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Month: January 2023

Singapore Management University launches its first overseas centre in Jakarta

Posted on by corinnekang

The Overseas Centre Jakarta will be part of a regional eco-system network of knowledge-sharing nodes enabling SMU to be Asia’s Knowledge Gateway.

Singapore Management University (SMU) has opened its first overseas centre in Jakarta, Indonesia on 6 December 2022. This bolsters the university’s goal to positively impact local communities as it advances its “Growth in Asia” strategic priority as part of its Vision 2025.

Since its inception in 2000, SMU has established itself as a premium global-city university in Asia
and made great strides in leveraging its cross-disciplinary strengths to successfully execute its strategic thrusts of delivering transformative education, cutting edge research, and meaningful engagements, to meet Singapore and the region’s future needs as Asia’s Knowledge Gateway.

As Centre Director of the SMU Overseas Centre Jakarta (OCJ), Mr Shoeb Z Kagda will lead the centre to develop deeper engagement between the University’s Schools, Offices, Centres, and Institutes and Indonesia Institutes of Higher Learning, business leaders, and key policy makers.

OCJ will work with local partners in education and industry to support human capital development in Indonesia and enable exchange of knowledge and expertise between Singapore and Indonesia. The Centre will provide direct access to innovative, in-depth knowledge across Institutes of Higher Learning in Indonesia; build deeper engagement with Indonesian business leaders and policy makers; and facilitate regular exchanges between SMU students and Indonesian youth.

Indonesia’s status as the largest economy in Southeast Asia with their rising rates of tertiary educated workforce puts them in an ideal position to capitalise on Asia’s growth. SMU aims to provide the avenue by which Indonesia’s corporate, government and industry workforce can take advantage of SMU’s world class education through its professional continuing education and postgraduate programmes. Additionally, SMU will work to strengthen bilateral efforts so as to develop and carry out strategic collaborative initiatives and programmes to build intellectual capital ground up and positively impact local communities.

More details here.

Berlin School of Business and Innovation (BSBI) unveils new campus in Neukölln

Posted on by Global University Systems

On Tuesday 29 November, Berlin School of Business and Innovation (BSBI) announced the opening of its new campus in “Alte Post” in Neukölln district of Berlin. At the new location, more than 3,000 students from over 100 nations will be able to choose from the broad range of courses offered by the international education provider in the future. In Berlin, the business school offers 19 bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes on current business topics, marketing and finance. Since September, degrees in psychology and engineering have also been available.

BSBI officially launched in 2018 with a group of nine students; 4 years later, with a growing student body and expanding portfolio of programmes, the school has outgrown its original campus in Potsdamer Strasse. In “Alte Post”, BSBI will create a connection with the area through the historic building, whilst the modern interior and facilities will allow for the education of the professionals of tomorrow, paying homage to the past while investing in the future.

District Mayor Martin Hikel recognizes the institution’s commitment to the district

On the occasion of the opening of the new campus, students and representatives of BSBI met yesterday, Tuesday, in the historic building of the former main post office “Alte Post”. Sagi Hartov, CEO of GUS Germany and Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of BSBI welcomed the guests: “We are thrilled to reveal our new campus and to become part of this fast-growing neighborhood. Neukölln attracts young people from diverse backgrounds, something that reflects our student body, and as an innovative area in constant development it’s the perfect location for our programmes and cutting-edge teaching, preparing students for the modern workplace. This is a remarkable day not only for BSBI, but for GUS Germany as well as we deepen and renew our presence in Berlin.”

The district mayor of Neukölln, Martin Hikel, emphasized the joy of the new opening of the “Alte Post” location by BSBI, mentioning: “It is an important and encouraging signal for Neukölln that life is returning to the “Alte Post”. The new campus on Karl-Marx-Strasse, the artery of our district, enriches the historic center of Neukölln.”

Professor Dr Kyriakos Kouveliotis, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, said: “We went from teaching 1,000 hours 4 years ago to now teaching around 30,000 hours across 50 programmes at all levels. Due to this incredible growth, our old campus had become too small to host all our activities and we needed a space suitable for our students’ ambitions.”

Art, a bear as a presenter and a successful celebration

After the official part of the programme, the guests were able to get an idea of the modern premises of the expanding educational institution. A foretaste of how diverse and lively things
will soon be in the newly occupied 17,000 square meters of the old post office building was offered by the supporting programme. The evening was hosted by a hologram of BESBI, BSBI Bubby Bear Berlin mascot, international artist Victor Ash unveiled a work of art created especially for BSBI, and celebrations with staff, students and guests continued throughout the evening.

  

Laying the building blocks for career success through the best of two worlds

Posted on by Editorial Team

Hailing from the culturally diverse city of Munich, Franz-Jakob Bodenmeier has found himself a natural fit at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) as he aspires to pursue a career in the project management side of the renewable-energy industry.

Blood runs in the family

Heavily influenced by his father who manages renewable-energy investments, Jakob developed an interest in this area at a young age. It came to no one’s surprise when he chose to study economics as his university major but his decision to study abroad did come as a shock to some.

