BAUER, Viliam
Technical University of Kosice, Faculty BERG, Letná 9, 042 00 Kosice, Slovakia, bauer@ccsun.tuke.sk
Abstract: The DAAD Foundation with the seat in Bonn, Germany, already for the sufficiently long period, supports activities of young people from Slovakia by the form of scholarships. Usually there are study stays at important German universities having the interest to take care of young teachers, scientists and research workers. The contribution shows the possibilities, which can young people utilise in case of trying to acquire a scholarship and to spend a year or several months in Germany.
Keywords: education, co-operation, DAAD, projects
The university and technical-engineering education in Slovakia has its traditional position. The study is being realised in humanitarian and technical universities in all forms of the education. The Slovak universities are engaged in the international exchange co-operation on various academic levels. The keystone of this co-operation exchange is in widened participation of students, university teachers, scientific and research workers in scientific-research projects and educational programmes. In this international co-operation the non-government organisations and foreign private foundations have their unsubstitutable role. These foundational non-state organisations, at very advantageous conditions, in versatile ways, support, through their programmes, the educational, scientific and research activities of the Slovak universities. They give those interested in the study the scholarships for the support of gradual, as well as postgraduate education, and at the same time they allocate financial means for research and scientific projects for young scientific workers. There is a great number of foundations world-wide, which support the educational programmes and projects of the scientific co-operation. One of them is the DAAD Foundation (Deutsche Akademische Austausch Dienst) with the seat in Bonn, Germany. The main role of this foundation is in the development of partner and co-operation relations among universities in Germany and academic institutions abroad. Through this foundation, students of the Slovak universities can get their scholarships. As in the past, also at present, in this exchange also students, young scientific workers and teachers of the Technical University of Kosice take part. The participation at the given exchange also has the Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnologies (Faculty BERG), the foreign partner activities of which are oriented on the German universities in Aachen, Clausthal, Berlin and Freiberg.
The technical universities in Slovakia give students enough possibilities of the education. The technical education has the character of the university education, while it uses all the progressive and classical forms of study. An important factor at the education of students and doctorands is a high degree of the informatization of the study, with the worked out methodics for the elaboration of a developed academic infrastructure, which would use the world-wide academic computer network. In this connection the Internet plays an important role. Besides the informatization, the technical universities are oriented towards a higher humanisation and aesthetisation of the study within the scope of individual study and science fields. A part of the engineering education is also a high degree of the ecologisation and economisation of the study, even at the level of special subjects. The basis, however, is in the technical –engineering study coming out from the technologies, which at present, more and more, are oriented towards progressive technologies. An inseparable part of the university education is the work and activities in research and special laboratories, which are aimed at the visualisation and monitoring of technological processes in laboratory and pilot plant conditions. The technical universities as a rule do not have sufficiently equipped these laboratories by the most modern apparatuses and devices, which is solved by renting the laboratory devices, or buying used devices. Despite the fact that the technical and humanitarian universities in Slovakia have recently come trough transformation changes, the material development of universities is still behind and the deficit in the technical and laboratory equipment of the basic units of research and education is still evident. In this connection it is necessary to draw attention to the possibility of common research within the scope of the partner relations with foreign countries. It consists usually of the utilization of research laboratories, in which there are high-duty and peak devices, that within the scholarships can be used by our students or young scientific workers in the solution of research projects. The experience up to now shows, that the technical equipment of the laboratories at renowned universities in Germany is on high level. The scholarships for students and scientific workers, or university teachers, either short-term, or long-term, enable to carry out the part of the defined basic research in a foreign country without allocating financial means for this research. At the Slovak universities the study has wide theoretical fundamentals, with the distinct practical research results’ application in the technical and technological practice. The research activities are concentrating within the scope of science and study fields on basic working places of universities. The main feature of the research at the Slovak technical and humanitarian universities is its basic-theoretical or application character, with possible applications in natural and technical sciences. The carried out research, at the same time, enables the mutual participation of other science fields within the technical universities. In many cases the research is carried out co-operatively with the foreign partner, which is the assumption of the international research and scientific projects. The international co-operation of the technical universities is being developed towards the intensification of activities, with regard to four main aspects of the co-operation. First of all it is the deepening of the up to now, already existing, co-operation with foreign partners, furthermore the searching and establishing contacts with new partners, but also the introducing new international EU projects and support of those university working places, that so far have not developed the co-operation with foreign countries. The educational practice at the Slovak universities proves, that in the area of development of the international co-operation there are also possible activities utilising offers of the foreign foundations, connected with various projects. Among these foundations in Slovakia the DAAD has its firm position.
