59 Master's students from West Africa in Jülich and Aachen
Exciting months are starting this week for 59 students from 15 West African countries. As part of the International Master's Programme in Energy and Green Hydrogen (IMP-EGH), the young master's students have come to Germany to write their master's thesis under the umbrella of the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, at Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen University as well as the University of Rostock. The Welcome Ceremony on April 25 marked the beginning of the Onboarding Week and the stay in Germany.
Seldom has the central library of Forschungszentrum Jülich hosted such an international audience. Fifteen nationalities are represented among the IMP-EGH students. In addition, there was a delegation from the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University.
Dr. Peter Jansens, Member of the Executive Board for Scientific Division II, Forschungszentrum Jülich, welcomed the audience to Jülich. He emphasized that it is a great pleasure to meet the representatives of the cooperation partner WASCAL. Climate change is a global challenge, Dr. Jansens expressed in his speech his conviction that young people like the IMP-EGH students, are the success factor for achieving the energy transition. The Executive Director of WASCAL, Dr. Moumini Savadogo also affirmed this in his Opening Remarks. The future is secure, said Dr. Savadogo, the commitment and the achievements of the Master's students make him more than confident that the future energy supply will be safe and clean.
The IMP-EGH is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Oda Keppler, Head of Subdivision Sustainability, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) took the opportunity to get an impression of the 59 students and to send good wishes and greetings from the BMBF. Prof. Ulrich Rüdiger, Rector of RWTH Aachen University, highlighted in his speech that the cooperation should have a cross-border added value. The aim of the programme is to improve the energy supply in West Africa, to build up infrastructures for renewable energies and to make the surplus electricity exportable as green hydrogen in order to make a contribution to the energy transition.
Special highlight not only for the guests from West Africa was the presence of the Ambassador of Niger in Berlin, His Excellency Souleymane Issakou and the greeting message of the Togolese Embassy in Berlin by Tchilabalo ABAKI, Chargé d'Affaires. Two of the universities where the education of IMP-EGH students takes place are located in Niger and Togo. The governments of both countries are aware of the importance of the energy transition and want to contribute to its success for their country and the whole world.
In the master's programme, which started in 2021, the young African students were trained on the basis of international standards and best practices and specialized in six different tracks. As part of the curriculum, professors from Germany gave lectures in West Africa. For their final thesis, the students have now come to Germany in their fourth semester to work on and write it here. The programme is to be continued and expanded in the future. To this end, the three partners Forschungszentrum Jülich, WASCAL and RWTH Aachen University signed an MOU in November 2022. The next cohort of students is already almost in the starting blocks, the call for applications has been launched and the course will begin in this October.
Further information on the website of WASCAL: https://wascal.org/59-fully-funded-green-hydrogen-scholars-from-west-africa-arrive-in-germany-on-a-4-month-study/
