“We see the USN as a role model for reaching out into society at the university and intensively connecting the university with communities, businesses, educational institutions and into local cultural life, but also in terms of concrete issues such as sustainability, lifelong learning, and directly linking research, innovation and concrete application," said Vice President for International Affairs and Fundraising and the President's Representative for the European Digital UniverCity - EDUC, Prof. Dr. Florian J. Schweigert. "In addition, Norway is one of the most popular Erasmus exchange countries, so we hope to send many of our students to beautiful southern Norway soon and, vice versa, to welcome USN researchers and students here.”
During their visit, the Norwegian guests not only met representatives of the Executive Board of the University of Potsdam, but also met with deans from various faculties as well as researchers from some disciplines to explore possibilities for cooperation. Among others, environmental sciences and multilingualism research were on the agenda as well as health sciences, biology, data sciences and physics. There was also an intensive exchange about the organization of studies, the accreditation systems in both countries, qualification and support offers for teachers, as well as how to handle students who drop out.
One focus for the two universities is teacher training. For example, the USN has seven university schools of its own, which is fruitful for both sides, as not only do the USN students gain professional experience, but the schools can also recruit students for teaching and receive input from the university on specific topics and projects. In 2015, the University of Potsdam professionalized its traditionally strong teacher education program by establishing the Center for Teacher Education and Educational Research (ZeLB) and linked it more closely with the educational sciences in order to incorporate their findings directly into the training of future teachers. In the future, the University of Potsdam and the USN want to cooperate with each other in these areas.
There are also links in the area of sustainability. For example, the USN has a central coordination unit called "USN Sustainability," an interdisciplinary Research Center that anchors the topic broadly in the university, as well as an English-language master's program in "Sustainable Management." The University of Potsdam is traditionally strong in research in the earth and environmental sciences as well as in ecology and biodiversity research, which is reflected in numerous projects, but also in degree programs with a focus on sustainability such as "Geoecology," "Climate, Earth, Water, Sustainability," and "Ecology, Evolution and Conservation."
An immediate continuation of the exchange has already begun: From June 6 to 9, staff members of the International Summer Campus Office (ISCO) of the University of Potsdam will visit the University of South-Eastern Norway for the ERASMUS+ staff week.
Further information:
https://www.uni-potsdam.de/de/educ/
https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/international/profile/netzwerke