At TU Dresden, the Internationalization Award was announced for the 5th time this year. The aim of the award is to honor and give recognition to the people and initiatives who, with their commitment, make a valuable and sustainable contribution to the internationalization of our university. Until July 18th 2021 all members of the TU Dresden were called upon to participate and submit their projects and initiatives. We received a total of 18 applications. The submitted projects reflect not only a great deal of personal commitment to the internationalization of our university but also illustrate the diversity of involvement in internationalization. Initiatives that promote a welcoming culture and an international campus, international research collaborations with best-practice character, and innovative projects that combine digitalization and internationalization are impressive proof of how internationalization is practiced at our university.

An evaluating committee consisting of representatives of TU Dresden's international advisors, an alumni ambassador, a representative of the academic staff, a student representative and one of the previous year's award winners chose the following six projects:

In the category International Campus and Community the initiatives "Start with a Friend" and "Salsa & Bachata Fridays" as well as the Boysen-TU Dresden-Research Training Group will receive awards.

The local team of "Start with a Friend" consists of 11 volunteer students of the TU Dresden and has already arranged 156 tandem partnerships in Dresden between newcomers with or without a migration background and Dresden citizens, thus supporting the integration of international people into our society.

In the project "Salsa & Bachata Fridays" initiated by students and employees of the TU Dresden, international students and employees of the TU Dresden have been meeting weekly for two years to dance and talk about language and culture. The project promotes intercultural exchange and offers newly arrived international students in particular a place to connect and get in touch with other people.

The Boysen-TU Dresden-Research Training Group's application impressed the selection committee as a best-practice example of a distinctive and reflective culture of international research, teaching, and intercultural learning.

The projects "Refugee Law Clinic" and "CouReg" receive recognition in the category Social Responsibility and Impact.

The "Refugee Law Clinic" is a student initiative that has been advising refugees, asylum seekers and international students on the topic of asylum and residence law on a voluntary basis since 2015. At the same time, the Refugee Law Clinic offers students of the TU Dresden a training program in order to be able to work as a counselor in the Law Clinic. An important initiative that makes a valuable contribution to an international and diverse campus.

The project "CouReg" addresses young people in the Saxon and Bohemian borderlands and combines university teaching-research projects with school workshops with the aim to develop and strengthen democratic potentials on the one hand, but also to counteract the "brain drain" in the border areas around Dresden on the other hand.

The initiative "IDA - Arriving in Dresden" convinced the selection committee that it was particularly worthy of an award due to its Exceptional Engagement and Empowerment. The student initiative "IDA" arranges language courses led by refugees and migrants who pass on their knowledge of their mother tongue and culture to interested students. The approach that refugees and migrants pass on their knowledge, language skills and competencies to others as teachers is highly commendable because it shows appreciation and puts all involved parties on an equal level.

A total of 6.000 EUR is available.  The internationalisation award is funded by the Excellence Strategy of the Federal and State Governments. Detailed information on the award-winning projects can be found on our website: https://tu-dresden.de/internationalisierung/award.

A continuation of the award is also planned for next year.

Informationen for Journalists:

Daniela Mohrich and Philip Grünauer
Sachgebiet 8.3, Team Strategy and Internationalization
phone: 463-35169
internationalisierung.exu@tu-dresden.de