Tag: Germany

Iris I. Varner Profile

ProfilesIris I. Varner is Professor Emeritus for International Business at Illinois State University where she was a professor and the Director of the International Business Institute.

Varner is a past President of the Association for Business Communication (ABC). She has won the ABC’s Outstanding Teaching Award and was named Fellow of ABC, and Distinguished Member of ABC. She received several departmental research and teaching awards. She is a native of Germany. She earned the Staatsexamen at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet in Freiburg, Germany. She received her Ph.D., an M.A. in German literature and an MBA from Oklahoma University.

Varner’s research interests focus on the interaction between business management, culture, and communication. Varner is co-author of the book, Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace. Varner has done research on expatriation, cultural adjustments for successful expatriation, and criteria determining expatriate success. She has also examined the composition of corporate boards in Asia, Europe and North America, focusing on gender representation and international preparedness. Varner is an adjunct professor at the University of Lugano, Switzerland and a visiting professor at the University of Dresden, Germany. In addition, she has given lectures and seminars in New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Belgium, France, Russia, and Poland. She serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Business Communication, and the Business Communication Quarterly.

Bremen University Fellowships

“The Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS) invites applications to its Ph.D. and postdoctoral programs. BIGSSS is an inter-university institute of the University of Bremen and Jacobs
University and is funded by the German Excellence Initiative. The program provides close supervision of dissertation work within a demand-tailored education and research framework. Fellows are expected to choose Bremen as their place of residence. BIGSSS is part of an international network of highly acknowledged graduate programs. It supports its doctoral and postdoctoral fellows in achieving early scientific independence and provides funds for the conduct, presentation, and publishing of their research. The language of instruction is English, and non-German students are encouraged to apply.

Successful applicants for the Ph.D. and Preparatory Fellowships will pursue a topic in one or more of BIGSSS’ five Thematic Fields:
– Global Integration
– Integration and Diversity in the New Europe
– Social Integration and the Welfare State
– Attitude Formation, Value Change, and Intercultural Communication
– Life-Course and Lifespan Dynamics.

15 Ph.D. Stipends/Fellowships: BIGSSS seeks candidates with strong academic abilities and a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in political science, sociology, or psychology.

2 Preparatory Fellowships for BA Graduates: Additionally BIGSSS offers 2 stipends of € 850/month for particularly talented BA graduates. After fulfilling some course requirements and having their proposals accepted within the first year, candidates can switch into the regular three year program.

2 Postdoctoral Stipends/Fellowships: We seek candidates pursuing English-language publication projects based either on their dissertations (by making findings available to an international audience through a book or journal article) or new research. Postdoctoral stipends of € 1750/month may run for between 6
and 24 months.

Ph.D. fellowships will start September 1, 2011, Postdoctoral fellows may plan their stays to begin later. Non-German students are strongly encouraged to apply. BIGSSS strives to increase the share of women in
the university and hence also strongly encourages women to apply. Applicants with disabilities who are equally qualified will be favored.”

More information can be found at the Bremen University site.

German Turkish University established

“On 22 October 2010 [Germany’s] Federal President Christian Wulff and [Turkey’s] President Abdullah Gül jointly laid the foundation stone for the new University. The Turkish President had previously appointed Prof. Ziya Şanal its first President, thereby officially founding the University. During his visit to Ankara in January 2010, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle had emphasized that the German-Turkish University was something in which he took a keen personal interest, adding: “We believe it is important the University embarks on teaching activities as soon as possible.”

Courses are due to begin at the University’s initially five faculties in autumn 2011. The planned faculties are: law, natural science, engineering, humanities and cultural studies, economics and social science. The University will offer Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees. These qualifications, as well as the curricula and associated quality assurance, are to be based on European education standards (the Bologna Process). German-Turkish courses aimed at fostering intercultural cooperation will be the University’s special hallmark. Students will also have the option of earning German degrees and learning the German language.

The German-Turkish University hopes to cooperate closely with Turkish and German companies. It aims to meet the growing need for well-trained specialists in Turkey, whose economy is experiencing dynamic growth.

The Turkish side will provide land, buildings and infrastructure and assume the recurring costs. The University hopes to cater for up to 5000 students in the medium term.

German contributions include, among other things, the secondment of senior and junior lecturers, the development of curricula and the provision of equipment and materials for the planned new language centre.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is providing major support to help make the German-Turkish University a reality. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is responsible for coordination among the participating German universities.”

For further information, see the original posting on the German Foreign Office site. This university is one result of the Ernst Reuter Initiative for Intercultural Dialogue and Understanding, between Turkey and Germany.