NÜRTINGEN (hfwu). Since 2013, international researchers have been working at Nürtingen-Geislingen University (NGU) for up to one semester as part of a Visiting Professorship Program. The program was made possible by the Educational Foundation of Kreissparkasse Esslingen-Nürtingen (KSK). The Kreissparkasse Educational Foundation is continuing its support for the Visiting Professorship Program, providing a total of more than one million euros for another ten years.

So far, around 50 professors from 16 different countries across all continents, some accompanied by their families, have come to NGU as part of the program. To ensure the program continues for another ten years starting in 2025, the Educational Foundation of Kreissparkasse Esslingen-Nürtingen and NGU have signed a new funding agreement. The foundation will provide 110,000 euros annually to support the creation of a visiting professorship. This visiting professorship will be alternately filled by teachers and researchers for a maximum duration of one semester.

‘For NGU, the Visiting Professorship program is one of the most important pillars of its internationalization strategy,’ said NGU Rector Prof. Dr. Andreas Frey at the signing of the funding agreement. In the coming years, the program will particularly aim to further strengthen the university's international network while placing an even greater focus on the topics of sustainable development and entrepreneurship.

Heinz Eininger, Chairman of the Board of the KSK Educational Foundation, sees the university as an ideal partner when it comes to internationalization: ‘Especially in the area of sustainable development, which is central to the university's identity, it is important to elevate this to an academic level and to promote internationalization in this context as well.’

‘The district of Esslingen is one of the strongest exporters in Germany. A globally networked economy is the standard today. In this sense, we truly live in a global village,’ said Burkhard Wittmacher, Chairman of the Board of Management. He believes that accessible opportunities for international mobility are all the more important, both for researchers and teachers and consequently for students. The success of the previous program, with its wide range of disciplines, has had a tremendous impact and represents a unique selling point for the university.

During the signing ceremony, former participants of the program from the Universidad Panamericana (Mexico) and the University of Brescia (Italy) shared video messages while the current Visiting Professor, Dr Teri McClelland from the Southern Institute of Technology in New Zealand, talked about her experiences in the program.

In addition to the support of the Visiting Professorship Program, another commitment from Kreissparkasse Esslingen-Nürtingen was confirmed during the event. Burkhard Wittmacher signed a sponsoring agreement with the start-up initiative ‘Zukunft.Gründen - Venture Studio for Entrepreneurship & Innovation GmbH’, which was founded at NGU.