Visitors from Finland TU Braunschweig welcomes delegation of Tampere University

Given that only a few international trips were possible in the past two years due to the Coronavirus pandemic, everyone was delighted that a delegation of Tampere University was able to come to TU Braunschweig for a two-day visit in mid-January.

Cooperation between the Finnish university and Technische Universität Braunschweig has been strengthened since 2017. Since 2019, Tampere University has also been a strategic partner of TU Braunschweig, leading to even more intense cooperation. Six projects are currently being funded in the Seed Funding Call as part of the Core Research Area “Future City”, where researchers of both universities work closely together. The focus during the visit of the eight-member Finnish delegation on 18 and 19 January was on the exchange of best practices and the identification of possible further cooperation projects. In particular, joint research projects in the field of civil engineering were discussed.

Group picture of representatives from the Universities of Tampere and Braunschweig.

Vice President Professor Tatjana Schneider (second from left) welcomed the Finnish delegation and representatives of TU Braunschweig at the Center of Fire Safety Research. Photo: Simone Fürst/TU Braunschweig

Professor Tatjana Schneider, Vice President for Internationalisation and Regional Relations at TU Braunschweig, and Professor Peter Hecker, Vice President for Research and Early Career Scientists, received the guests. The agenda of the visitors was full of activities: Discussions and visits led the guests to the Centre for Fire Research, the Institute for Steel Structures, the Institute for Structural Design, the Institute for History and Theory of Architecture and the City as well as and the Institute for Transport, Railway Construction and Operation. In addition, exchange in the area of administration was also intensified through meetings in the International House, with the Research Services and in Central Administration.

Employees of TU Braunschweig and representatives of Tampere University sit around a large table in conversation.

Intensive discussions in institutes and facilities at TU Braunschweig were held to develop future collaborations. Photo: Simone Fürst/TU Braunschweig.

The guests were particularly impressed by TU Braunschweig’s excellent research infrastructure. At a final lunch before departure, the President of TU Braunschweig, Professor Angela Ittel, also exchanged views with the guests from Finland.

“I am very pleased that the long friendship and cooperation between our universities continues to develop and that new projects are emerging,” Vice President Tatjana Schneider pointed out. “Especially after we have had to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic for so long, with predominantly digital meetings as a means of exchange, the face-to-face discussions were very valuable.”

There are already plans for another visit in return to Finland: in May or June 2023, a delegation of TU Braunschweig will set off on a journey to Tampere. The meeting will then focus, among other things, on talks to resume the programme for the exchange of technical and administrative staff between the two partners, which was last carried out in autumn 2019. This is intended to further strengthen the internationalisation of the administration within the framework of the Re-Audit². The exchange programme will enable colleagues from Central and Decentralised Administration to get to know the respective work situations and challenges at the partner university in more detail and to exchange best practices during an individual two-day job shadowing stay on site.