It was a busy event year for the UP team at the University of Potsdam! In May in particular, we had lots of opportunities to present our university alliance in Potsdam and strengthen our local communities, in line with the European elections in Brandenburg on 9 June 2024. We generally take part in all major university events, get involved in events in the city of Potsdam and establish our own formats.
EDUC at Potsdam Science Day
The UP EDUC team was able to present itself for the first time at the Potsdam Science Day, this year hosted by the Science Park Albert Einstein. There was something for young and old to do at our booth and to get to know our alliance via personal exchange with the team. Potsdam Science Day has been bringing together Potsdam's extensive scientific landscape and the citizens for several years now. At the Potsdam Europe Festival later in May, we also presented ourselves as one of the European initiatives of the university and the city and got local people excited about the idea and values of our alliance.
Spreading the European Spirit
It was not only the external communities that played a role in our UP events this year. We were able to get to know one of our largest internal communities – the students – better at two events and show them our EDUC world. At the annual Campus Festival, the students didn't let the rain stop them from coming to campus and inform themselves about the university's programmes and about everything EDUC offers for them. A little EDUC quiz at our booth was a fun way for us to show them what the alliance is all about and how they can benefit from it.
Welcoming New Students
One event highlight in October was our participation in the newly organised orientation day for first-semester students – UP.Start. The number of interested students was overwhelming in a positive sense. We were able to get many of them interested in the EDUC programmes right at the start of their studies, especially the short-term formats. Our students who had already taken part in a programme in the past were able to shine with their experiences during a small panel discussion about summer school programmes. They shared their inspiring experiences with the first-semester students and reported on great interpersonal encounters and new insights they got by attending the programmes. Their conclusion: definitely try it out!
Teaching.International Launch
But our teaching staff didn't miss out this year either: Our local Community of Practice “Teaching.International” was launched with its first meeting. Together with our colleague from the Centre for Quality Development in Teaching and Studies, we have laid the foundations for a lively exchange between teaching staff and at the same time provided them with our help to internationalise their teaching easily. So the next meetings can come in 2025.