A delegation from the Helmut Schmidt University (HUS) visited the National University of Public Service 13-15 December 2017. The delegation was led by Prof. Dr. Klaus Beckmann accompanied by Dr. Martin Nassua, International Director.
The foundation of HSU comes from the then current defence minister Helmut Schmidt and it was founded to train officers for the German Federal Army, the Bundeswehr. Education started in 1973, and originally only officers and officer cadets could study there, but since 2002, HSU also accepts a limited number of civilian students. Currently, there are 2500 students at HSU, 900 staff, of whom there are 90 professors.
HSU has 4 faculties, including a faculty of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, humanities and social studies, as well as a faculty of economics and social studies. Two Hungarian students also studied at HSU in the middle of the 1990’s.
Similarly to NUPS – where officer cadets who study at the Faculty of Military Sciences and Officer Training also serve in the Ludovika Battalion of the Hungarian Defence Forces – there is also a regimental level unit in Hamburg, led by a colonel. This unit can be divided into three battalions – according to their studies and led by a lieutenant-colonel – which in turn can by divided into 6-8 companies led by captains.
Next to the familiarities, there are also some differences between the two institutions. Students in Hamburg receive a civilian degree and are educated in trimesters. There is no such military socialization during their studies like in Hungary, and they barely have trainings. The military unit organization is more symbolic and the unit leaders serve more like mentors than military leaders. Another difference is that university students get promoted to the rank of lieutenant during their studies, and finish their last year in this rank.
During the meeting, the German partner expressed that they would like to formulate a bilateral HSU-NUPS agreement. This is further helped by the fact that the leader of the delegation, Prof. Dr. Klaus Beckmann has taught here at the Andrássy University Budapest, and served as general vice-rector of this institution between 2003-2006. Prof. Dr. Beckmann is still a thesis supervisor in the interdisciplinary doctoral school of Andrássy University Budapest. Taking into consideration of the mutual interest of both universities, the following topics were discussed during the course of the meeting: providing opportunities for publication for academics of HSU in NUPS’ scientific journals, or the foundation of a joint journal (HSU currently does not have an academic journal), the organization of joint, thematic conferences and the publication of conference publications, publication of other joint and thematic materials, and the development of both academic staff mobility as well as researcher mobility with scholarships.
Following the meeting Prof. Dr. Beckmann then held a lecture for the students of the Senior Leadership Training Course at the Faculty of Military Sciences and Officer Training.
