A delegation of the East Kazakh Technical University visits the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg

Prof. Saule Rakhmetullina, Rector of the East Kazakhstan Technical University (EKTU), representatives of the local Faculty of Metallurgy and Mineral Processing, and three students from the East Kazakhstan university are welcomed at the BTU's Department of Joining and Welding Technology. The visit will focus on the future close cooperation between the two universities within the framework of the master's program in lightweight construction and materials technology. A campus tour will give the guests an impression of the state-of-the-art laboratories and study facilities at BTU. Detailed information and final consultations on the double master's program are also on the agenda.

Against this backdrop, the seven-member delegation will find out in particular about research facilities and current projects at the Department of Joining and Welding Technology at the Faculty of Mechanical, Electrical and Energy Systems. In addition, the meeting will include other topics of possible cooperation, which are supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), for example. For example, since 2022, EKTU has also been a partner university in the DAAD's "Eastern Partnerships" program, which involves reciprocal student and faculty exchanges. In May 2023, a professor from the EKTU will come to the Chair of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering at the BTU for a research visit.

Initial preparations for the cooperation already date back to meetings in 2019. Both universities agreed on joint teaching and research activities in the fields of materials technology, lightweight construction, materials processing technologies, welding and joining. In 2020/2021, a joint curriculum was developed for the double degree in the master's program "Lightweight Construction and Materials Technology" at BTU and the master's program "Metallurgy" at EKTU. In June 2021, the university administrations signed a corresponding memorandum of understanding, which is now being sealed with a cooperation agreement.

The highlight of the visit to Cottbus is the signing of the double degree agreement by the Rector of the EKTU Prof. Saule Rakhmetullina and the President of the BTU Prof. Gesine Grande. The double master's degree is the second of its kind in the "Lightweight Design and Materials Technology" program: Another contract was signed with the Azerbaijan Technical University (TUA) in Baku at the beginning of December 2022.