The director of the International Affairs Office of the Universidad de La Frontera and the director of the International Office of the Technical University Braunschweig came together to sign a specific agreement between both institutions.

About 12500 students are part of the Technical University Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig). It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany and member of TU9, the Alliance of Leading Universities of Technology in Germany.

During her trip to Chile, the director of the International Office of TU Braunschweig, Dr. Ute Kopka, visited five institutions for higher education with which they cooperate, and the Universidad de La Frontera is one of them, since the universities have a mutual framework agreement since 2016.

“We are visiting the German Schools and institutions we cooperate with, because we want to increase the number of incoming students for our undergraduate programs in education and to open new possibilities for the exchange of students and academics,” she said.

Although this has been a reality for the UFRO for several years, the incorporation of German researchers in the graduate programs and the creation of different possibilities for the mobility of undergraduate students, as well as the growing number of partnerships permitted an important development. This is a specific agreement that strengthens both institutions in this field.

“At the moment we have a university teacher at our university who is working in the field of food chemistry and doing research in antioxidants. On other occasions we received Chilean students through the DAAD scholarship program, so we already have experience in this field and the confidence to go on,” the representative of the TU Braunschweig said.

Berta Schnettler, the director of the International Affairs Office of the Universidad de La Frontera, thinks that strengthening cooperation strategies that are transversal and holistic gives real sense to the internationalization work of the UFRO. “Our purpose is to strengthen international links through the faculties, our nuclei and the postgraduate programs. And now, we also have the extension of this agreement in order to meet our goal.”

NUCLEI AND FACULTIES

During her visit, Dr. Kopka had several meetings at the Faculty of Education, Social Science and Humanities, the Faculty of Engineering and Science and the Scientific and Technological Bioresource Nucleus (BIOREN). The German university mentions four pillars that are essential for its development: teaching, knowledge, technology transfer and research.

Juan Manuel Fierro, the dean of the Faculty of Education, Social Science and Humanities, said: “Although this German university is a technical university, their programs in the field of education are very similar to ours.” This is why the cooperation regarding methodological and academic aspects and student mobility is an important opportunity.

At the Faculty of Engineering and Science Dr. Kopka was received by the vice dean, Elena Oliveros, the director of the Outreach and Community Engagement Office of the faculty, Iván Velásquez, and the coordinator for internships, Gabriela Reyes. “It is essential for us to strengthen these links, since one of the main objectives of our Plan for Strategic Development is internationalization,” the dean claimed.

In this context, Gabriela Reyes commented: “We want the number of students who have the opportunity to life an experience of student mobility (student exchange and internships) to grow and the TU Braunschweig offers an excellent opportunity, since their faculties are linked to the fields of engineering, computer science, mechanics, electricity and electronics.”

Written by: UFRO Communications Office
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