Studying at FAU, studying in Europe

Regular research stays abroad, practical cases from business, industry or politics in seminars, courses with fellow students from all over Europe: All of this is possible with studies at FAU. That’s because FAU is part of the European University EELISA – an association of nine European universities with the goal of strengthening cooperation between students, teachers and researchers at FAU and partner universities in Europe: joint seminars, research projects, sponsored stays abroad, challenges, hackathons, full degree programs or internships. A special focus of EELISA is interdisciplinary education with a focus on sustainable and smart development: How can my studies help me find technologies for clean energy production, develop sustainable materials or secure food supply for the future? What role do technological innovations play in diplomacy?

More than 500 FAU students have already participated in summer schools, start-up contests, business games, conferences and events through EELISA. The students themselves can help determine what other opportunities will open up in the alliance. The students’ participation in EELISA is even defined in the contract: the student perspective and initiative should help to develop and improve the alliance according to their needs. The students’ body is the EELISA Student Council, which represents the interests of the more than 180,000 students at the nine partner universities in Paris, Pisa, Madrid, Bucharest, Budapest, Istanbul and Erlangen. Two students each represent the students of their universities: at FAU, these are Judith Wahl and Paulus Guter.

(Photo: Judith Wahl)

But Judith and Paul do not represent FAU and EELISA alone. The two are part of the EELISA Student Group, the local EELISA university group at FAU. The university group can organize its own activities, implement Student Council projects at FAU, contribute the student perspective to shaping the Alliance in the EELISA working groups, and help connect students across Europe. Judith Wahl explains in an interview how students can take benefit of EELISA’s offerings and help shape the alliance themselves.

How do students benefit from the EELISA program?

Judith: On the one hand, FAU students can attend lectures at other EELISA universities, apply for seasonal schools in Paris, Madrid, Istanbul or Pisa, or participate in one of the many EELISA-wide business games or start-up contests. On the other hand, FAU students can also initiate EELISA activities themselves; the EELISA local student group is a super platform for this. If you are interested in a particular research topic, it is also possible for all students to found a so-called EELISA community. At FAU, there are already two student communities on the topics of New Energy Transition and Metaverse & Sustainability.

EELISA stands for European Engineering Learning Innovation and Science Alliance. Do I have to study an engineering science to participate?

No, all students are welcome and interdisciplinarity is highly encouraged! While many topics within the EELISA Alliance are about sustainable technologies, technology alone is not enough for sustainable development. I myself study International Business and I hope that in the future more students from the Faculty of Philosophy and Natural Sciences will join our activities!

How can I get involved with EELISA as a student?

It is easy to apply for the various activities such as stays abroad and workshops – as a FAU student you are automatically part of EELISA and can take advantage of what is on offer. You can see what is currently being offered on the community platform or the EELISA website.

If you want to be actively involved yourself, you can come to a meeting of our local student group: we are currently planning which projects we want to realize at FAU in 2023. On our Instagram account you can see what we have already done and when our next meetings will take place. We are always happy when new faces drop by.