The main mission of the DAAD is to support the partner and co-operation relations among universities all over the world and within the scope of these relations to safeguard the academic exchange of university teachers, young scientific workers and students of all study fields and scientific specialisations. It holds true also for German and Slovak universities, which enable students from Slovakia to be involved in the international research and educational co-operation. The extensive world-wide activities of the DAAD are in the technical and academic public sufficiently known. In 1998 the DAAD was established in 174 partner countries with the built network of working places in all continents and offers those interested more than 100 various educational projects, within the scope of its international programmes. The means for its activity the DAAD acquires from many sources on the government and regional state level, but also from the foundation association of German scientists and through the EU commissions. The most important aim of the DAAD is to enable the exchange, but first of all the scholarships at German universities, for young people from all over the world, including Slovakia. From the given reasons the DAAD aims and endeavour are heavily supported by sponsor means of public, as well as the private sphere, but also through various ministries in Germany. This private non-government organisation has a great interest to involve young people from all over the world into its bilateral and multilateral projects. The DAAD foreign activities are organised through national information agencies, which regularly, in a sufficient advance inform the students, doctorands and young scientific workers about all offered projects and educational programmes. The DAAD is an open foundation, for which all the scientific and study fields are entirely equal. The same chance to get scholarship has the student of medicine or germanistics, or the student of architecture versus mining. It has a great importance first of all from the point of view of students and young scientific workers, but also from the point of view of technical consultants – usually university professors of the host party, which universally supervise the student or doctorand, wile working and fulfilling the study targets or aims of the research investigation.
In the past the DAAD Foundation acted in the former common state, at the beginning in the ÈSSR, later in the ÈSFR. The academic exchange of specialists, hopeful research workers and only seldom students, was carried out within the scope of cultural agreements. The cultural agreements were signed by participating governments for the period of several years. After democratic changes in Central and Eastern European zone the DAAD started to act more intensively and was established by its representation in Slovakia too. Its successful activity can be documented by increasing number of young people being involved in its projects. At present the DAAD supports the co-operation of 34 partner relations between Slovak and German universities, which includes pedagogical-scientific and partially also scientific research area in various study fields. Besides the DAAD, in Slovakia and in the international scientific and research area, act several other foundations and scientific associations from Germany, which together represent a complex offer for the possibilities of acquiring scholarships. In this connection there can be named the Foundation Association of German Science – SDW, the Foundation of Alexander von Humboldt – AvH, the Foundation of Alfred Krupp, the Foundation Volkswagen etc. Neither from the given foundations, however, offers such wide-spectral projects and the possibility of scholarships as the DAAD Foundation. It can be said that in the academic exchange between universities in Germany and Slovakia the DAAD has a priority role. The essence of the DAAD projects is to help young scientific workers, students and university teachers at creating personal contacts with the scientific experts and important university professors in Germany. In general there are always support projects, which are exactly and in details specified, with listing the connections of these projects to the scholarships.
The Technical University of Kosice (TUK) has at present co-operation agreements with several German universities, being signed at the level of rector’s offices. At the same time it is one of the partner universities directly or intermediary using the possibilities of involving students, doctorands and university teachers into the DAAD projects, first of all within the scope of individual mobilities. At seven faculties of the university there are noticeable activities directed to wider involvement of the university into the utilization of the DAAD projects. In this direction has experience also the Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnologies (F-BERG), the former Mining Faculty, which very closely co-operates with German universities and academies. At the faculty level there are signed agreements with foreign partner universities, which are followers of the best traditions of mining and technical education. From partner universities in Germany there can be named first of all the Mining Academy of Freiberg and Technical Universities of Berlin and Clausthal-Zellerfeld, with the Institutes for Mining Sciences. Of the same importance is the co-operation with the Technical Universities in Aachen (RWHA) and Bochum (DMT). At all the named universities in the past had scholarships students and university teachers from the BERG Faculty of Kosice. The invitations or scholarships were given within individual mobilities, either for short-term, or for long-term foreign stays with the DAAD financial support. Within the first contacts with foreign countries, mediated for the faculty by the DAAD, were formed the germs of the co-operation and partner relations, enduring up till now. It is despite the fact that the study of mining in Germany and in Slovakia, in fact in the whole Europe, goes through transformation changes, which are not finished even today. Important professors from German universities, together with professors and scientific workers from the TUK gradually prepared the soil for increasing number of young scientists and teachers for the foreign stays. The TUK, for their technical and partner activity, awarded many of these important professors of German universities the most important awards, being honorary doctors of the Technical University of Kosice. In this direction the TU of Kosice, not excluding the BERG Faculty, can be an example. Already many generations of university teachers of the Mining Faculty, now the BERG Faculty, had in the past the possibility to act in Germany, while the result of their acting are present scholarship holders, former scholarship holders and several doctorands, that finished their study at the appropriate institutes in Germany. Many, by their personal initiative and through personal contacts with German professors built up through their technical-pedagogical activity, have