Across the Atlantic: UNB Guest Lecture Opens Doors to a Semester Abroad

Nhu Trieu, Director of the Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), visited the students’ Intercultural Communication (ICC) and Business English classes.

In her talk, Ms Trieu introduced students to Canadian culture and presented UNB, which has become a strategic partner of Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS). She pointed out the opportunities for H-BRS students to apply for a semester abroad at UNB. She also gave a brief insight into her own work as an academic and facility director. Her research background spans molecular and developmental biology, and she is responsible for the strategic direction, operation and budget of an open-access, interdisciplinary research facility.

The students, in turn, presented the ideas for sustainable start-ups that they are developing over the course of the semester, and considered whether these ideas could succeed in the Canadian context. This gave them the chance to apply their intercultural and business English skills in a realistic, international setting.

Eileen Küpper from the Language Centre commented: „For students at an early stage of their studies, such encounters are particularly valuable. They offer a first-hand account of an academic system and culture beyond Germany, encourage students to question their own assumptions, and show concrete routes to international experience through our partnerships. My colleague Kerri Vernon and I thank Ms Trieu for her visit and look forward to the continued collaboration with UNB”.