited to study at the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Trisdorf for a postgraduate course in Agricultural Management. Since December 2001, Sumy National Agrarian University has become an official partner of the DAAD project “Export of Training Courses”, signing a cooperation agreement with four partner universities, including the Weihenstephan-Trisdorf University of Applied Sciences, to open an international master’s degree program Master of Business Administration in Agriculture (MBA).
Under this agreement, in June 2002, the international master’s course “Agricultural Management” was officially launched at the SNAU, where training is conducted in German and Ukrainian, and since 2015 also in English.
On November 29, 2019, the SNAU signed a new expanded agreement on the joint implementation of a double degree program with a German partner, which allowed to deepen the process of integration of the SNAU into the international educational space within the framework of the MBA program.
Since then, 235 students have participated in a practical training semester, 101 students have studied at a German university and received a double degree, and 28 students and young teachers have successfully completed an assistantship program. The number of students of the international master’s course since the beginning of this program at Sumy NAU is 928. In 2002-2020, 20 international seminars for teachers were held at SNAU. Traditionally, seminars and webinars are held annually with the involvement of foreign lecturers for students of the master’s course.
The master’s course was accredited on June 22, 2006 by the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD in April 2009. In November 2016, the specialty was successfully accredited, and in May 2023 it was reaccredited until 09.2029 by the European accreditation agency ACQUIN.
STUDYING IN A VIRTUAL SEMESTER IN 2022
With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the assistance of the German partner deepened. Constant shelling, the period of occupation, air raids, and power outages prompted SNAU and HSWT staff to support Ukrainian students and create a virtual academic mobility program, which was later extended to students from African and post-Soviet countries. The young people had the opportunity to choose courses in English and Ukrainian from the faculty of HSWT, SNAU, and the Virtual University of Bavaria. Special emphasis was placed on foreign languages. The list of courses includes English and German for science, everyday life, and business. In 2022, 66 of our students became DAAD scholars and were officially enrolled in a German university.
THE SECOND STREAM OF STUDENTS
On April 29, 2024, during the Academic Council of the University, second-year students received official certificates of successful completion of their studies and the number of ECTS credits from a German university, which will be credited to students as part of their degree program at the university. A total of 27 students took part in the virtual semester 2023.
WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN THE VIRTUAL SEMESTER 2024
The Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (Germany) invites SNAU students to join an international virtual semester in the field of agricultural management, processing industry and nutrition from September 1, 2024 to March 14, 2025. Languages of instruction are English and/or Ukrainian.
Requirements for participation:
Be a student of SNAU.
English language proficiency at least B1 (for English-language modules)
Apply by 05/24/2024 at the link http://surl.li/tfsls
