Header in pink mit der weißen Schrift "Open to the world, internationalization at the university of Mannheim". Rechts sind zwei Bilder, eines vom Mannheimer Wasserturm und eines von einem Gebäude in Nizza zu einer Collage geformt.

Focus

Going out into the world

The figures speak volumes. Every year, around 1,100 exchange students leave Mannheim and spread all over the world to spend a semester abroad. In turn, about the same number of international students from around the globe come to Mannheim to study in a baroque palace in the “Quadrate-Stadt” (city of squares). An additional 400 first-year students leave their home countries to complete their entire degree in Mannheim. On top, about 200 international scholars come to Mannheim to do research and teach. The list is never-ending. There are the numerous Mannheim researchers who either go abroad or carry out international research projects right here at the university. And there are the staff members at the International Office and the schools who take care of organizing exchange programs, realizing funding projects, and communicating with the partner universities.  

For our focus section on internationalization, we looked behind the scenes, spoke to the people behind the figures, and discovered many stories worth telling. The places of action are always part of the stories – cities like Swansea, Rome, Helsinki or Paris. Those are some of the cities where our protagonists wander about at the moment, where they have lived for some time or with whom the University of Mannheim has had longstanding ties or has established recent partnerships. Each text is accompanied by a mirrored collage showing a photo of both Mannheim (always left) and its partner city. That way the layout reflects what is at the core of each flourishing international exchange: creating intersections, finding similarities, and, finally, ending up with a new and bigger picture. 

An Alliance – 7+2 partner universities

The partner universities of ENGAGE.EU introduces themselves.

A European Campus

The vision of the 7+2 partner universities is to build a joint ENGAGE.EU campus. 35 students from all over EUROPE met at the first ENGAGE.EU Summer School in Rome in July, and more than 500 students are already taking advantage of the alliance's virtual offering, the Online Exchange Initiative (OEI).

Think Thank

The ENGAGE.EU Think Tank is an academic research stay that serves as a platform to bring together different stakeholders to find solutions to address the global challenges of our time.

Innovations at Intersections

Lifelong learning and the impact of academic research on professional practice are key concerns for the European university alliance ENGAGE.EU. The interdisciplinary research group MARCIE provides research-based professional development courses for the cultural and creative industries.

Interview with Prof. Dr. Fetzer

Professor Thomas Fetzer has been Vice President for Strategic Planning, InternationalizationandEqual Opportunity for one year now. He assumed the coordination of the European university ENGAGE.EU this summer. FORUM spoke to the legal expert Professor Fetzer about the importance of internationalization at the University of Mannheim and ongoing developments in this area.

Abroad: From Mannheim out into the World and Vice Versa

Every year, more than 2,800 researchers and students embark on an adventure aborad. The University of Mannheim's International Office (IO) is there to provide any assistance they need.

English Is Key

In Translation Service, five employees work day in, day out to ensure that examination regulations, websites, and circular emails are also available in English.

The World of Research: a Global Network

The internationalization of any university ties in closely to existig research partnerships. Thanks to these partnerships, research at the University of Mannheim remains state-of-the-art and includes insights and perspectives from all over the world.

International Programs at the University of Mannheim

Is it possible to study in Germany and also get a degree from a university in Canada, Israel, or France? It is at the University of Mannheim, which for over a decade has been offering programs where Mannheim students half of their studies at a university abroad and receive two degrees upron graduation. 

University Alliance U7+

The U7+ is an alliance of university presidents from 54 universities from more than 20 countries around the globe. The alliance enables universities to learn from each other and develop best practices.

Challenges and Crisis

Pandemic, Brexit, war in Ukraine. Within a few years, several international crises required universities in Germany to act fast and take a clear stance. The University of Mannheim's staff members demonstrated courage, an open mindset and enormous flexibility – and proved that, together, they can effectively tackle such crises.