Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences launches student-exchange program with a Philippine University

The first batch students from the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences will start the exchange program with Silliman University, the new Asian Partner-University in the Philippines this winter semester of 2012-2013. Silliman University, based in Dumaguete City in the Visayas region, is one of the most prestigious universities in the Philippines.

On the occasion of the start of the international exchange program, Professor Dr. Axel Bader from the University of Applied Sciences Ingolstadt visited the Philippine Embassy in Berlin for the authentication of the necessary documents for the students.

At the courtesy call of Prof. Bader on H.E. Ambassador Maria Cleofe R. Natividad, he was able to discuss German-Philippine cooperation in the field of education. They touched the subjects of alignment of the Philippine educational system on the Bologna process; the possibility for training in the Philippines; the dual system of education at the Ingolstadt University to serve as a model for the Philippines; and scholarship programs for Philippine guest students. Consul General Mardomel Melicor, who was decisive in overcoming the formal barriers for the acceptance of the first batch of students, attended the meeting.

The Philippines, being the only English-speaking and Christian-influenced country in Southeast Asia, poses as a suitable training ground of students from Ingolstadt. Furthermore, the Philippines would give a realistic impression of the special social and economic challenges of an Asian emerging country. The Philippines belongs to the "next eleven countries" because of its high growth rates, believed to take a similar upswing like the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China).