The Higher Education Review

Established in the year 1992, Technische Hochschule Brandenburg (THB) was set up as a public university of applied sciences to support the development of western Brandenburg after the German reunification. A small, modern, and well-equipped university, today THB boasts about 2,500 students from all over the world as it offers 24 study programs in three departments - economics, engineering, informatics, and media. The Department of Engineering provides the following bachelor's degree courses: Optometry and Optical Device Engineering, E-Mobility, Engineering Sciences, Industrial Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. These programs are continued in the master's degrees in Energy Efficiency of Technical Systems, Mechanical Engineering, and Photonics.

"Our interdisciplinary and application-oriented teaching in small groups and in a wide range of modern and well-equipped laboratories helps our students to learn very practically. The partly self-managed and self-conducted projects as part of our unique interdisciplinary research focus `Interdisciplinary Security Research', `Energy and Resource Efficiency', and 'Digital Transformation' encourage our students to meet tomorrow's challenges. Additionally, our Centre for Foundation and Transfer gives support with workshops and activities of the Startup Campus, if students want to start their own business", says Prof. Dr. Andreas Wilms, President of the THB.

Equipping for Future
On a mission to strengthen knowledge transfer to and within the regional economy, THB is doing so through a range of projects with and for companies within the lectures and theses, an annual Technology Transfer Day, or the Centre for Foundation and Transfer.

At Technische Hochschule Brandenburg/Brandenburg

University of Applied Sciences, students are trained in a labor-market-related and application-oriented manner. Altogether, THB is a strong partner in teaching, research, and in securing skilled workers. Integration of students who transfer from a job to a university is as normal as trying to design degree courses flexibly for all students, adapted to the circumstances of each individual. Since 2016, THB has been a member of the University Alliance for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, a consortium of universities of applied sciences. These institutions are united through the principle of training young people.

“In Germany, there are various possibilities for scholarships. THB itself provides scholarships from the `student foundation' & the `Germany Scholarship”

"At THB, we are optimally networked with companies in the region, not least due to its application-oriented research as well as spin-offs and company successions. To meet foreign language skills, the departments' international contacts and the Centre for International Relations and Languages create good conditions for semesters abroad", shares Prof. Dr. Justus Eichstadt, Dean of the Department of Engineering.

The Professors at the Universities of Applied Sciences play a key role in steering students to success. All professors have practical working experience in addition to their scientific background. This ensures that practice-oriented teaching and industry contacts stay up to date. Steady projects with industry partners have the same effect and play a central role in teaching especially Master students in the department of engineering. Furthermore, taking part in trade fairs, congresses, and regular exchanges with other scientists, engineers, and academic members is self-evident for the THB staff. As part of the `Brandenburg Network for Quality of Studies', the THB and its staff offer and take part in workshops to improve their teaching abilities.

Backed by World Class Offerings
“Technische Hochschule Brandenburg has different modern-day infrastructures, whereby its online learning

platform moodle, the web conference system Big Blue Button and its library are supposed to play the main role. Especially, Technische Hochschule Brandenburg's library offers a big amount of digital documents, literature, and international magazines that support our students in learning and research. To add to this, THB also offers scholarships which make it easier to study. In Germany, there are various possibilities for scholarships for example from the DAAD. THB itself provides scholarships from the `student foundation' and the `Germany Scholarship'," says Luise Arndt, Study Program Coordinator.
Within their studies, the students in the department of engineering are taught in MathLAB, diverse CAD programs, and Python- or C++ programming languages. Moreover, the students can choose to take part in SAP/ERP-Courses and various language and sports courses such as football, badminton, basketball, volleyball, and more. To be able to study at THB University, it is mandatory to speak German at a level of C1/DSH2. Hence, the college offers its own language course from level B2 to C1, but with lower language skills it is not possible to study at THB, because its courses are held in the German language.

The Future Roadmap
One of the key challenges in every department of the THB is the generation change of the professors. This gives THB the big chance to make the university itself while it offers more forward-thinking and modernized teaching. As a part of the new joint project `In No West ­ Just do it! Sustainable and Digital Together in North-West Brandenburg' THB and the other partners aim at improving education by bringing together two major transformation challenges - sustainable development and digitalization, especially `user-centered digitalization', `sustainable transformation', and `shaping society'. Furthermore, THB constantly works on widening and deepening its industry contacts, gaining research projects, and strengthening its international contacts as well as the contacts to its students to meet their wishes and requirements.