Heading towards an ever-closer collaboration: New THWS-President highlights potential of joint applied research

The 21^st of April marked the first official visit of THWS’s new president, Prof. Dr. Jean Meyer to Jordan and to THWS’s strategic partner university GJU. The president was accompanied by THWS Vice President for International & Academic Affairs, Prof. Dr. Achim Förster, Prof. Dr. Ralf Roßkopf, Study Coordinator THWS for the hosted programme Social Work, Prof. Dr. Winfried Wilke, Study Coordinator THWS for the hosted programme Hydrogen Technology Engineering as well as members of the International Office and Campus GATE at THWS.

The delegation did a campus tour at GJU which included various laboratories such as the Nano Lab, Smart Grid Lab and Robotics Lab, and visited the DI-Tech innovation space and the German Language Center. As a special highlight, Prof. Dr. Jean Meyer and GJU’s President Prof. Ala’aldeen Al-Halhouli signed a new extended exchange agreement between the two universities which now includes a continuous exchange of 8 out of 10 THWS faculties with GJU. Both presidents underlined the special collaboration between THWS and GJU, symbolized particularly by the established campus GATE and its transnational hosted programmes. The presidents enforced their commitment to focus on joint research projects in the future: “Robotics and hydrogen play a huge role for THWS’s research profile, and we want to collaborate further with GJU in this regard” pointed out Prof. Dr. Jean Meyer during the signing ceremony. The successful start of the hosted programme Hydrogen Technology Engineering showed the joint efforts of both universities to establish new and innovative ideas according to Jean Meyer. Starting with Social Work this winter semester is now the next central aim to consolidate the hosted programmes further. 

The delegation met with the first cohort of Hydrogen Technology Engineering students and was impressed by their German skills. As part of their study programme, students of the hosted programmes learn intensively German so that they have at least a B2 level before finishing their studies at THWS with a German Degree. 

A special highlight for the THWS president marked the visit of GJU’s Jabal Amman Campus, overlooking the enchanting Old City of Amman. The campus served as the perfect location for hosting an evening event with international schools interested in a collaboration with the universities. Part of the delegation also had the chance to meet with Dr. Thafer Assaraira (AQACHEI) who informed about the current initiated professionalization of Social Work in the country. This includes an official licence for calling oneself a social worker. Dr. Thafer emphasized the importance of the hosted programme Social Work in this regard.

The last official event to conclude the successful delegation visit was an encounter with interested parents and students, where two representatives of the Jordan industry, and NGOs respectively, talked about job opportunities for the hosted programmes students. Mr. Hanna Zaghloul, CEO of Kawar Energy, talked about the next steps of energy production in Jordan, the MENA region and worldwide. “Hydrogen is the future”, stressed Mr. Hanna, and companies need skilled workers in that particular field. For Social Work, Ms. Farah Khalaf, CP Case Manager at Mercy Corps, gave an insightful perspective in her day-to-day life as a professional social worker at an NGO. For her, the communication with her colleagues and the team is very important to process the demanding challenges she faces in her job. Nevertheless, she encouraged pupils to study social work, as it is a very fulfilling and diversified field with excellent job opportunities worldwide.  

The joint collaboration between THWS and GJU gained new perspectives and ideas throughout the delegation visit, which will now be followed up by the partners.