merits in creating favourable start conditions in the academic exchange for further generations of young people from Slovakia. At this place it is necessary to point out especially the share of the DAAD Foundation for the development of this co-operation and partnership. Followers of these partner relations, at present already former DAAD scholarship holders, are fully aware of this. Their activity in the field of the development of the international co-operation is manifested at universities and scientific institutes of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, but also at the university institutes. Just former DAAD scholarship holders have full merit for the development of the co-operation and partnership between German and Slovak scientific and academic working places. In this way their transfer the ideas and philosophy of the DAAD on younger generations of scientists, pedagogues and researchers, with the aim to create the best possible conditions for the DAAD activities in Slovakia in the future as well. Just from this reason, the BERG Faculty, as well as the other faculties of the TUK, has a great interest to send to German technical universities more and more its students and research workers, who should furthermore develop the technical co-operation and relations, and should be a guarantee for the further dynamics of these partner relations. In this connection it is necessary to mention that an inseparable task for former DAAD scholarship holders is to keep contacts, even after the end of their scholarship in Germany. The main reason of this requirement is the fact, that many former DAAD scholarship holders are at the highest academic posts at the level of rectors and deans, as well as at many important political posts, or important posts in big companies and scientific institutions. The present position of these people can to a rather great extent effect the DAAD activity in partner countries. First of all they, in a suitable connection with the DAAD projects and programmes, can at present to a large measure help at the development of the spiritual, intellectual, but also material wealth of the Slovak universities.
The existing experience with the academic exchange through the DAAD at the TU of Kosice confirms, that the students and young scientific workers of the university are involved into the programmes of the academic exchange in a relatively small extent, or sporadically. The given statement holds true despite the fact, that the engineering educated young people have good possibilities and chances to get scholarships at German universities. In this connection it is important to say, that the total number of scholarships determined for Slovakia has rapidly increased after the fall of the iron curtain, when Slovakia was open for Europe. From 1989 Slovakia was regularly given more than 1 000 scholarships, out of which only few were allocated to technical universities. The TUK was give only small part of them. The essential part of the allocated scholarships was determined for the area of history, literature sciences, germanistics, language sciences, natural sciences etc. It can be assumed that at present trend, the increase in the number of these scholarships, also the number of students and doctorands from our university will be higher. In last years at the DAAD exchange scholarship projects took part approximately 150 high qualified interested from both partner parties, while approximately one half of them were from Slovakia. Among former scholarship holders and graduates belong at present tens of students, scientists and teachers from the TUK, among whom is also several former scholarship holders from the BERG Faculty. As it was already mentioned, the DAAD Foundation in last years is more often helpful at the support of the development of co-operation with Slovakia, especially at the exchange of students, scientific workers and university graduates. For the following academic year 1999/2000 the DAAD offers already traditional forms of study or research stays at German universities and in scientific institutions or summer language courses for germanists. At the selection of applicants for the concrete type of scholarship it is very important the factor of equal position of universities in Germany and in Slovakia. This factor plays an important role for scholarship applicants, as well as for individual universities and their study fields, but first of all for the DAAD Foundation, which definitely decides on allocation of the scholarship. In this connection of a rather great importance are regional points of view of the selection and with this connected activities related to the provincial universities. The selection of applicants is usually carried out through other institutions, especially in the co-operation with the Slovak Academic Information Agency (SAIA) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany in Slovakia. The DAAD Foundation gives special offers of scholarships only for Slovak young people through programmes and projects aimed and oriented only for needs of Slovakia. With respect to the position of Slovakia in the European space it is very important and positive initiative of the DAAD. The aim of the Slovak party, first of all through the SAIA and the DAAD-Club in Slovakia, is to maintain the force of the DAAD programmes also to the future, and permanently develop the academic exchange for the benefit of the international scientific co-operation. The DAAD enables to carry out foreign study stays of the Slovak students and doctorands for the purpose of continual development of science and study fields. At the same time it allocates the scholarships for the mobility of graduated students and engineers, who represent from the point of view of future the potential for the increase of university teachers’ number. In this connection it is necessary to mention one of the main DAAD tasks, i.e. sending guest associated professors and lectors to support activities of the foreign teachers at carrying out the reform and transformation tasks of universities connected with their study fields. In the recent years the guest associated professors were present also at the BERG Faculty, where they very successfully led seminars for students and delegates of practice from selected organisations of the mining industry. Within the scope of activities of guest associated professors at the TUK there is being formed the possibility of more intensive involvement of the university scientific workers into the international projects, even within the EU programmes. The example for given statement can be the common project of the technical University of Berlin, Institute for Mining Sciences and the Technical University of Kosice, BERG Faculty. The Volkswagen Stiftung Foundation financially supported the common scientific-technical project of the interested partner parties, the co-operation of which came out from the DAAD activities. In a special way the F BERG co-operated also in a project, where the partner party was the Institute for Mining and geotechnics of the Mining Academy, TU of Freiberg.
