GCC News
Here we inform you about news and current events of the GCC.
Table of contents
TUD Global Citizenship Lab WiSe 2025/2026 was a success!
Why becoming a Global Citizen in times of wars and conflicts?
The Global Citizenship Certificate (GCC) program at Technische Universität Dresden educates and empowers future global citizens. Through designing the Global Citizenship Lab in collaboration with partners and stakeholders form the academia, civil society, municipality, and local politics, GCC fosters a vivid community and contributes to shaping a more cohesive and peaceful society.
The pervious GC Lab focused on developing compassionate and constructive mind- and skillsets in the face of conflicts and devastating wars affecting the global and local community. The Lab provided hands-on workshops, in-depth panel discussions on academic freedom and insights into projects across Dresden which actively fostering a warmer, more welcoming environment for people affected by conflict. The participants discovered the many possibilities for engagement right on their doorstep.
The speakers of the TUD Global Citizenship Lab in the winter semester 2025/2026 offer engaging insights into the event’s key topics. © Mascha Schelten
Featured initiatives included:
- Welcome to Löbtau – Willkommen in Löbtau e. V. (Project INTERACT4WORK)
- Dresden Migration Stories by Ausländerrat Dresden e.V.
- Afropa e.V.
- Gedenken.Erinnern.Mahnen initiative
The panels on academic freedom and responsible Internationalization brought together engaging and inspiring personalities who shared substantial perspectives, stories of their contributions in respective areas, as well as powerful insights into personal encounters with restraints, deprivations of freedom resulting from severe domestic and geopolitical conflicts.
- Peter Rosenbaum, Head of the International Office at TUD
- Prof. Holger Kuße, Professor of Slavic Linguistics and Language History at TUD and PSI Mentor
- Dr. Alena Pantiukhina, PSI Fellow at the Institute of Slavic Studies at TUD
- Claudia Reichert, Head of Leonardo-Saxony
- Prof. Michael Kobel, Professor at the Institute for Nuclear and Particle Physics, initiator of “Welcome to Löbtau” and member of the Saxon Refugee Council
- Freshta Mujadidi, Maria Reiche Doctoral Fellow at TUD’s Faculty of Civil Engineering and refugee doctoral researcher from Afghanistan
- Prof. Oksana Makovoz, Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Kharkiv and Research Assistant at IHI-Zittau
- Eva Jähnigen, Second Mayor of the City of Dresden, Deputy Mayor for Environment, Climate, Law and Order
- Friedemann Brause, Advisor for Domestic Policy/Civil Society Engagement at the Saxon State Agency for Civic Education
Together, they emphasized how collaboration between government, civil society, and academia strengthens democratic culture, protects academic freedom, and builds resilient communities.
Key takeaway: Think globally, act locally. Engagement starts in your own neighborhood — and the GC Lab introduces you to the many ways you can get involved and make a meaningful difference.
Find out more in the TUD Global Citizenship Lab review and in the testimonials from our participants.
Participants of the TUD Global Citizenship Lab in the winter semester 2025/2026 share their impressions, experiences, and key takeaways from the event. © Mascha Schelten
GCC at the 2024 matriculation ceremony
Opening of the matriculation ceremony in the lecture hall center of the TUD with Rector Prof. Staudinger and members of the University Executive Board.
🌍 Open-minded and engaged – this is not only the motto of this year’s matriculation ceremony at TU Dresden, but also the core of our TUD Global Citizenship Certificate (GCC)! 🎓
The GCC helps students become true global citizens and develop intercultural and global skills.
The GCC program was also presented to the new students at the enrolment ceremony for the winter semester 2024/2025 on October 10, 2024:
" “Our motto of 'cosmopolitan and committed' is not only limited to our matriculation ceremony. These are also the values that we actively put into practice every day here at our university", says Prof. Roswitha Böhm, Vice-Rector University Culture at TUD. This is reflected in unique programs such as the "TUD Global Citizenship Certificate," where TUD demonstrates its wholehearted commitment to educating young people in an international environment to become global citizens. The program is aimed at all TUD students – including doctoral and exchange students. The certificate recognizes intercultural, regional and global knowledge, as well as the skills and commitment of the participants.".
New on campus
The new GCC banner in front of Hörsaalzentrum © TUD/CD/International Office
Already spotted on campus? Just in time for the start of the new semester, GCC is back on the TUD campus in the form of banners, posters and postcards. In our picture gallery you can take a look at our advertising campaign of the current and previous semester.
The new GCC banner in front of HSZ © TUD/CD/IO
The GCC banner in front of Zebradiele © TUD/CD/IO
The GCC posters on campus © TUD/CD/IO
The GCC posters on campus © TUD/CD/IO
GCC postcards © TUD/CD/IO
GCC is also represented on the campus monitors. © TUD/CD/IO
GCC on social media
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and Free State of Saxony under the Excellence Strategy of the Federal Government and the Länder.