Newsletter from the Welcome Centre
Dear international academics,
We hope you had a wonderful summer and a great start into the new semester. Autumn has now fully arrived in Passau and with it a new issue of our newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading it and look forward to your feedback.
See you soon!
Your Welcome Centre Team
A Warm Welcome to our Newest Team Member, Miriam Utecht
Twenty-four-year-old Miriam Utecht is currently in her third semester of the European Studies Bachelors degree programme at the University of Passau.
Miriam was born and raised in the north of Germany, but lived in the United States for a couple of months and moved to Passau last year. She knows what it means to relocate and to leave everything behind. Therefore, she will try her best to support you in finding a suitable accommodation during your stay and make sure you feel welcome and at home in Passau. She speaks German, English and a little bit of Spanish and Portuguese.
Invitation to our International Dinner | 14 November 2023
We are delighted to announce another one of our famous International Dinners on 14 November 2023 at 6 p.m. in the Clubroom 005 (ITZ Innstraße 43), this time in cooperation with the Graduate Centre of the University of Passau.
For all those who haven’t had the chance to enjoy our special dinner yet: The idea of this evening is to experience typical meals of all your different home countries. Therefore, it would be great if every participant could prepare and bring their favourite dish, so that we can taste a variety of food from all over the world.
As always, you don’t have to prepare a complete meal – small dishes tapas-style are enough! The room we meet in has a small kitchenette so we are able to warm up the dishes or keep them cold if needed.
Please let us know by, 10 November 2023, if you would like to attend and what you plan on bringing by emailing researchmobility@uni-passau.de.
We look forward to spending the evening with you and enjoying amazing food!
Report of our Orientation Week
As in previous years, our orientation week started with a traditional Bavarian breakfast. Over white sausages, pretzels and sweet mustard, we talked about local traditions and got to know each other better. Afterwards, we went on a guided tour of the Passau campus, which is currently showing its beautiful autumn colours.
On Wednesday afternoon, we had a lot of fun exploring the city of Passau in a scavenger hunt. The good mood continued into the evening in the Cultural Bar Rio. It was a pleasant evening in a relaxed atmosphere with good conversations. Due to the mild temperatures we even had the chance to enjoy the unique medieval garden setting.
On Thursday, all the new internationals arriving in Passau were officially welcomed and afterwards, over a buffet, there was the opportunity to meet new academics as well as see familiar faces.
The crowning finale of this year's orientation week was the day trip to Salzburg. In a group of 40 people, we explored the so-called "City of Mozart" and had a great time together.
Many thanks to all participants, we hope you enjoyed this year’s orientation week as much as we did and we look forward to meeting you at our next event!
All You Can Do | Meet, match and volunteer together
With the intercultural volunteer buddy programme "All You Can Do" you can get involved in social projects in Passau together with fellow students and researchers from all over the world. The programme guarantees fun, new friends, intercultural teamwork, acquisition of important competences and soft skills as well as an insight into the local society. Bonus: At the end of your involvement, you will receive a volunteering certificate from International Support Services or possibly even ECTS points for your degree programme.
Curious? Then find out more here, choose two favourites from 11 projects and register by 24 October 2023.
If you have any questions, feel free to email refugeeprogramme@uni-passau.de
All You Can Do is a programme of the International Support Services and the Refugee Programme, funded by the DAAD with funds from the BMBF.
An Evening at the University | Languages, Books, Competencies
You don't want to miss the evening information event [German content and programme in German] held in the central library on Wednesday, 25 October from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. This event is jointly organised by the Language Centre, University Library, Future: Careers and Competencies Section and the Sports Centre and will give you lots of information on the various seminar/course/event programmes for the winter semester. Look forward to exciting presentations, taster courses, mini-workshops and sporty snacks.
All students and researchers of the University of Passau are cordially invited.
Please register using Stud.IP code 66666. Your registration helps to plan the event.
Online Roundtable on "Cultivated Meat: Opportunities and Challenges"
Online Webinar "Old age pensions for employees and civil servants in Germany"
Maybe you remember the Bavaria-wide webinar series “Experts for Expats”from last year. On a regular basis, the LMU Gateway team offers English-moderated lectures on important everyday topics that everyone living and working in Germany is likely to encounter. The LMU Gateway team is delighted to now invite you to the second edition of this webinar series on the topic “old age pensions for employees and civil servants in Germany”.
You will be enlightened about this topic with the help of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Becker, managing director at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy. He will introduce you to the structure of social security in Germany, share insights about the challenges for migrants and give an overview about the prerequisites and benefits of the German old age pension system. A following FAQ session will give you the opportunity to address your questions to the expert. Please note that for legal reasons Prof. Becker cannot provide individual advice, but only general information.
When: Monday, 06 November 2023, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: Online webinar via Zoom
Registration: Please register by Sunday, 29 October 2023 using the online registration form.
PICAIS Coffee Talk
The PICAIS coffee talk took place for the first time in spring this year and has now become a regular event from and for PICAIS Fellows. It is aimed to bring together not only all PICAIS Fellows, that are currently doing their fellowship in Passau, but also interested scientists from the University of Passau to connect and chat about science with their fellows in a casual setting.
Therefore, you are cordially invited to get to know the PICAIS Fellows at the joint networking event,
the PICAIS Coffee Talk on 12 December 2023, 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. @Professors’ Lounge (Refectory building, 1st floor room 254).
