Students from left to right and upper to down row: Mirjam Kiss, Hortense L’Hostis, Julie Kleinhans, Ioana Florentina Dunca, Catalin Burtea, İmran Semanur Arpacı, Bendegúz Papp, Judith Wahl, Simone Cirelli, Mehmet Aksu, Vagisha Aggarwal, Sergio Degeanu and Alba Caballero
Student engagement in EELISA is crucial: not only when it comes to participating in mobility activities and courses, but also in further developing and improving the Alliance itself.
From November 14 to 15 the EELISA Student Council met at PSL and ENPC in Paris to discuss the future development of EELISA and how to engage and connect students better in the project. The Student Council debated key issues, such as the enlagement of the Alliance, student mobility or interdisciplinarity among faculties beyond engineering.
Also two chairs of the Student Council were elected to represent the EELISA students perspective – for example in the Governing Board, which took place at the same time in Paris: one of them is Judith Wahl from FAU.
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Q. How was the Student Council meeting?
A. It was great to see the other student representatives again in person! However, it was challenging to warmly welcome and onboard the new members of the council and at the same time discuss topics we had worked on and move forward quickly in the short time we had. I think it is essential that we have in-person meetings at least once a year because it creates a feeling of community among the council members and strengthens our collaboration and support for each other.
Q. What motivates you to be engaged in the EELISA Student Council?
A. I like connecting students from universities across Europe and creating more opportunities for them to gain international and interdisciplinary experience. I am also very glad that the Student Council is involved in the whole governance structure of EELISA, and the voice of the students is widely appreciated.
Q. What is your role as a student representative? And what is the best part of this job?
A. As EELISA student representative of FAU, I try to represent the diversity of FAU and its many faculties in the Student Council, and I support the creation and promotion of opportunities to engage in EELISA for FAU students. For example, FAU students can apply for scholarships for seasonal schools in Pisa or Madrid, join the FAU EELISA student group or participate in the student community “Metaverse & Sustainability” which I initiated. The best part about being a student representative is the insight into university politics and the many interesting people I get to meet!
Q. What are your visions as Student Council for Phase 2 of the project? What are you most looking forward to?
A. For phase 2, we hope that many more students from all over the Alliance get to travel to the partner institutions for conferences, community activities, seasonal schools and more! Interdisciplinarity and international experience can enrich all students’ curriculum. Also, we would love to support the cooperation with external companies and offer internships to EELISA students. In the governing board we expressed our wish to add more universities to the Alliance.