At the invitation of Germany, a delegation of five people headed by vice president of the Open University of China (OUC) Liu Chen and the Beijing International Institute of Asia-Europe Education and Culture (AEEC Institute Beijing) visited Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (OVGU) and University of Freiburg from 4-8th June 2018 to discuss matters of cooperation. They signed an agreement on a Sino-German Master’s Degree Programme with OVGU.
On 5 June, the delegation held an exchange visit at the Otto-von-Guericke Business School Magdeburg. Liu Chen and the heads of the Otto-von-Guericke Business School Magdeburg， Prof. Peter Reichling and Prof. Christian Stahr, discussed the school operation concept of the OUC, its school operation characteristics, and the OUC’s education and teaching situation. The three sides formally signed the Agreement by the OUC, Otto-von-Guericke Business School Magdeburg, and AEEC on the Joint Master’s Degree Programme. They also conducted an in-depth discussion on the specifics of joint education and teaching, and reached a consensus. They agreed to carry out a joint education programme in majors such as Management, Finance, and Management of Business Administration (MBA), build relevant curriculum and teaching resources, exchange students and cultivate international student cooperation, carry out mutual accreditation for learners, and conduct mutual exchanges and visits.
The Otto-von-Guericke Business School Magdeburg and AEEC Institute Beijing sign the Agreement on the Joint Education Programme
Photo with the heads of Otto-von-Guericke Business School Magdeburg
After the signing ceremony, Prof. Christian Stahr led the OUC delegation to visit the OVGU campus and introduced their education situation and, in particular, the education situation for overseas students. This visit also addressed follow-up cooperation issues and deepened the joint education programme between the two universities since a delegation led by Prof. Christian Stahr and Prof. Peter Reichling visited in May 2017.
On 7th June, a delegation from the OUC visited the University of Freiburg in Germany. They negotiated with the heads of the university’s Faculty of Economics and Language Teaching Centre about issues including postgraduate joint education, tutor exchanges, German training, student short-term academic visits and other cooperation content.
Negotiating with the representatives from the University of Freiburg Faculty of Economics
Photos with the heads of the University of Freiburg Language Teaching Centre
The OUC delegation’s visit to Germany achieved fruitful results. The cooperation, especially the joint training programme for postgraduate education, will be conducive to accumulating school running experience in postgraduate education and teaching for the OUC, improving the teaching ability of the OUC's tutors, expanding the channels for further study and employment available to OUC graduates, and enhancing the international level of the OUC’s school operation.
Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (abbreviated OVGU) was founded in 1993 based on the amalgamation of Magdeburg's Technical University, Teacher Training College, and Academy of Medicine. At present, it has nine faculties with 14,000 registered students. Many of its science and engineering majors and economics majors rank top among German universities. Its influence in Germany is increasing and it has now become a teaching and research centre for computer science, economics, machinery manufacturing, and medicine in Magdeburg.
The University of Freiburg, officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (German: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), was founded in 1457. It is one of the oldest universities in Germany. The university is located in Freiburg, Germany and has 11 faculties. It is one of Europe’s top public research universities. It is a member of the "League of European Research Universities (LERU)", "German U15", and the "European University Association (EUA)". Foreign students constitute about 16% of its total students.
By Yao Wenjian and Chen Na, OUC