Agreements provide collaboration opportunities with EU universities

Austria’s Graz University of Technology UniversityPULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University recently signed agreements to pursue the establishment of transatlantic collaborations with two leading universities in Austria and Germany on research programs and student exchanges.

The agreements with Austria’s Graz University of Technology  (TU Graz) and Germany’s Leibniz University (LUH) in Hannover provide new opportunities for WSU faculty and students to gain international experience and engagement, a goal outlined in WSU’s strategic plan goals, said Joseph Iannelli, associate dean of international programs for WSU’s Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture. Iannelli is also the executive director of WSU Tri-Cities’ School of Engineering & Applied Sciences.

Iannelli
Iannelli

“These collaborations aim to strengthen the programs of the participating institutions, providing synergies that can advance research and educational programs more effectively and swiftly than each institution could do on its own,” said Iannelli. “The strategic directions and grand challenge research areas of these two universities reflect those of WSU.”

Agreements with European Union (EU) universities also allow WSU to compete for EU support for research and exchange programs through the EU’s ERASMUS+ program.

Erasmus+ is the EU’s program to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. Its budget of €14.7 billion provides opportunities to more than 4 million Europeans to study, train, gain experience and volunteer abroad.

WSU has recently received ERASMUS+ support through its collaboration with the Technology University of Dresden, one of only eleven German universities of excellence.

Austria’s Graz University of Technology University
Leibniz Universität Hannover

Founded in 1811, TU Graz is the oldest science and technology research and educational institution in Austria. The university focuses on the development of intensive collaborations not only with leading peer universities, but also with business and industry and conducts leading research in advanced materials science; human and biotechnology; information, communication and computing; mobility and production; sustainable systems; and timber engineering.

This university’s timber engineering research, in particular, reflects a similar program in VCEA’s Composite Materials & Engineering Center, whose director and timber engineering faculty look forward to collaborating with TU Graz.

Austria’s Graz University of Technology University
Austria’s Graz University of Technology University

Leibniz University, founded in 1831, is one of the largest and oldest science and technology university in Germany and one of nine leading German institutes of technology. The university is known for its research in quantum optics and gravitation physics; production technology; biomedical engineering, energy, plant science and nutrition, and geo and environmental sciences.

The university is a member of the Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research and sponsors the German National Library of Science and Technology, the world’s largest science and technology library.

 

Contact:

  • Joseph Iannelli, associate dean of international programs for WSU’s Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, and executive director of WSU Tri-Cities’ School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, 509-335-4720, joseph.iannelli@wsu.edu 

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