THB’s current internationalisation project, the ELI Incubator, is being funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as part of the HAW.International programme from 1.1.2024 – 31.12.2025. This made the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences one of 16 universities nationwide to be selected for DAAD funding in October 2023.
Objectives of the ELI project at the TH Brandenburg
The aim of the project is to substantially strengthen the internationalisation of the curriculum in existing degree programmes in order to make the courses on offer more attractive for international exchange students and to provide THB students with English language and intercultural skills in addition to subject-specific skills. Didactic models, cooperative teaching formats with international university partners and digital processes are to be tested and anchored as part of the expansion of the English-language teaching programme. In the long term, the quality and scope of the English-language teaching programme should be strengthened in such a way that teaching and studies are internationally and regionally competitive and further development steps can be realised.
What are ELIs?
ELIs are ‘English Teaching Increments’, i.e. English-language ‘additions’ to originally German-language teaching modules. They are self-contained courses of varying scope that contribute to the internationalisation of the curriculum of the entire university and can be developed in different stages:
(1) ELI Basic: English-language components in German-language courses
(2) ELI Classic: courses taught in English
(3) ELI Digital Exchange: ELI Classic + virtual cooperation with a foreign partner university
(4) ELI Mobility: ELI Digital Exchange + physical exchange with international partner university
In category 4, Professors Andre Nitze and Dietmar Wikarski submitted a proposal that was approved by the selection committee and enables the continuation of university cooperation between THB and MMUST.
To this end, Professor Nitze’s Master’s course ‘Internet of Things and Industry 4.0’ is to be expanded to include the component ‘IoT for Smart Agriculture’. From the perspective of the by now for six-year DAAD-funded cooperation between MMUST and THB, the ELI project enables the continuation of the established relationship for a further two years – albeit on a slightly smaller scale this time.