Orientation study program network receives funding

In February 2023, the network was selected as one of 22 out of 120 applicants by the Foundation Innovation in University Teaching. The funding will provide around €129,000 in personnel and material resources over 24 months.

The participants would like to use the funds to professionalize the network structure, establish a platform for the exchange of expert knowledge, increase the network's reach and offer prospective students even more comprehensive information options.

"When we set up our orientation study program plusMINT, we broke new ground in terms of both organizational form and teaching concepts. This makes it all the more important for us to exchange ideas with program managers and teachers in orientation programs at other universities in order to learn from each other, further develop our offerings and raise awareness of the orientation programs. We are very proud of the Foundation's recognition of our networking efforts," says Dr. Susanne Völker, program coordinator of the plusMINT program at the University of Kassel.

Since the winter semester 2019/20, the University of Kassel has been offering the plusMINT orientation study program, which is unique in Germany in terms of its organizational design. Here, first-year students have the opportunity to try out ten different STEM subjects under real-life conditions in their first year of study before deciding on their favorite subject. The special feature in Kassel is a reduced credit acquisition in the orientation year in favor of a broad orientation and support offer. This makes it much easier for students to get started in their studies and gives them plenty of room to discover the different subjects.

The next conference of the network "Understanding and Shaping Orientation" will take place on June 28 and 29 at the TU Berlin. More information about the network and the network conference can be found at: www.o-studium.de.

Contact:

Dr. Susanne Völker
University of Kassel
Department of Studies and Teaching
Project Coordination Model Study Program plusMINT
Phone: 0561 804 1902
E-mail: plusmint@uni-kassel.de