Meeting to strengthen the cooperation between Macedonian and German companies, through the “HEIDELBERG Faculty in Skopje” platform
A successfully completed working week, with an online meeting between the Management of the Heidelberg Institute in Skopje, the headquarters of the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) in Stuttgart and DHBW Mannheim.
The main focus in this second phase of the co-opted institutions was to define the details of the networking of German and domestic companies inside and outside TIDZ (potential dual partners) with the management of IBMHS and DHBW, in order to start the dual higher education model, as a model for the sustainable development of companies in the countries of the Western Balkans, and our country will be the first among them – the model in Skopje will set a model for expanding the same practice in the rest of the region, starting with Serbia and then Albania.
IBMHS representatives were: prof. Dr. Ulrich Zeitel, Chairman of the Board of IBMHS, Executive Director of the FORUM Institute of Management and Professor at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, Dr. Brigitte Spielmann (Member on the Board of the Heidelberg Institute), prof. Dr. Ronald Gleich (Board Member of IBMHS and research director of the Center for Performance Management & Controlling at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management) and prof. Dr. Sinisha Naumoski (representative of the Board of the Institute in Skopje). From DHBW’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Vice-President Peter Väterlein was present, together with the Rektor of DHBW Mannheim, prof. Dr. Georg Nagler, Torge Fischer, in the role of education consultant at DHBW and Prof. Emeritus Kay Wilding of DHBW Mannheim.
All relevant issues regarding the entry of dual studies from DHBW Mannheim, now through the platform of the German “HEIDELBERG Faculty in Skopje”, were considered, which received a Decision to grant approval for establishment by the Government of the Republic of N. Macedonia (No. 41-7606/ 1, 13.09.2022).
From the next academic year 2023/24, this higher education institution with a unique approach will integrate theory with practice, following the example of the State Dual University of Mannheim and under their mentorship and involvement with programs, educational staff (50% of the Faculty’s professors), evaluation and external testing to guarantee the quality and duality of studies. At the same time, field visits, excursions and student exchanges are planned, as well as final activities for completing the educational processes and acquiring a state German diploma, in addition to the Macedonian one, with 210 ECTS.
Through undergraduate studies for:
– “Business Administration: Banking, Finance and Controlling”;
– “Software Engineering: Data and Computer Science”; and
– “Mechatronics”,
90 high school graduates will have the opportunity to enroll in Bachelor studies where they will study and work with mentors-practitioners with many years of experience in the industry, following academic teaching and working in companies that will invest in them and their future.
❓What’s NEXT?
By the end of the year, a ceremonial opening of the “HEIDELBERG FACULTY IN SKOPJE” campus is planned, with an event for the German delegation and the business community in the country, as well as the officialization of the agreements with the dual partners.
