47 Indian Master Students at the City Hall
The second mayor of Schweinfurt, Sorya Lippert, received 47 Indian master students of the English-language further education course "Business with Europe" of the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (FHWS) in the town hall. The reason for the reception was the arrival in Schweinfurt of the Indian students who are studying at the FHWS in the summer semester to complete part of their dual Master's degree.
After the welcoming speech, the young academics had the opportunity to talk to the mayor about their first impressions of Germany. Lippert, who herself has Indian roots, was very happy about the exchange with the young people and was thrilled that the FHWS offers so many continuing education programs for people from all over the world.
For Professor Dr. Uwe Sponholz, head of the program, and his team, it was a successful evening: "It is important to us that the students feel welcome and that they know that Schweinfurt has an open heart for all people," said Uwe Sponholz after the speech. For more than ten years now, the "Master Business with Europe" course has been an integral part of the FHWS. Together with its cooperation partner, Christ University from Bangalore, India, the university has been offering this dual Master's program since 2008. After a two-year study period, students receive both an MBA degree from Christ University and an MBA degree from FHWS. Students begin their studies in India, where they first take courses in both the Indian and German degree programmes. From March to August of each year, the participants then come to Schweinfurt to complete the further courses of the German Master's degree and to begin with the Master's thesis. After the summer semester, they return to India to complete the remaining courses of the Christ University MBA and complete the Master's thesis.
The FHWS degree prepares students to work either for German companies abroad or for foreign companies in Europe. "Many graduates of the last ten years can look back on a successful career thanks to the good education at the FHWS," reports Professor Sponholz, who started the partnership with Christ University ten years ago together with colleagues from the Faculty of Business and Engineering. When asked how he envisioned the next decade, he emphasized that, in addition to the long-term partnership with Christ University, further partnerships could follow with the model of a dual MBA program. The prerequisite for this, however, was the further development of the MBA in terms of content and structure in order to better prepare international students for the management of transformations.