The President of the University of Applied Sciences Fulda (UAS Fulda), Prof. Dr. Karim Khakzar, and GJU’s Vice President for International, Prof. Dr. Ralf Roßkopf, signed a strategic partnership in Fulda on, July 4th, 2022.
A cooperation agreement between the UAS Fulda and the GJU has been in place since 2007. With the signing of this agreement, both partners confirm their intention to further develop the 15 year cooperation in different dimensions such as: the exchange of students, lecturers and university staff to joint research and innovation projects, the development of study programs and educational online offers, and cooperation at the level of PhD programs and supervision and university management. In order to successfully carry this cooperation, respective structures and communication channels will be implemented.
Furthermore, Prof. Roßkopf explained GJU’s intention by stating "Within our partner network of ca. 120 universities, UAS Fulda ranks third in terms of receiving our students. Also there is a long lasting history of sustainable cooperation on different levels. So it was quite clear that Fulda should become one of our five strategic partners, with whom GJU wants to develop further in certain strategic topics." As for UAS Fulda, this now marks the launch of Fulda University's first Strategic Partnership and will open a new dimension of cooperation as another important step for the university’s strategic internationalization.
Moreover, close faculty cooperation already exists in particular between the two universities in the areas of: IT, Social and Cultural Science, as well as Management. To further foster the cooperation between the two universities, Vice President Prof. Roßkopf met with department representatives from Health Sciences, Social Sciences and Electrical Engineering where he discussed further development opportunities.
Therefore, this visit and the signing of the agreement is the culmination of a series of visits by professors and administrative staff (funded by Erasmus+, among others) from both universities during the summer semester of the academic year 2021/2022. Among others, some representatives of Fulda’s Social and Cultural School and Fulda’s International Office staff were at the GJU during the university’s German week. Interchangeably, the Dean of Scientific Research and the Dean of Innovation, Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship as well as a professor from GJU’s Electrical Engineering Department were guests at the UAS Fulda. In addition, the university expects two colleagues from GJU’s International Office and the Presidency Department in the coming week.