All the formal requirements for applicants of scholarships through the DAAD at German universities are sufficiently known for those interested. They are regularly published by the SAIA and are in time to disposal of students. As far as the working intentions and aims are concerned, it is required to co-ordinate them with the supervisor of the stay. To the study stay are invited only those applicants, who can good speak the language, as the DAAD does not organise and even does not financially support language courses in Slovakia. Despite the fact, however, at many places in Slovakia there were formed the DAAD-Lectorates, where the German lectors have the task to help at the creation of new contacts and connections of young people to German universities. It is so because at German universities the Slovak-German co-operation has already for several years a good response and resonance. Regularly there are renewed partner and co-operation projects of German and Slovak universities. The technical spectrum of the co-operation is very wide and involves almost all the areas of science, technology, social structures, art, natural sciences etc. The scholarships, work of guest associated professors, development of certain study and science fields, but also the scientific and research areas on the basis of co-operation between universities, can be effective only in case, if at German side is prepared the partner willing to carry its activities into the co-operation, and in such a way to help to develop the scientific areas in Slovakia. The existing experience confirms that the German party has a great interest to support this process and its help is really the contribution for Slovak universities. For existing offered DAAD programmes are at present in Slovakia created very good conditions. They are represented by a sufficient potential of universities and scientific-research institutions. In Slovakia there are young people with their qualification and vigour to find out new experience and skills, and they are at the same time prepared to acquire new knowledge. For the universities in Slovakia there is to disposal a vast and functional project of the development of universities on the basis of the scientific concept being supported by the DAAD. The Technical University of Kosice with its faculties has also a great interest to enter this project. The DAAD, already for several years, supports common projects of scientists from Slovakia in the area of natural, technical and social sciences with the aim to maintain and stimulate the endeavour for the international co-operation, with the intention of permanent maintaining their competition ability. With respect to the needs of safeguarding the further development of science in Slovakia it is very important to give in time excellent young scientists or students the opportunity for safeguarding, development and intensification of their research activities. In these intentions are helpful also former DAAD scholarship holders, with whom the foundation keeps the permanent direct contacts through various programmes of the DAAD for this group of members. There are mainly new invitations to the foreign stays, organisation of seminar meetings of former scholarship holders and support of the DAAD-Clubs. Such a DAAD-Club exists from 1993 also in Slovakia and has important activities also directed to the German party. The DAAD-Club in Slovakia is an association of former scholarship holders, which regularly organises activities for its members from the whole Slovakia. There are mainly general assemblies of former scholarship holders, where are being negotiated activities of the club of the last period, further the colloquies to various scientific and technical topics, organisation of awarding honorary doctorates in the co-operation with the Slovak Academy of Sciences etc. The delegate of the DAAD-Club is present at the selection of applicants of scholarships together with the SAIA delegate. The task of the club in the following period is to widen its activities on regional level too. However, it is necessary to mention, that the offered spectrum of the DAAD activities, neither in the connection with former, nor with the present scholarship holders, is in our conditions utilised sufficiently.
At present at the Technical University of Kosice is being formed the European Centre of Education, in which we suppose the participation and activities of all the components safeguarding the international co-operation. The endeavour is, the DAAD has, through its lectors and delegates of the DAAD-Club in Slovakia, the participation in this centre. So far were not utilised all the possibilities for the offered exchange through the DAAD despite the fact, that the references of the DAAD are very positive. Besides the above mentioned programmes the DAAD acts as consultant within the international mobilities in science and at universities, and at the same time supports the German universities at building bilateral relations while keeping general valid conditions for supervising foreign and thus also Slovak students at German universities.