Studying in Australia for a semester - over 300 students from Hessian universities have seized this opportunity so far. This was made possible by the state university partnership that the state of Hesse maintains with the state of Queensland in Australia and which is now celebrating a milestone birthday: The first students were exchanged 20 years ago. Since then, over 600 Australian students have come to Hesse - most of them have taken part in the international short-term programmes offered by Hesse's winter and summer universities. To this day, student exchange is at the heart of the state university programme.
The agreement between the universities in Hesse and the universities in the state of Queensland was concluded back in 2002. The exchange programme began two years later. Under the auspices of both science ministries, it enables the universities to maintain close co-operation with their Australian partners in teaching, research and other areas. Students no longer have to pay expensive tuition fees at the partner universities in Australia - totalling over two million euros to date. The Australian students on the other hand benefit from a fee-waiver for participation in the Hessian International Winter and Summer Universities.
To mark the 20th anniversary of the student exchange, a delegation from Hesse's universities accompanied by a high-ranking representative of the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture visited the partner universities in Australia in March 2024. The focus was on strengthening student exchange, especially after the years of the
coronavirus pandemic, but also further developing the partnership around collaboration in research and teaching. As after a visit of a delegation from Queensland Universities in 2023, it once again became clear that both sides are eager to continue and even intensify this partnership.
The first lighthouse projects between Hessian universities and universities in Queensland are already in place, such as the International Research Training Group "Accelerating Crop Genetic Gain" between Justus Liebig University Giessen and the University of Queensland, which is funded by the German Research Foundation. The project is investigating how crops adapt to climate change. Or an International Summer University on Sustainable Aviation Management at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, the content of which is closely coordinated with Australian universities.