TU Dresden's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering comprises the Faculties of Architecture, Environmental Sciences and Civil Engineering as well as the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences. Internationalisation as a cross-sectional task is at the core of strategic development of our School and is already well advanced in teaching and research.

Internationalisation of teaching

In the field of teaching, we have established manifold international networks at the level of graduation of our students, especially through ERASMUS and postgraduate study courses. The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering is characterised by several English-language Master programmes, which are a pivotal element to TU Dresden’s internationalisation. Additional lectures and doctorate programmes held in English are currently being set up.

Internationalisation of research

In the field of research, the degree of internationalisation is reflected by the intense co‑operation with universities, research institutions and the private sector, in Europe and beyond. With this framework, interdisciplinary, international cutting-edge research is carried out. In order to meet the social responsibility of a university institution, we strive to conduct research on the global challenges of this century and thereby take into account the global sustainability strategy. These include for example the steady growth of urban agglomerations into megacities, the related repercussions for human beings and the environment, the increasing natural resources consumption, growing poverty caused by the deepening gap between rich and poor as well as the climate change with all its corollary effects on the environment. Our broad expertise at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering addresses the inter- and transdisciplinary challenges arising from these circumstances and phenomena. To this end, the different research strategies of our four faculties and relevant units are gradually pooled in international lines of research. Cross-faculty research priorities at international level are the areas of energy, including energy-efficient construction, land and water use, innovative technologies and materials as well as sustainable transport and seminal mobility strategies.

It is difficult to quantify or measure research that addresses the global challenges and which reflects the spirit of social responsibility. Furthermore, this research is characterised by its sustainable character and is long-term components. Unpredictable external influences reduce the guarantee for success in the traditional sense. International commitment is hardly ever acknowledged by traditional assessment systems. Therefore, we need to develop a culture of mutual appreciation und follow up on these evaluation systems in the medium-to-long term.

Even though there are common goals within interdisciplinary lines of research and a common opinion concerning the partial restructuring of teaching and study programmes, there are different mission statements and mentalities and thus partially deviating priorities within the faculties of the School. These differences result in heterogeneous progress with regards to the internationalisation objectives (see overarching strategy "TU Dresden - Connected to the World"). This is illustrated through the KPIs for the internationalisation. In comparison to the other three faculties, the Faculty of Architecture has twice as many outgoing students. In contrast, the Faculty of Environmental Sciences plays a leading role in the hosting international doctoral students. Just like the Faculty of Civil Engineering, it offers a big share of its study courses in English and can build on relevant experience. The Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences has the highest percentage of lecturers sent abroad, including through ERASMUS+ Mobility Grants.

On the one hand, this underlines the necessity for specific analysis and activities. On the other hand, discerning points of view, different perspectives, the fact of progressing at a different pace and diverging experiences regarding the goals of internationalisation enable a mutual inspiration. Hence, just like the synergies in research, the disparities in research and teaching are seen as added value. This heterogeneity will be taken into account in the process of implementing the present strategy.

International activities of the Faculties

In co-operation with ENSA Strasbourg and as part of the German-French university network, the Faculty of Architecture offers international courses leading to a double degree. In addition, it is envisaged to launch a Masters programme taught in English. Another focus is on intensifying co-operation in European alliances, as well as on the strengthening and the expansion of international co-operation, for example with Uzbek universities in the field of building conservation and preservation of monuments, as well as with TU Delft in the field of Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Urbanism.

The co-operation with TU Delft plays an equally important role for the internationalisation of the Faculty of Civil Engineering. Complementing the adopted memorandum of understanding, joint study and teaching activities as well as research projects and annual work statement events are pooled. Furthermore, there are international courses, namely an English-language Master programme, as well as double degree courses with the ESTP Paris, the INSA Strasbourg and the University of Trento. For the international Master degree as well as for the double degree diplomas we are striving for an optimisation of the student selection procedure. Moreover, the German-French University supports bi-national doctoral programmes.

I In particular, the Faculty of Environmental Sciences has a close alumni network resulting from its longstanding tradition of Master courses. According to the aspiration of developing and establishing further English-language study courses, this network it to be maintained, connected, expanded and shall form the basis for the recruitment of scientists and students. This endeavour should also serve for improvement of TU Dresden's international visibility and gaining international co-operation partners in the alumni’s countries of origin. The focus is on the internationalisation of the doctoral phase through compulsory topic-oriented stays abroad, defined in the mentoring agreements, as well as on networking with international partners, such as the Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources of United Nations University (UNU-FLORES) or the Centre for International Postgraduate Studies of Environmental Management (CIPSEM).

The Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences "Friedrich List" and its partners of TU Delft are addressing traffic-specific issues and are contributing to the energy-efficient and sustainable development of transport. Furthermore, the faculty aims at driving forward the numerous established internationalisation measures, in particular the internationalisation of teaching and studying. In the current phase, the focus is on increasing number of courses taught in English within German degree programmes. Starting with individual lectures, more and more entire modules will be offered in English. In the long term, the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences intends to introduce an English language degree programme.

TU Dresden - Connected to the world

By setting sustainable and common goals and by including, supervising, co-coordinating, prioritising and interconnecting numerous activities, the internationalisation strategy, and the associated implementation plan serve as a means of orientation for the internationalisation process. This process described in the internationalisation strategy "TU Dresden - Connected to the World". It comprises four areas of activity:

• Area of activity 1: Internationalisation of study and teaching activities
• Area of activity 2: Internationalisation of research
• Area of activity 3: Framework conditions for internationalised teaching and research
• Area of activity 4: Improvement of the international positioning of TU Dresden

The underlying objectives are e.g. improving visibility, generating synergies, converging activities related to the School’s internationalisation goals and enhancing the efficiency of research and teaching.

In connection with the implementation plan, this basic version of the strategy takes stock of intermediate results in the discussion process of the respective weighting of the internationalisation goals. Thus, it represents a snapshot of achieved goals, which are subject to periodic readjustment. This applies as well and in particular for the implementation plan and related action sheets. Consequently, these are subject to a cyclical evaluation and follow-up and will possibly be subject to compacting or expansion. This will be done in a manner in which all stakeholder can benefit and contribute.

The implementation plan contains four areas of activities and ten goals of the TU Dresden’s internationalisation. "Related actions" provide structures for these goals. For these "related actions“, desired interdisciplinary developments within the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering are listed. These actions have been reconciled, specified and selected in accordance with the School's priorities, initiatives and derived responsibilities. Twenty of the "accompanying measures" are underpinned with specific individual projects conducive towards achieving these goals. These goal-oriented project lists contain about 85 individual projects at all structural levels and timescales. These projects comprise measures at School level, faculty-specific activities and pilot projects of individual units, which are of interdisciplinary importance or potentially lead to comprehensive induction. At each level, both long-term and permanent activities and spontaneous projects are initiated.

This portfolio strives to make a comprehensive and decisive impact on the School’s internationalisation by means of targeted, practical and sustainable initiatives. At this stage, the implementation plan builds on a number of existing activities of the School's faculties and takes into account the potential created in terms of internationalisation.

The quality assurance of the implementation plan will be carried out both in an action- as well as in a target- specific way. Each development is evaluated according to previously set objective, whereas each goals is partly documented. This documentation will be based on goal-oriented, exemplary KPIs. The indicators listed in the implementation plan are a compromise between current accessibility and relevance. In the course of gaining experiences, the resulting developments will be subject to a corrective discourse. The results from the associated analysis will serve for selectively setting additional incentives and activities.