At the 'Youth University' in Bangalore, the Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan is giving students an opportunity to meet with reputed professors from well-known German universities and research institutes, as well as CEOs from German companies. Dr. Anne Renate Schönhagen, Head of the Language Department at the institute, shares more about the initiative that will be a part of the Indo-German Urban Mela in Bangalore.

What can one look forward to at the Youth University and who is it meant for?

As part of the Indo-German Urban Mela, we have a platter of interesting activities related to the language and the culture of Germany. Among the list of activities is the presentation of an exciting and far reaching project, ‘The Urban Mela-Youth University’ with the motto of “Discover Science and Economy’’ in the Cultural Pavilion of the Indo-German Urban Mela from the 25th to 29th of June, 2012 at Palace Grounds, Bangalore. This will be a platform for young, aspiring students between 15 to 24 years of age, to quench their thirst for knowledge about Germany as the land of infinite opportunity and the various facets of the country - the economy and technology.

We seek to give the students an opportunity to meet with renowned professors from well-known universities and research institutes as well as CEOs from the German companies. The youngsters who are expected to flock to this event would come from various technical, medical, management and business backgrounds. We have planned this event from Sunday the 23rd to Friday the 29th June 2012 in three sessions at 11 a.m, 1.30 p.m. and 5.00 p.m.

Is the focus of this initiative on particular universities, or on the stream of courses?

The Youth University will essentially operate in three sections. The first deals with science and research. In the second one, CEOs from German companies will be sharing their experience and the third section deals with the education and research landscape of Germany.

Can students planning to pursue higher education, like a Masters or a Ph.D, also be a part of these interactive sessions with experts?

We have invited the DAAD, 'Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst', also known as The German Academic Exchange Service, to hold career counselling sessions and various Indian Alumni to share their experiences.

Some of the names included in the list of speakers for the programme are Prof. Gabriele Diewald, Vice President Leibnitz University Hannover; Prof. Venu Ittekkot, University of Bremen; Dr. Felix Nitz, CIM Expert; Dr. Gerd Höfner, MD, CEO Siemens SIFL; Hr. Günther Zwickl, CEO, Nokia Siemens; Dr. Enrico Rühle, MD, CEO TÜV and Mr. Amit Chatterjee, CEO, Sartorius.