 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Institute of
International Education
809 United Nations Plaza
7th Floor
New York, NY 10017
USA
Tel: +1 (212) 984 5367
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Professional Leadership: The International Dimension |
|
|
|
|
|
By Steffen Mehlich
"Looking back, I am surprised at how the year as a German Chancellor Scholar changed my life. Having spent some time in Germany already, I hadn't anticipated how the camaraderie and sense of attachment that I would develop for our diverse group of Russian and U.S.-American fellows would shape my experience over the year. As a fellow I was able to curate my first full-fledged exhibition and to publish a catalogue volume with it. These are both tremendous milestones in my scholarship and my academic career…"
With these words, Elizabeth, a young historian of art from New York, begins her reflections on a year-long experience of living and working in Germany within the framework of the German Chancellor Scholarship Program offered by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The Foundation is named after the universal genius and cosmopolitan, Alexander von Humboldt, who had a deep understanding of foreign mentalities and cultures, and it is in this spirit that the Foundation has been promoting scientific and scholarly exchange across national boundaries for more than 50 years.
The range of projects and perspectives in the German Chancellor Scholarship Program furnishes abundant material for interesting reading. The personal essays about the stay in Germany, which have become known as Reflections and are available to an interested public on the Internet under http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/programme/stip_aus/buka.htm not only describe individual studies, but also convey a vivid impression of the challenges of living in another country and culture. Despite the vast variety of their projects, quite a few of the scholars share similar experiences: studying the new language, adjusting to a German “everyday routine,” realizing the similarities and differences between the German culture and their own. As a result, the scholars' perception of the country has undergone a far-reaching development.
In 1990 the German Chancellor Scholarship Program was inaugurated under the patronage of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to promote the transatlantic partnership between Germany and the United States. Every year since then, a group of ten U.S. scholars has spent a year in Germany for career development coupled with study or research. More than a decade after its inception, the German Chancellor Scholarship Program has undergone a significant change: On the initiative of the former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the Russian President Vladimir Putin, it has been expanded to include scholars from the Russian Federation. For the first time, in 2002, the future leaders from the Russian Federation joined the ten scholars from the U.S. Just a few weeks ago, newly elected German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to extend the program and to include another ten scholars from the People's Republic of China, thus widening the range of intercultural experience into a trilateral, American-Russian-Sino challenge taking place in a fourth country.
The German Chancellor Scholarship Program concentrates on fostering the relations between the countries involved, focusing on the generation of "future leaders." The Humboldt Foundation awards ten scholarships annually to applicants from each country, bringing together a group of 20 young, ambitious scholars—30 starting in 2006. During a one-year stay at a German university, research institute, or other institution in the public or private sector, the scholars receive the opportunity to further their professional development. German Chancellor Scholars come from a broad range of backgrounds. Among them are academics and professionals with bachelor's, master's, or other degrees from fields such as business, environmental studies, social and political sciences, law, and the arts and humanities. The selection of scholars is based not only upon excellence in their respective fields but also on their "leadership potential." German Chancellor Scholars are expected to become leaders in their fields of endeavour. In fact, many alumni now hold prestigious positions in public administration, government, law, the arts, academia, and journalism.
What are the goals of this program from the point of view of its participants? One scholar, Justin, observed, "The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, its selection committee and I jointly intended change, but offering up twenty pieces of malleable Russian and American clay to 80 million German potters comes with decided risk, and I, at least, miscalculated their eventual handiwork. I got something more". Sharing his "post-mortem accounting against the goals of the BuKa program", this computer engineer and Ph.D. candidate in business and public policy at the University of California-Berkeley, summarizes his personal experience: "Worded perhaps more cautiously in advertising brochures, the BuKa [a contraction of the German "Bundeskanzler", i. e. German Chancellor] program gambles annually on twenty foreign, high-strung, but high-potential, greenhorn academics and professionals that, ultimately, a few 1) climb to leadership positions in their respective fields and homelands to make 2) pro-German decisions from said heights. And 3), to frame the experience in a career-long context, Stipendiaten engage in research of their choosing.”
