“Internationality plays a key role for the University of Bonn,” explains Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Hoch, Rector of the University of Bonn. “Our successful achievements with the Excellence Strategy, our strong Transdisciplinary Research Areas and our ability to attract outstanding researchers from Germany and further afield would not have been possible without our robust international networks. Dialogue across country borders is vital in order to produce top-level research, even in Bonn as a ‘UN city.’ So I’m particularly pleased that the International Days will be shining a spotlight on this vitally important issue.”
The program for the International Days offers wide-ranging opportunities to experience the various facets of internationality at the University of Bonn. On Japan Day (October 26), for instance, attention will turn to one of the eight focus countries for the University’s international cooperation. Waseda University in Tokyo is firmly established as a strategic partner in the University of Bonn’s global network: last year marked the 40th anniversary of German–Japanese friendship. Interested visitors from all backgrounds will be able to find out about the research partnerships cultivated by this and other Japanese universities. There will be screenings of contemporary, award-winning Japanese films throughout the day plus workshops on manga and the Japanese language, an exhibition and a marketplace showcasing various Japanese cultural institutions as well as two keynote lectures in the evening. The practice of selecting one focus country to celebrate in particular for a whole day, just like at the Frankfurt Book Fair, will be continued in future years.
On October 24, interested observers will themselves be able to become part of a truly unique performance that has already been staged around the world at venues as prominent as the Off-Biennale in Cairo. The piece “Duet” by the famous U.S. composer Ari Benjamin Meyers sets out to get strangers communicating with one another through music, a unique project.
On various days, students and researchers alike will be able to find out about the diverse opportunities available for studying or doing and internship abroad and take part in a photographic project about skin color (“Colours on Campus”). A selection of the varied international projects pursued by the University will be posted daily during the International Days and thus shared with the global scientific community.
However, the event will also address the issues of partnerships facing particular challenges: the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) will explore research funding in undemocratic countries in a panel discussion. The recently founded “Cologne/Bonn Academy in Exile” (October 21) will celebrate its establishment and provide some insights into the work that the Universities of Bonn and Cologne are doing to support researchers who have had to flee their home countries due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“My team and I want to show people outside the University community how international the University of Bonn is in its outlook and philosophy,” explains Prof. Dr. Birgit Ulrike Münch, Vice Rector for International Affairs at the University of Bonn. “I’m especially delighted that our brand ambassadors abroad, the Bonn University Ambassadors, who we’re organizing in a new program, will be coming to join us for this special occasion. In fact, they will even arrive in time for the opening of the academic year on October 18, followed by a workshop, giving them an opportunity to find out for themselves what has been going on at the University.” The Ambassadors are coming from countries including Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Namibia, the Netherlands, France, Japan and Jordan. I really hope that the International Days will send out a strong signal about the international mindset of our University, something that’s immensely important right now.”
You can find the full International Days program online. This will tell you which events you will need to register for and which you can also follow online via livestream.
Press contact:
Prof. Dr. Birgit Münch
Vice Rectorate for International Affairs
E-Mail: Prorektorat.internationales@uni-bonn.de
