Professor Brauweiler Gave a Guest Lecture at the XV International Forum of Young Scientists of KAFU

On April 9, 2025, KAFU hosted a guest lecture on the topic “Challenges and Opportunities of a Double Degree Program Exemplified with the International and Interdisciplinary Master of Science in Management and Information Technology at the University of Applied Sciences Zwickau with 4 Universities in Central Asia and the Caucasus.” The speaker was KAFU Professor Hans-Christian Brauweiler, Doctor of Economics.

The target audience of the lecture was university teachers and graduating students. Teachers from the D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University and the S. Amanzholov East Kazakhstan University were also invited to the event.

In his speech, Professor Brauweiler shared his experience in developing and implementing an international educational program. He focused on the mistakes he and his colleagues made so that students could avoid them in the future. He also spoke about the specifics of training when receiving two diplomas. The international program was launched in 2023, and the first student intake took place in 2023. The training consists of four semesters – two winters and two summers – and includes a variety of study modules with a flexible schedule for students. One of the advantages of the educational consortium is the opportunity to freely choose the university for studying in the second and third semesters, as well as use the resources of other educational institutions that are part of the consortium.

According to Professor Brauweiler, the idea of ​​creating the program appeared back in 2018, but the main problem was the insufficient development of accreditation issues in different countries, especially in light of the strict requirements of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Another difficulty was obtaining a visa to Germany for foreign students, since the first semester of study is necessarily held at the University of Zwickau.

Despite this, the number of applicants exceeded expectations: each academic year, the intake was more than 100 people.

At the end of the event, students and teachers received answers to their questions from Professor Brauweiler, coordinator of the educational program Stefan Noack and head of the Department of Business at KAFU Ilona V. Bordianu.

Alexander Kharlamov