30.4.2024

On Monday, 29 April 2024, a new interdisciplinary scholarship programme was launched at the Centre for Efficient High-Temperature Material Conversion (ZeHS) with the ceremonial awarding of the certificates. Six scholarship holders will receive around €200 per month with the support of the Stifterverband. In addition to this individual support, there is a fund for joint projects for inviting guest lecturers, funding excursions and more. Joint activities are promoted with the help of the ZeHS Board of Directors.

The next call for applications, which is likely to be aimed at students in the second half of their Master's or diploma programme, is expected for the winter semester 2024/25. "One goal is to expand the scope of the programme together with the Stifterverband through attractive joint activities," says Prof. Dr Dirk C. Meyer, Academic Spokesperson of the ZeHS.

Contact: Theresa Lemser (Theresa [dot] Lemser [at] zehs [dot] tu-freiberg [dot] de (Theresa[dot]Lemser[at]zehs[dot]tu-freiberg[dot]de))

The Renate and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Georg Unland Foundation made a donation to the university to enhance the excavations of the Dominican monastery of St Pauli (mid 13th century to 1537). The donor couple planted a rose bush in a large French wine barrel, which is now on public display in the lecture theatre building on Schlossplatz.

"In the Middle Ages, rose bushes were often planted in the cloisters of monasteries. The rose has various symbolic religious meanings. For example, it also symbolises the suffering and death of Jesus. A crown of thorns was placed on his head as he suffered," says founder Prof Georg Unland.

The large plant has been standing in the Schlossplatz quarter of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg since the beginning of April and is also clearly visible from the outside. Jens Then, Chancellor of the university, who accepted the donation in April, commented: "Many people interested in history regularly visit the excavations in the university's rooms. The rosebush as a piece of living nature now further enhances the excavations and points to the site's prehistory as a monastery. We are delighted with the donation from the Renate and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Georg Unland Foundation and will look after the rose bush carefully so that it remains at this historic site for a long time to come."

Together with eight universities from six countries, the Erasmus project EMINReM is modernising study programmes for Master's degrees in the raw materials sector. Following the launch in May 2023, the project partners held a workshop at TUBAF from 25 to 28 March. The meeting aimed to transfer good practice on teaching content and forms on the topic of "Eco Mining" from the European Union partners to the 7 partner universities in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Specifically, the Master's degree programmes "SINReM" and "Sustainable Mining and Remediation Management" were presented. In addition to content-related aspects of environmental, health and safety at work, issues relating to online programmes and quality assurance were of particular interest. The workshop included a tour of laboratories, the digital teaching environment at the Institute of Mining and semi-industrial and industrial test facilities. One focus was on forms of learning such as "problem-based learning" with the aim of encouraging students' creativity and independence.

During a conference at the State Technical Research University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, TUBAF Professor Carsten Drebenstedt was appointed honorary professor of Satbayav University. The laudatory speech was given by Rector Professor Meiram Begentayev (in the picture on the left). The Freiberg researcher was honoured in recognition of his many years of continuous collaboration in research and teaching and for his commitment to effective international cooperation. For example, TUBAF and Satbayev University are currently working together on the Erasmus project EMINReM to modernise degree courses in the field of raw materials.

For around ten years, scholarship holders from Mozambique have been coming to TUBAF on a regular basis. The successful programme is now being further developed: At the beginning of March, Susanne Gasda (International University Centre), Manuela Junghans (International University Centre) and Professor Dr Carsten Drebenstedt travelled to Maputo to renew the cooperation with the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy of Mozambique (MIREME). The partners signed an agreement that regulates the secondment of up to ten students per year to TUBAF. The students will initially be prepared for the one-year preparatory course to obtain a university entrance qualification and the language requirements. After successfully completing the preparatory course, the students begin their specialised studies at TUBAF. Five cohorts have already completed this preparation; eleven students have successfully completed their studies and are working at TUBAF as doctoral students, among other things, to gain further practical qualifications.

The Freiberg delegation also visited the University of Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, with which a Memorandum of Understanding has been in place since 2017. In addition to meetings with the German Ambassador to Mozambique Ronald Münch and business representatives, the visit focused on the German-Mozambican Cultural Centre, where the young people are preparing for their move to Freiberg in terms of language skills. The aim of the collaboration is to ensure that the Mozambicans arrive in Freiberg as well prepared as possible.

The "H2Giga" flagship project of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) aims to promote the series production of electrolysers for hydrogen production in order to support the goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2050, which is anchored in the European Green Deal. Electrolysers are devices that use electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. The latter is the target product and a key building block for CO2 emission-free technologies. Around 10 million tonnes of green hydrogen are to be produced in Germany in stages by 2030, i.e. hydrogen that is generated using renewable energies in order to help reduce CO2 emissions.

Professor Carsten Drebenstedt received an honorary doctorate from Zhytomir University of Technology on 15 February 2024 for his services to cooperation between the Ukrainian university and TU Bergakademie Freiberg and for the development of TU Zhytomir. The rector of the university, Vіktor Valeryovich Ewdokimov, thanked TU Bergakademie Freiberg for promoting cooperation, especially in the current difficult times. In his response, Professor Drebenstedt emphasised that investment in education and research is particularly important in times of crisis. He accepted the award on behalf of all those involved in the university cooperation.