30 years of success story: TU Braunschweig and Uri celebrate the future together!

30 years of success story: TU Braunschweig and Uri celebrate the future together!

Braunschweig, Deutschland - 30 years ago the collaboration between the University of Rhode Island (Uri) and the Technical University of Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig). This partnership is one of the most successful German-American cooperation in the university area and is celebrated in June 2025 with a ceremony in Rhode Island. President Angela Ittel and representatives of the TU Braunschweig will take part in the celebrations.

The cooperation includes the International Engineering program and a double -completed program. At the academic level, scientists from both universities look after dissertations, carry out joint research projects and organize seminars. The roots of this partnership go back to the late 1980s when John Grandin and Hermann Viets initiated the collaboration.

success and exchange programs

The first exchange of students took place in 1995, and an official cooperation agreement was signed in 1997. As part of the double final program, TU students have the opportunity to acquire a degree level at both the Uri and at the TU Braunschweig. Bachelor students of the Uri spend a year in Braunschweig. To date, almost 1,000 students have participated in this exchange, which makes the program the most successful German-American exchange program in Germany.

The dual degree program covers various specialties, including civil engineering, environmental engineering, bio engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and industrial engineering. In addition, there is a joint PHD program and numerous research projects that are supported by all faculties of the TU Braunschweig. In June 2023, another agreement was signed that fixes the cooperation as a strategic partnership.

This development is part of a comprehensive trend. German universities are increasingly involved in international university cooperation and rely on transnational education (TNB) as an important building block of their internationalization strategies. The code for German university projects abroad, which was adopted by the HRK general meeting in 2013, determines qualitative minimum requirements for such projects. The partnership between URI and the TU Braunschweig will also be based on these standards and further expand the research and teaching partnerships.

future prospects

In the coming years, the Matching Fund program is to promote new cooperation and research projects. The aim is to expand the existing structures and enable new publications. The potential for future cooperation is in areas such as Ocean Engineering, sustainability, quantum and nanotechnology as well as education initiatives for teachers. These developments illustrate the endeavors of both universities to intensify their connections and strengthen their global presence.

The international cooperation, which is described by programs such as those described by the JGU Mainz , shows the complexity and value of such education initiatives. These programs can lead to double or multiple degrees and require careful planning and coordination with partner universities when implementing it.

summarized can be said that the partnership between the TU Braunschweig and the University of Rhode Island is an excellent example of the possibilities of international university cooperation. It helps to expand the educational offer, to promote intercultural exchange and to promote academic innovations at a global level.