New courses for prospective students start in April at the MINT College Baden-Württemberg at the University of Stuttgart in the MINT subjects of Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences and Engineering Sciences. Even before the courses start, participants are able to attend courses here in Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry and Thermodynamics for one semester without being enrolled at the University. In these propaedeutic (study preparatory) courses, they become acquainted with the working methods at the university. Basic knowledge is refreshed and improved in small groups, adapted to the requirements of the subsequent studies. In addition to this they will already be able to get a whiff of university life and make initial contacts with their future fellow students. The participants will then be prepared and get off to an ideal start to their MINT studies at the beginning of the semester in October.
This offer is particularly suited to young people initially taking a voluntary social year between university entrance exams and studies, or a longer stay abroad or an apprenticeship. The offer is also recommendable for those taking university entrance examinations, who are focussed on languages, for example, and who now wish to start an engineering course of studies. The new courses are helpful for students from abroad since they convey the technical mathematical and natural science expressions in German. A registration for the preparatory courses is possible as of now at www.mint-kolleg.de/stuttgart. The fee for the participation is in line with the guest auditors and amounts to 150 Euros (reduced 40 Euros) per semester. Courses are free of charge for those students already enrolled.
Extensive range of courses, adapted to suit the requirements of the students
In addition to the preparatory courses, there is also an extensive range of courses at the
MINT College Baden-Württemberg, a joint facility of the University of Stuttgart and the Karlsruhe
Institute for Technology. From one to three-week preparatory courses directly before starting
studying up to one or two-semester courses preparing for studying and accompanying studying and
compact examination preparation courses, the courses on offer are oriented towards the current
knowledge and the needs of the prospective students and enrolled students. “Those wishing to start
a MINT course of studies don’t always have it easy. The first semesters are all about acquiring
comprehensive basic knowledge. In order to optimise the start of studies for beginners, we at the
University of Stuttgart and the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology have set up the MINT College
Baden-Württemberg“, explained the Director of the College, Dr. Claudia Goll. In the winter semester
2013/14 there was a total of over 1,800 participants together at both locations, the total number
of participants for the preparatory courses was over 4,000. The MINT College has received a lot of
positive feedback from the course participants. For example, the students certify that the facility
with its approx. 40 lecturers (both locations together) made a decisive contribution to motivating
the students to commence their studies and “that inquiries are dealt with competently“. In
addition, they praise the “transparency and practical reference“.
The MINT College is funded by the State of Baden-Württemberg, among other things in the framework of the programme “Study models of individual speed“ and also in the framework of the programme “Quality package teaching“ by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research. MINT stands for Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaften und Technik (Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Sciences and Technology).
There is an overview at www.mint-kolleg.de/stuttgart of the whole range of programmes offered by the MINT College at the Stuttgart location. Moreover, an online test serves the purpose of testing the students’ own knowledge and former MINT students report on their experiences and give tips.
Contact for the media:
Birgit Vennemann, MINT College Baden-Württemberg, University of Stuttgart, PR work,
Tel. 0711/685-84309, E-Mail: birgit.vennemann@mint-kolleg.de.