Why Hong Kong and CUHK?

“With everything considered, it was just the best option. Hong Kong is an international city that serves as a bridge between the East and West so studying here opens a lot of doors, and there’s also no better place to learn business pitching and hone my soft skills,” he said, adding that his previous 6-month exchange experience in Beijing also played a role in his decision.

“Similarly, CUHK is a university where East meets West. One can get the best of both worlds by developing an Asian perspective on top of the international one deeply ingrained in the city. In addition, there is a great mix of local and non-local students at CUHK so it’s nice to meet and learn from people from all walks of life,” Jakob explained.

As one of the selected few currently studying in The Chinese University of Hong Kong-Tsinghua University Dual Undergraduate Degree Programme in Economics, Jakob receives the best economic training in Asia and will spend four years in total, two years each in respective universities before graduating with two of the most prestigious bachelor’s degrees in Asia.

Ranked 47th and 30th in QS’ World University Rankings by Subject 2022 in Economics and Econometrics respectively, CUHK and Tsinghua University empower students to develop insightful global and Asian perspectives as they develop connections by accessing both alumni networks.

CUHK is well-recognized internationally for its academic strength that spans across diverse disciplines. QS’ World University Rankings by Subject 2022 placed twenty one CUHK subjects in the world’s top 50 with seven subjects, specifically anthropology, communication and media studies, computer science and information systems, medicine, nursing, philosophy, and theology, divinity and religious studies ranked first in Hong Kong.

Paving the path to success

Despite not naturally possessing superhuman adaptive skills, Jakob has fully immersed himself in life at CUHK.

“There’s very comfortable accommodation, awesome people, excellent teaching, speedy assistance from different departments, as well as meaningful events and activities held to assist us in developing critical career skills,” he said.

One activity Jakob joined was the CUHK Mentorship Programme (CUMP) where he met professionals from different industries and obtained invaluable advice about career planning and development, while the CUHK Host Family Programme has allowed him to build closer connections with professors eager to impart years of wisdom and share their ways on developing the necessary skillset for future success.

CUHK also regularly organizes workshops, events, and seminars about internship opportunities to help students work towards their future goals, which include the Bloomberg Academy held in June this year.

“The support provided is unmatched. You can feel the University really cares about us and goes the extra mile by doing everything they can to support our development,” he added.

Looking back, Jakob has no doubt that to study in CUHK and Hong Kong has been the right decision.

“Everything that drew me here in the first place has lived up to expectations. The cherry on top is the warmth and sense of belonging I feel here. Everything is perfect.”

Lingnan University to launch postgraduate programme in urban studies

Posted on by Editorial Team

With half the world’s population already living in cities, the global trend towards increasing urbanisation shows no signs of slowing down. Along with the advantages that come with metropolitan life, such as proximity to the hub of economic growth, there’s often a price to pay in the form of issues such as increased pollution, crime rates and health risks.

In response to the growing demand for expertise to tackle such problems, and to build on the success of its existing Master of Cities and Governance programme, Lingnan University is going to launch a Research Postgraduate MPhil/PhD Programme in Urban Studies in September 2023.

A natural home for urban studies

Rather than house such a programme in a single specialist department, Lingnan’s School of Graduate Studies (SGS) will host the new MPhil/PhD programme. The SGS is home to experts in a wide range of disciplines, from housing and education to business, and many faculty have research backgrounds at some of the most prestigious institutions across the globe.

“This type of environment makes trans-disciplinary research possible,” Professor Yung Yau, the professor of urban studies at Lingnan University, explains. “So, when we talk about urban regeneration, it is not just a question of land use, we can also discuss, say, the effects of this process on the elderly, and the possible social exclusion as a result.”

Lingnan is also uniquely located within China’s Greater Bay Area, a few kilometres from Hong Kong’s border with the Mainland, and with easy access to most of Asia.

Structure of the programme

Both PhD and MPhil students on this programme will take courses to enhance their skills in areas such as academic writing, critical thinking, research design, and qualitative and quantitative research methods. They will attend workshops on topics such as research ethics, and seminars in which their proposed research topics will be discussed, and honed, in partnership with faculty members. They will also be provided with training in the use of technologies such as Geographic Information System, and in the creation and use of infographics to communicate their findings.

“Lingnan University is a liberal arts university and we want to make sure that the research we conduct has a real impact on society,” Prof Yau adds. This concept of care encompasses everything from encouraging entrepreneurship to revitalising Hong Kong’s heritage.

The future: for graduates and for urban studies

Among the wide range of employment possibilities open to graduates are roles as: an academic researcher in higher education institutes; a researcher or policy advocate in a think tank; a specialist government employee; a member of an NGO; a consultant or administrator in real estate companies, and; an ESG officer in a variety of other private sector businesses.

Prof Yau has a vision for the future of urban studies at Lingnan and beyond. “My ambition is to turn it into a trans-disciplinary field, so we are not just integrating knowledge from different disciplines but, through a joint effort, building a new concept, or framework, that may eventually result in some kind of social innovation.”

Please click here for application details.
Research areas of MPhil/PhD in Urban Studies