Following initial contacts since June of this year, the Head of the Department of International Affairs at the German-Jordanian University (GJU), Jens Hegemann, visited Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences (HSN) on 13 September 2023.

The visit served as the first personal meeting of the partners in the areas of international and student affairs as well as familiarisation with the Nordhausen campus and location. With the signing of a partnership agreement, the two universities are now working together in the fields of engineering and economics. With the establishment of corresponding study programmes in Jordan, the area of social sciences is also covered in the future.

The new partnership focusses on student exchanges in both directions as well as guest visits by teaching and administrative staff. One of GJU's special features is the so-called 'German Year', which GJU students spend in Germany in their 4th year for study and internship purposes. To this end, they learn German intensively at the GJU right from the start - as well as High Arabic, from which Nordhausen students can also benefit in future, for example as part of summer schools.

The GJU began operations in 2005 as a state university under Jordanian law modelled on German universities of applied sciences. With currently nine faculties and over 4,000 students in more than 30 degree programmes, the GJU is supported in its cooperation with German universities by the DAAD, the BMBF and the GIZ, among others.