What is the biggest challenge facing Germany’s energy sector in the coming years? Alongside grid expansion and issues such as slow political processes, most industry insiders would probably agree that the shortage of young professionals and skilled workers is a particular concern for HR departments.
The EUREF Talent Campus in Düsseldorf offers one answer to this challenge by combining the advantages of a campus that is home to dozens of companies with a unique collaboration between four universities in North Rhine-Westphalia.
International students come to the campus to pursue their master’s degrees and, in addition to receiving extensive theoretical input, are directly involved in some of the industry’s most exciting projects. This ensures that their education is closely aligned with real-world needs, while companies have the opportunity to get to know the talent of the future and, where there is a good fit, recruit them.
This pioneering concept, which has already been successfully established at the EUREF Campus Berlin, brings business and academia together in a highly practical way.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Science, Ina Brandes, came to see the concept for herself during her visit to the EUREF Talent Campus on September 9. Following a tour of the carbon-neutral EUREF Campus, Karin Teichmann, Member of the Executive Board of EUREF AG, welcomed company representatives, academic leaders and, not least, the students of the Talent Campus.
Prof. Dr. Manfred Bayer, Rector of TU Dortmund University, highlighted the importance of cooperation between universities and practice-oriented education in ensuring the future competitiveness of North Rhine-Westphalia as a business and academic location.
Stefan Deibel, Head of Learning & Development at SPIE Germany Switzerland Austria, demonstrated just how closely and productively academia and industry are interconnected on the campus. In his presentation, he spoke about the successful collaboration with the EUREF Talent Campus in training the skilled professionals urgently needed for the energy and mobility transition.
The focus then shifted to key representatives of the International Academy for German Engineering and Science (IAGES), a collaboration between four universities – Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), TU Dortmund University, the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) and Hochschule Düsseldorf – University of Applied Sciences (HSD) – that is setting new standards for integrating academic education with practical experience.
The academic directors of the IAGES programs, Prof. Dr. Andreas Löschel, Prof. Dr. Lars-Peter Lauven and Prof. Dr. Franziska Schaube, provided insights into the curricula and development of the master’s programs already underway: Sustainable Energy and Hydrogen Infrastructures (SEHI) and Management of Smart and Sustainable Energy Systems (MOSSES).
At the heart of the Minister’s visit, however, was the direct exchange with the talents themselves. International students Minkun Kim and Manahil Khan presented their current practical projects, demonstrating how they are already taking on significant responsibilities with renowned industry partners such as Schneider Electric and SPIE while still completing their studies. In doing so, they are actively helping to translate research into real-world applications.
Minister Brandes spoke personally with the students, asking about their individual journeys to Düsseldorf and expressing great interest in the international profile of the program and the commitment shown by the next generation of professionals.
The visit concluded with a look ahead at the further development of the campus. Prof. Dr. Ellen Enkel presented an innovative new master’s program in logistics planned for the coming year.
Finally, Dr. Yves Gensterblum from the Academy of Ruhr University Bochum emphasized the long-term vision of establishing the EUREF Talent Campus Düsseldorf as a vibrant and sustainable hub for networking and exchange between students, cutting-edge research and industry.