About 90 guests from 36 countries are staying at HSBI until 22 May as part of the International Week, enriching the faculties and campus locations with international and intercultural courses, presentations, workshops and activities. With just under 100 activities, this year’s programme has set a new record.

It is the first cooperation between Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (HSBI) and a Japanese university: with Niigata University, HSBI’s Bielefeld School of Business has gained a new cooperation partner for scientific and student exchange. The student exchange has already started: Takaaki Hagiwara will be the first Japanese exchange student to study at HSBI for one year. His focus: sports economics. His passion: football.

Since April, Phd student Vrinda Dave has been researching at HSBI’s Bielefeld School of Business on self-help groups for women in socio-economic crises. She makes comparison between self-help groups in India and Germany. One of her first results: Empowering women is a priority in both countries to strengthen society and the economy. Dave’s stay was made possible by the New Horizon Fellowship for researchers from the Global South who conduct research on gender and equality issues. She is the fourth scholarship holder in this programme and thus a guest at HSBI.

The new executive director plans to focus on strengthening the connections between North American and OWL universities and intensifying contacts with companies on both sides of the Atlantic.