Intercultural Competence

Intercultural qualification and integration for STEM-students (IK-MINT)

IK-MINT is a project started with a cooperation between EUSMAT and the former chair of Intercultural Communication at Saarland University (Prof. Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink and Dr. Christoph Vatter).

IK-MINT is a proven intercultural support and qualification programme in international studies of STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), based on the innovative interdisciplinary cooperation between cultural and natural sciences. It accompanies international students before and during their studies. Starting with an orientation before the beginning of their studies, the students are then prepared for the intercultural challenges of college and career. At the same time, students of cultural studies subjects will be able to apply their intercultural skills and acquire new skills in teaching and supporting the STEM-students during their intercultural learning. IK-MINT was initiated in 2005 and is continually evolving. This year, approx. 90 students from 22 countries participated in the programme.

Every year, the European school of Materials (EUSMAT) organizes one or more so called “Integration Week” or “Orientation Week” for the different study programmes. During this week, the students taking part are prepared for their stay abroad. Intercultural training plays an especially large role in this preparation.

Since 2018, a Professional Summer School for AMASE students in the second year takes place in Saarbrücken. It focuses on job preparation and intercultural competences in an international job context.

To get an idea of how such an intercultural training might look like, you can visit our gallery:

Impressions of our intercultural training workshops