In order to expand the scientific and educational cooperation of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute with the Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg, in June 2022, students of the Educational and Research Institute of Energy Saving and Energy Management (ER IEE) were included in the program of the Joint Ukrainian-German Center for Mechanical Engineering.
The program stipulates that students of the Institute of IEE, in parallel with the main bachelor's program in the specialty 141 "Electric Power Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electromechanics," actively study German to obtain a TestDAF or DSH certificate with an average score of at least 4.0. After the second year of study, program participants can receive a scholarship for language practice in Germany on a competitive basis. For third- and fourth-year program participants, the Joint Ukrainian-German Center for Mechanical Engineering annually organizes a conference where students present their research in German, discuss their reports, and have interviews with representatives of the German side. Based on its results, third-year students can receive a scholarship for an internship in Germany, and fourth-year students can receive a recommendation for admission to a double-degree master's program with the Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg.
The first participant of the program from the Institute of IEE was a student of the Department of Power Supply Georgii Kazmiruk, who was given the opportunity to undergo an internship in Germany in the summer of 2022. Due to the restrictions associated with the legal regime of martial law in Ukraine, Heorhii Kazmiruk's practice was organized remotely. The student attended lectures by German professors, learned more about the research topics of the Department of Electricity Networks and Renewable Energy at the Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg, and together with his supervisor at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Professor of the Department of Electricity Supply Sergiy Denysiuk, chose the direction of his own research. In May of this year, he successfully presented his report "Optimization of energy processes in a microgrid with time-varying load in the system "two generators one load" in German at the student scientific conference of the Joint Ukrainian-German Center for Mechanical Engineering. Based on the results of this report, an interview, and a final language test, Georgiy was awarded a scholarship to study at the Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg for a master's degree. He still has to defend his bachelor's degree at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and enter the master's program at the Institute of IEE for further study under the double degree program, but the most difficult stages of the tests have been overcome.
In the current academic year, two more freshmen of the Department of Power Supply of the IEE - Vadym Slyvka and Vladyslav Sytor - started studying under the program of the Joint Ukrainian-German Center for Mechanical Engineering. Both of them speak favorably of their studies, although they note that it can be difficult. The guys have 8-10 hours a week in their class schedule to study German. Of course, this is quite a heavy workload, but it takes effort to learn the language from scratch. And systematic work under the guidance of experienced teachers of the Joint Ukrainian-German Center for Mechanical Engineering over four years will definitely yield positive results.
To rebuild Ukraine's energy sector on the basis of sustainable development and full European integration, we need specialists who are able to work at the international level. For many years, the Institute of IEE has been working for the internationalization of educational programs, encouraging students to participate in academic mobility programs. The double degree master's programs allow students of the Institute of IEE not only to gain experience in their specialty at European universities, but also to receive educational documents from both higher education institutions involved in the program.