On September 19, a visit was made to the Belarusian State Technological University of Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Republic of Belarus Peter Dettmar.
The German Ambassador was presented with samples of scientific developments of the university, areas of training. In addition, a visit to the university library took place, where Peter Dettmar was presented with a unique book collection German professor Dankelman.
Examining the presented exhibits, the Ambassador expressed his impressions:
- When I look at this magnificence, the first thing that comes to my mind is & ndash; This is the common love of our peoples to the forest. Germans love their forest as well as Belarusians. We have almost the same share of forest territory. Love for the forest – this is another beautiful feature that unites us.
There was a discussion of a wide range of issues relating to the prospects for cooperation of BSTU with Germany. University Rector Ihar Voitau presented to the Ambassador detailed information on University collaboration with German institutions.
During the discussion, the Ambassador touched upon the topic of commercialization of scientific research. He noted that the university should actively use marketing technologies for the presentation and promotion of scientific research: “When I look at the widest range of your work, then the question immediately arises: do any entrepreneurial structures, such as “startups”, grow out of all this?”
Ihar Voitau said that the school of "startups" in BSTU has existed for 4 years. “We have youth clubs that promote these projects. We are the winners of many international projects related to innovative ideas. We have a lot of victories in competitions in Russia and other countries. Now the President of the country has set the task of creating a university 3.0, incl. on the basis of BSTU, - education, science and business training with the creation of technological platforms, “- said the rector of the university.
The first vice-rector, academician Aliaksandr Tsyhanau, pointed to the German experience in the transition of education to the Bologna process:
- We learned a lot from Germany. In the transition to higher education on the principles of the Bologna process, German universities were able to preserve the best sides of the famous traditional engineering education. It is safe to say that the transition to the Bologna process in Germany is one of the best examples in the world.
The ambassador noted that currently education in Germany has undergone a fundamental change. New specialties, previously completely unknown, appeared - education begins to adapt to the requirements of the labor market. Aliaksandr Tsyhanau
replied that hard work is being done in our university for practical training of specialists who meet modern production requirements. For example, the training of economists specializes in specific industries. At a number of large enterprises there are branches of departments where students write term papers and dissertations. This allows us to significantly approximate the training of future specialists to the real requirements of production.
Ihar Voitau noted that the university is actively introducing the digital economy in the teaching of chemistry, forestry, and logistics. “We are introducing disciplines related to digitalization of economics into educational courses, so that the graduate has not only specialized technical knowledge, but also is guided in the application of digital programs in his professional field,” the rector said. In addition, the university plans to create a digital economy center so that university graduates are as prepared as possible for new realities of work in the labor market.
The rector of the University appealed to the Ambassador with a proposal to assist in the creation of a museum of rare books in BSTU with a core consisting of book collections for forestry by German professor Dankelman. “The university is interested in cooperation with the libraries of higher educational institutions of Germany. We must preserve the cultural heritage of our countries and show with real examples how carefully books were created in the 17th century, teach our younger generations to treat the book with awe. The creation of such a structure in the library will facilitate the training of qualified specialists at the Faculty of Economics and Law. How to store books, how to restore them is an invaluable experience for future specialists in the field of printing”, - said Ihar Voitau.
In addition, the German side was invited to take part in the project of landscaping landscaping and landscape design of Minsk with the involvement of German specialists. The ambassador vividly responded to this proposal.
Speaking about the objectives of the visit to the university, Peter Dettmar said:
- It was important for me here on site to make sure what a wide range of work in the scientific and academic fields this university has. In addition, I was very pleased to see personally the university’s rector, Ihar Voitau, whom I have known for many years from his previous work in senior government positions. Against the background of the large cooperation that exists today between BSTU and Germany, I think that a whole number of successful projects of cooperation between the university and German scientific and educational institutions can be added.