The fellows on site are:
- Prof Dr Hoda Zobeiri (The University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran)
Chair of Development Economics
Research project: Macroeconomic Conditions and Population Health in Iran
- Dr Oxana Karnaukhova (University of Passau)
Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics
Research project: Problematising the Strategic Sovereignty Narratives in EU
Foreign Policy: between the Real and the Imagined
- Prof Dr Olena Melnykova-Kurhanova (National Aviation University, Kyiv, Ukraine)
Research project: Public Communication in a City under Attack Russia‘s Informational Influence on the Citizens of Mariupol
- Prof Dr Alina Kasinska (Pylyp Orlyk International Classical University, Mykolaiv, Ukraine)
Research project: Organizational Adaptation to sustained cosmological Crisis - Extension of a longitudinal study of nature parks in Ukraine during the Russian invasion and the (de)occupation since February 2022
We are looking forward to your attendance and ask for a registration via email to plan catering accordingly (coffee/tea and pastries) at picais-office@uni-passau.de.
Should you not be able to attend but still wish to network with the PICAIS Fellows, please contact the PICAIS office.
LMU Online Event "Doctoral Candidates meet Postdocs" (Natural Sciences)
The Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) would like to invite you to their online event "Doctoral Candidates meet Postdocs". The event aims to give international doctoral candidates in Bavaria the opportunity to get insights into the international career paths of postdocs. After a presentation by three experienced postdocs from natural sciences at LMU, you will get the chance to engage in a Q&A session and address your general questions and concerns.
The speakers will be:
When: Thursday, 16 November 2023, from 5 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Where: Zoom (link will be provided in time)
Registration: Please register by Friday, 3 November 2023 using the online registration form.
Intercultural Online Workshop “Understanding the Germans”
This workshop, offered to you by the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, is designed for newly arrived researchers, but you are also very welcome if you have been in Germany for a while now. On 20 November 2023 from 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. you will take a look at things which are typical of Germany and which can cause problems for internationals (e.g. communication; the concept of time) and spend an entertaining evening discussing how to successfully deal with Germans.
Please register beforehand by using this link: https://eveeno.com/846233700
You will receive the Zoom link about one week before the workshop.
The workshop will be held in English.
If you have any questions, please contact Ms Laura Fees: Laura.Fees@fau.de
Self-Defense Training for Women
Contents of the Training
To master handling a provoked violent situation, a high level of self-confidence and self-defence techniques are particularly helpful. The training is based on easy, rapidly learnable and, above all, effective physical intervention techniques in order to be able to face physical and psychological violent situations in a (more) controlled manner and to act confidently. One's own safety is always the top priority. The following topics are taught:
• Tactics for deescalating violent situations
• Defending against punches
• Freeing yourself from various restraining attacks and counter attacks
• Techniques on distancing yourself and forms of movement while standing
• Questions on specific situations are welcome
Trainer
Bekim Prenaj and Federico Marrone have many years of experience as trainers for self-defence. More information on the trainers can be found here (unfortunately only in German): www.kampfkunstzentrum-passau.de/index.php/kravmaga
Simultaneous translation in English
Kathrin Schopf will assist the two trainers and deliver simultaneous translation in English.
Registration for and information on the dates
• Register via Stud.IP Nr. 69028, 69029, 69030, 69031
• Participation is free of charge
• Please remember to bring comfortable clothes, indoor sports shoes, food and something to drink.
E-mail (for queries):
All Saints’ Day | 1 November
All Saints’ Day is an important holiday of the Catholic Church. As the name suggests, all saints are commemorated on this day. The origin was that with the increasing number of saints, it became increasingly difficult to dedicate a separate holiday to each saint. In Bavaria, it is the custom of many families to remember deceased family members or friends on this day. Some families go to the cemetery together and wait for the priest to bless the graves.
All Saints’ Day is also called the “silent holiday”; loud music and dancing are forbidden on this day. Please remember that all shops, including supermarkets, and administrative offices will be closed on this day. The bus schedule and the opening hours of university facilities such as libraries, refectory and cafeterias may change and the Welcome Centre will be closed.
Send Us Your Content Ideas
Research in Bavaria – blog entries
Together with various Bavarian universities, the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts has developed the web portal www.research-in-bavaria.de.
The aim of this portal is to inform international doctoral and postdoctoral researches about research opportunities at Bavarian universities. But work is only one part of the equation.
It is just as important to show international researchers what kind of life awaits them in Bavaria. The blog “My new life in Bavaria”, features small anecdotes written by international researchers and hope to prepare their peers for life in Bavaria as soon-to-be locals.
Would you like to share your experiences living and working in Bavaria with other young researchers?
What we are looking for: young international researchers based at our universities here in Bavaria, interested in contributing small texts and photos to the blog.
Topics: your hobbies, discoveries, favourite places in the town, sports, traditions and festivities, excursions, afternoons spent at the playground with your kids, in short: anything you enjoy doing in your town or region can be of interest.
Examples: www.research-in-bavaria.de/blog
As you see, texts are rather short (no more than 200 words), and a selection of good photos and a pinch of humour can make a nice contribution! Thank you very much in advance!
Recipe collection
Our International Dinner showed again that you are simply the best cooks! Therefore, we would like to ask you to share your cooking skills with us and send your recipes to researchmobility@uni-passau.de so that we can collect and publish them. Thank you very much!
Informal International Meetings
Would you like to meet other international researchers more frequently? Perhaps you already have plans for leisure/research/networking activities to which you would like to invite other researchers? We'd be happy to share your invitations.
Please send us your ideas and plans at the latest on the Friday of the week before the event, and we will share your information the following Monday.
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