MU Connect issue 9 (page 12 to 13)

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German UAS students at HKMU

The Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration (B&A) has been running an exchange programme with several partner universities. In August 2024, three students studying Business Informatics at Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences, Germany — Lukas Mayer, Lucas Alves Munz and Andreas Schell — arrived for a semester of exchange. Their home university lies within a well-established system of universities of applied sciences (UASs) in Europe. Now that HKMU has become a UAS, let's hear what they say about applied degree studies at home, in addition to their time in Hong Kong.

Applied degree studies in Germany

In German, Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences is known as Hochschule Heilbronn (HHN), in which hochschule is a generic term for higher institutions, as opposed to universität, which refers strictly to academic universities with the right to confer doctoral degrees. A hochschule typically focuses on selective areas of professional education and applied research. For example, HHN specialises in the fields of business, engineering and computer science. As Heilbronn is home to many industrial and commercial enterprises, most universities in the area are UASs. German students decide their career direction early on in order to select the type of university to enter. “Consulting firms or investment banks may prefer graduates from academic universities, but many smaller local companies are eager to hire students from technical universities for their practical experience,” Andreas says.

The exchange students' degree takes seven semesters to complete. Students may choose to commence in either the winter or summer semester. The first two semesters cover the fundamentals, followed by electives of students' choice over the next two. In the fifth semester, most students go on a full-time internship. “Our university will organise special events like career fairs and workshops to help us polish our CVs, but it's our responsibility to apply for a position,” explains Andreas. “If we fail to secure an internship for that semester, we can do another semester of studies first and postpone the internship to another semester, but we'll have to complete it before graduation,” adds Lukas. In normal circumstances, the final semesters are mainly spent on project studies and thesis writing on topics related to the internship.

A lot of companies in Germany are ready to offer paid internships as a way of attracting future employees. From Andreas's impression, “Companies consider it a good deal to gain additional manpower at a lower cost, and they're willing to give student interns return offers so that they'll gain new blood who are already well-trained.

Exchange life in Hong Kong

Originally from different small towns surrounding the Heilbronn area, the three exchange students applied to come to HKMU because they wanted to experience living in Hong Kong, and B&A's practically oriented courses are relevant to their home university programme. “I've heard a lot about Hong Kong in international and economic contexts,” says Lukas. Even with prior expectations, setting foot in Hong Kong — in fact Asia — for the first time was still rather mind-blowing. Lucas speaks of his first day of arrival, “I was struck by the fact that everything here was so big. There were so many people in the streets. Everything was so alive. But what I like most is that although Hong Kong is a metropolis, it offers easy access to nature.” 

At HKMU, they have made friends with students from diverse backgrounds — exchange students from other countries, students of ethnic minorities, mainland Chinese students and local Hong Kong students — in classes and events organised by B&A. On 4 December 2024, a High Table Dinner was held with a German theme for all year 3 and 4 students, officiated by Mrs Stefanie Seedig, Deputy Consul-General of the German Consulate General in Hong Kong. The students are also grateful that studies and coursework have been manageable, giving them plenty of room to explore the city. “I had expected lessons from eight to six,” Lukas remarks. They have hiked famous trails such as Dragon's Back and sampled restaurants following travel guides, sometimes with local students too.

One of their most unforgettable memories came from settling in their shared accommodation near Langham Place. As Andreas recalls, “we took our luggage up five floors as the building doesn't have an elevator!” While it is easy to go everywhere from the heart of the city, the daily commute to school can be challenging because of heavy traffic. “Being Germans, we usually walk to campus in order not to be late,” Andreas continues. For them, the convergence of the old and the modern, just as the proximity of urban hustle and bustle and countryside getaways, is part of the charm of Hong Kong that they will miss when they return home in the depth of winter, after dwelling in subtropical warmth for more than a season.