IMB participation in the “China Trainee Programme at German Institutes of Higher Education”
The IMB is set to participate in the “China Trainee Programme at German Institutes of Higher Education for Student Affairs 2012.” Thanks to its long experience of and expertize in dealing with China, the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the German National Association for Student Affairs (Deutsche Studentenwerk) has chosen the IMB as one of ten institutes of higher education in Germany to participate in the scheme. The contents and timetable of the programme were developed in April 2012 by the HWR Berlin International Office working in consultation with the Deutsche Studentenwerk Berlin.
Chinese students constitute the largest single group of international students studying at German universities. Seeking to provide support to the some 25,000 Chinese students in order to enable them to profit from and enjoy their degree course and life in Germany, the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the German National Association for Student Affairs have launched the “China Trainee Programme at German Institutes of Higher Education for Student Affairs 2012.” Aiming to improve the scope of co-operation between Germany and China and extend it to the sphere of social interaction, the campaign involves the participation of young Chinese university managers with experience of studying and working abroad. Drawn from the area of Student Affairs, personnel from this group will be given the opportunity to complete a six-month trainee course in the various counselling and service facilities of German universities and Studentenwerk offices. After learning about these organizations from the inside, they will be given the chance to develop their own projects aimed at improving the academic success of Chinese students in Germany. Following their return to China, the former trainees will be in a position to share their familiarity with the German higher education system with future Chinese students interested in studying at a German university. 
The coming winter semester will see the Jing Su from the University of Foreign Languages at Shanghai arrive in Berlin on a scholarship to spend the first three months of her trainee programme at the HWR Berlin. During this period, she will primarily be involved in the work of the IMB in trying to achieve greater levels of integration in the daily routine of the university amongst Chinese students of the Master’s degree Chinese-European Economics and Business Studies. She will also be given responsibility for designing a marketing concept to recruit Chinese students using Chinese social networks. The second half of her trainee programme will be spent in the social counselling services of the Studentenwerk Berlin. She will be guided by a mentor during both phases of her training, who has been trained for this task.
Questions regarding the “China Trainee Programme” and the Master’s degree Chinese-European Economics and Business Studies as well as further IMB activities pertaining to China can be addressed to Ms. Meike Rissiek.
