German geo-ecologists presented ASU students with certificates

In 2007 Faculty of Geography of Altai State University and Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (Halle, Germany) launched an international educational program entitled “Environmental Management and Monitoring”, which received support from German foundation for academic exchanges – DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst). In 2017 the program celebrates its 10th anniversary.

Research officer at Martin Luther University, Doctor Michael Zierdt is one of the founders of the German-language program dedicated to Russian students’ qualification improvement. Program participants mostly include students of Altai State University majoring in geography, biology and chemistry.

“Students’ final reports were of a very good quality, which means that they are eager to work and acquire new knowledge. It proves our course to be popular and important. We were also pleased to find out that young specialists accept the multicultural part of the project, because students are supposed to attend classes that are conducted only in the German language and live in Germany for a long time. This year we grant graduation certificates to the students of Altai State University, who study regional geography of Russia. They love their motherland and we see it in their graduate works,” noted Dr. Zierdt.

German scientists not only delivered certificates to the students, but also made a presentation of DSG program for representatives of ASU natural science faculties.

“From now on DSQ program becomes a part of education for master’s degree students of Altai State University. German professors will deliver lectures, while ASU lecturers will conduct seminars. Further master’s degree students will undergo internship at Martin Luther University in Germany. Our students will not have to pay for such education,” explained Dean of ASU Faculty of Geography Nikolay I. Bykov. “Around 100 young specialists have been trained in the framework of the program since 2007. Importantly, they do not only get special knowledge in their area of study, but also learn how to express different terms in German, as learning the German language professionally is one of the program requirements.”

It remains to be added that Altai State University is the only Russian higher education establishment to carry out DSG program in geo-ecological monitoring.