KIC InnoEnergy: Coffee-with-Profs for KIC Energy Students

They have come from all over Europe to study in Karlsruhe: A few days ago, a group of students enrolled in the international MSc program Energy Technology (ENTECH ), which is funded by KIC InnoEnergy, met with their fellow students, tutors and future professors for the first time. The main focus throughout the evening was on providing information, exchanging views and opinions and getting to know each other.

Last week, at the start of the semester of the international study program ENTECH, a “coffee-with-profs” meeting took place at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The 40 students from different countries who participated in the meeting are either just about to get started with their master’s degree studies in Karlsruhe, or have transferred to KIT from one of the partner universities in Portugal, Sweden or France for their third and fourth semester as part of the ENTECH program. The meeting was also attended by KIT electrical engineering students. Their master’s degree program, which is based on ENTECH, was presented during the event.

The evening was started by Cornelia Schwenk, course coordinator of the ENTECH program, who, after extending warm greetings to everyone present, introduced the professors attending the meeting. As a welcome present, the first-year ENTECH students received a bag with various items useful for living in Karlsruhe and for taking up their studies at KIT.

As Cornelia Schwenk and her colleague Julia Johnson went on to present the degree program and the conception and goals related to it, Professor Hans-Jörg Bauer, spokesman of the KIT Energy Center, encouraged the students to make full use of the wide range of development opportunities offered by this international and interdisciplinary degree course. Above all, he emphasized the possibilities for further individual specialization and the associated high degree of self-determination and autonomy.

While enjoying drinks and pretzels, the students then had the opportunity to chat with their new fellow students and professors in an informal atmosphere, to get to know one another and to ask questions. According to Julia Johnson, this aspect of the event is of particular significance: “For a small group of students it is important to quickly connect with each other and with those responsible. This will make it easier for them to get started with their studies, which often proves difficult at a university abroad.”

Based on his previous experience, Professor Schulenberg from the Institute for Nuclear and Energy Technologies at KIT couldn’t agree more as far as the usual problems for these students are concerned:

The change of location within the ENTECH program and the students’ different academic backgrounds are the main obstacles that must be overcome.

In view of this fact, the evening spent in intense and lively conversation was a full success and will definitely be repeated next year.