Letní škola Univerzita Mainz

Dear partner,

 

we hope you had a relaxing summer break and that your autumn/winter semester is off to a great start.

We are currently planning our events for the upcoming year and are considering organizing our annually summer school as a Blended Intensive Program (BIP).

For this reason, we are looking for partners interested in collaborating with us to set up a BIP. The Faculty 09| Faculty of Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Geography and Geosciences of JGU Mainz  would take on the role of the coordinating institution and apply for the necessary organizational funding. As a partner university, you would assume the role of the sending institution, which includes the appropriate budgeting within your International Office for the BIP (Erasmus+ funding for your sending students). As a member of the FORTHEM Alliance, we are requesting additional partners (3 partner universities minimum).

Since 2019, we have already had the pleasure of welcoming highly engaged participants from Charles University participating in our summer schools entitled “Forster Summer School”. They were/are studying at the Faculty of Science (Human Geography and Geoinformatics/ Geography and Cartography/ Applied Geography - Physical Geography and Geoinformatics/Chemistry: Clinical and Toxicological Analysis). The academic backgrounds fit perfectly with the orientation of our summer school and we would be very pleased if you would participate in our BIP to enable more students to participate. We are also very happy that this winter semester students of our Institute of Geography are spending a semester abroad at Charles University as part of the ERASMUS+ program.

I would like to provide you with some background on the orientation and thematic content of the previous "Forster Summer Schools" as well as the current planning status for 2025. "Let's talk about global change" is the overarching theme of a series of summer schools that have been organized annually by our Faculty since 2018. Georg Forster, the namesake of our summer school, was a revolutionary naturalist and world explorer. His curiosity and global thinking inspire the direction of our summer school.

The summer school is designed for both international students and students from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz with an interest in the interdisciplinary exploration of a specific topic related to globalization issues. In addition to in-depth academic discussions with experts from our Faculty, the focus is also on familiarizing participants with the study environment at JGU, complemented by an attractive program of excursions, cultural and linguistic activities.

 

Planning update for the Forster Summer School 2025:

• The thematic focus will be on Global Transformations and Resilience. Forster Summer School explores  global transformation and resilience through the following lenses: Recognizing vulnerabilities / Creating  risk awareness, (Pandemic)preparedness /shaping response Scenarios /ecological resilience/ Resilience to geological hazards and resource sustainability/ cultural anchoring of resilience (…)
• Provisional dates: 4th July – 15th July 2025 or 11th July – 22nd July 2025
• Number of participating students: max. 30 (of which a maximum of 20 mobile participants are eligible for Erasmus+ funding)
• Credits: 3 ECTS
• Language of instruction: English
• Target group: Bachelor/Master students in natural and social sciences. Exceptionally motivated and qualified students from other disciplines are also welcome to apply.

We would be delighted to have academic contributions from lecturers of your university as well, especially as part of the digital component. We would be thrilled to collaborate with you in launching a Blended Intensive Program (BIP) to deepen our already fruitful partnership and provide students with the opportunity to gain multiperspectivity in both academic and cultural contexts. This will equip them with the tools to actively influence and engage with the necessary global change. The interdisciplinary orientation of the summer school particularly promotes the international exchange of insights, knowledge and ideas that go beyond the students' own specialist discipline.

Since our academic planning committee will meet on 7th October, we kindly request feedback by 1st October if you are interested in participating. If you are interested but need more time for internal arrangements, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Thank you,  and we look forward to hopefully working with you soon!

 

Best regards,
Sandra Schellack