Requirements for the application are an academic degree (at least a bachelor's degree), citizenship of one of the participating countries, evidence of leadership qualities in their previous academic and professional achievements, and a career plan that emphasizes international cooperation. One of the frequently asked questions is certainly that about how scholars are eventually selected. Here a specific characteristic of the organizing principle of the Humboldt Foundation comes into play. The Foundation, established and funded by the German government, is nonetheless recognized as an independent body according to German private law. Understandably, the government has its representative and a vote in the board of governors, which discusses and decides the basic policy of the Foundation. Selection decisions, however, that is, whom to choose as scholars in the various programs, are made exclusively by independent selection committees composed of eminent experts from a broad range of fields in academia, public and private administration, and elsewhere. The German Chancellor Scholarship Program operates in the same way. Its selection committees assess excellence and leadership potential by analyzing a thoroughgoing application document, supplemented by personal interviews conducted by the selection committee members with the top 20 candidates. And indeed, it frequently happens that the first, paper-based impression is turned into a quite different—more or, sometimes, less favorable—judgment after those interviews.
To enable the scholars to benefit as much as possible from their stay, the Foundation has designed a very special program. After selection, the newly selected scholars join the most recently returning scholars at an orientation meeting. In May and in June 2006, these meetings took place in Moscow and in Columbus, Ohio. They provide an appropriate platform to explore first-hand experiences of living in Germany and to cultivate a network of long-lasting professional contacts. The participation in the orientation of recently returning scholars from the United States in Russia and from Russia in the United States has offered the invaluable opportunity to address the intercultural dynamics of this bi-national group.
Applicants do not have to be proficient in German. Immediately after being selected for the program, however, the scholars are asked to undertake the appropriate language training in their home country in order to learn German or to improve their knowledge of it. Language training continues in Germany prior to the start of the scholarship. During a four-week introductory seminar, the scholars familiarize themselves with the social, political, cultural, economic and historical structures in Germany. They are offered the chance to meet important public figures and discuss various issues with them. Following the introductory seminar, the scholars work on their individual projects for eleven months. This period of study and research is interrupted by a two-week study-tour of Germany – and a visit to Brussels – which is tailored specifically to the interests of each new group. The highlight of the year is the meeting with the German Chancellor towards the end of the scholarship.
Is this then going to be the end of the BuKa "story"? Not at all, the Humboldt Foundation is generally renowned for its truly long-term commitment to form and support long-lasting international networks. After the initial scholarship stay has ended, the Foundation offers follow-up opportunities that allow scholars to return to Germany to maintain contact with their German colleagues. Renewed project-related work in Germany, participation in conferences, short-term visits, and invitations to German colleagues to visit the home countries of former scholars are just a few examples of what the Foundation offers and supports financially. Additional sponsorship within the framework of the "Humboldt Kolleg" initiative aims at strengthening regional and interdisciplinary networking among alumni. The Kolleg Program also introduces the next generation of young academics and professionals to the programs of the Foundation. These worldwide networking activities are backed up by a unique web-based address book, Humboldt Network Online, limited to the members of the Humboldt network, which supports queries by discipline, keyword, and address worldwide. The Humboldt Network Online also allows Humboldtians to update their personal profile and to enter or search for bibliographical data for publications in the electronic library Bibliographia Humboldtiana that result from the study and research in Germany.
Alumni of the German Chancellor Scholarship Program represent a very active part of the global Humboldt network, which consists of more than 23,000 scientists and scholars. They have established their own alumni organizations in the U.S. and Russia, contributing, apart from other networking activities, to the promotion of the program in their professional communities. There is all reason to say that these young people return to their home countries as "ambassadors" for Germany – and, foremost, for their own program.
The German Chancellor Scholarship provides for the opportunity to "see through the eyes of others", as U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright once described the greatest benefit of participating in the Rhode Scholarship. Justin, the computer engineer and scholar of business, expressed a similar thought. “The BuKa experience revealed to me a small section of the world hitherto obscured. . . . . The experience has expanded my reach and opened ways to extend it even further. . . . The experience was little that I expected, but all that it should have been . . . gritty and polishing, the stuff that leaders are made of.”
Dr. Steffen Mehlich is head of the Sponsorship and Network Department at the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung/Foundation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
