“Thanks to KölnAlumni, the University of Cologne’s alumni association, I have already experienced a large number of interesting lectures and events. Most important to me are the contacts I make there to other alumni. At one of the association’s events, I got to know and appreciate a fellow alumnus, with whom I have been working closely together ever since. The KölnAlumni network offers excellent opportunities to stay connected to the University and its former members. I encourage everyone to find this out for themselves.”
Martin Wundram, alumnus and CEO of DigiTrace GmbH and TronicGuard GmbH
Report by Svenja Rausch
The common denominator
CEOs, journalists, chief marketers, founders of NGOs … the spectrum could hardly be any broader. But they all have a common denominator: KölnAlumni – Friends and Benefactors of Cologne University offers all students, alumni, friends and benefactors of the University a powerful network of highly qualified graduates in all disciplines and of all ages. Regular newsletters and print publications report, for example in the shape of fascinating interviews with alumni, how they managed the leap from lecture hall to working life. It’s a process of give and take. The University gives them a good education and in return the alumni donate their experience and share it with those students currently filling the lecture halls and waiting to enter the job market.
1 /
3
Cologne students with their scholarhip. Photo: Patric Fouad
The KölnAlumni panel discussion on Europe's borders was a huge success. Photo: Patric Fouad
North American alumni meeting on one of the famous roof top bars in Manhattan. Photo: Elisabeth Schmolarz
Giving something back and the process of continuous exchange are also lived in the symposia on current topics of relevance to society which are staged each year with great success at the University of Cologne. However, the association not only has something to offer for those who live in Cologne and its vicinity. There are also regional groups which meet up in cities such as Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and even London [S1] for a get-together or an excursion, to exchange views, mingle and network. The common denominator: They all studied in Cologne. It was in this context that the University’s Rector invited alumni from the New York area to a reception in SoHo during his business trip across the USA in 2014.
Those who don’t just want to exchange ideas and experiences can also support the University by making a donation. To date, donations and membership fees have been invested in academic, teaching and research projects such as, for example, Turkish Week at the University, the purchase of laboratory equipment or the awarding of University prizes in recognition of personalities who have produced outstanding achievements in the course of their university career.
Stay loyal to the University wherever you are
The group of KölnAlumni WELTWEIT Summer School on the Albertus Magnus Platz. Photo: Valerija Schwarz
No problem whatsoever! You studied at the University of Cologne and are now back in your home country. You fondly remember the city, walking through the Rheinauhafen, the regenerated harbour district on the Rhine, the campus, long nights spent with your nose in a book in the University Library and others spent partying with your fellow students once your exams were over? KölnAlumni WELTWEIT, the global network for all former international students who spent a period at the campus in Cologne either studying or on a research visit, offers you the opportunity to set up a regional club in your home town, assisted by the International Office. Feel free as well to recommend our study programmes or a specific research laboratory to your home university. Or you can act as “ambassador” for students from Cologne who wish to spend some time in your home country. In this way, you can refresh your German language skills and stay in touch with Cologne.
Another particularly special offer, which takes place each year at the University of Cologne, is the Summer School organized by KölnAlumni WELTWEIT. It will be coupled this year with one of the University’s Competence Areas: Social Inequalities and Intercultural Education. A gripping topic to which all alumni – from Bachelor, Master, doctor to professor level – are invited to engage in a dialogue a whole week long on campus. Hotel accommodation is arranged and the University of Cologne also contributes to travel expenses. Apart from academic exchange, there are numerous excursions to cultural highlights, beer gardens and breweries in our cathedral city for the nostalgic amongst you who still hold Cologne close to your hearts.
Research on the Cologne campus – A second time!
Expand partnerships, join forces to drive research beyond borders, attract and keep excellent researchers at the University: these goals are achieved through Albert’s Global Researcher Network. The network creates a platform for exchange between the University and the researchers who have conducted research work on the campus as international visiting scholars.
Being in touch with the UoC Researcher Alumni Network is helpful for both professional and personal development.
Professor Demetracapoulos from the University of Patras in Greece is currently carrying out his research at the University of Cologne with the support of a Reunion Grant. Photo: S. Rausch
With the Reunion Grant, a re-invitation scholarship, it is possible to invite alumni researchers for up to eight weeks to work together on a research project. Professor John Demetracapoulos from the University of Patras in Greece is full of enthusiasm: “Being warmly welcomed for a renewed research stay at the University of Cologne after a constant collaboration for a decade makes one feel like a member of the family. Research into the influence of Albert the Great’s thought on Greek medieval philosophy carried out at the University whose foundation was closely connected with Albert’s activity and, more concretely, in the excellent scholarly environment of the Thomas Institute, is an amazing experience!”
Through the Reunion Grant, the network provides an opportunity for former visiting scholars to initiate new partnerships at the University of Cologne or to shape long-lasting and durable academic relations beyond borders and continents. This is also an important instrument for the UoC hosts. Prof. Dr. Andreas Speer: “The Reunion Grant makes it possible for me – as a researcher who is actively involved at the international level – to further develop my contacts to foreign colleagues in the framework of concerted periods of joint work.”
Alongside this scholarship, there is also the possibility to network at the international alumni events and exchange views on research topics. The last alumni meetings in Kyoto, Beijing and New Delhi were a great success. The network welcomes all newcomers and is happy to deliver the latest news on research, scholarships and events via its newsletter.
