Ruhr Fellowship Program

The Ruhr Fellowship Program connects highly motivated undergraduate students in the United States with a unique experience to expand their portfolio and networks to one of the most dynamic and technologically advanced areas in Germany. As Germany’s “Cradle of Industry”, the Ruhr Area has come to represent creativity and innovation with its internationally renowned companies, universities, and research institutes. Fellowship awardees participate in a one-month intercultural and language immersion program at the university level followed by a one-month internship with one of Germany’s leading companies located in the Ruhr Area.

The Ruhr Fellowship Program is organized by the Initiativkreis Ruhr GmbH and the universities of the Ruhr Academic Triangle:

The Initiativkreis Ruhr GmbH is supported by more than 70 of the most important and influential companies in the area, such as E.ON, RWE, Siemens, Evonik Industries, ThyssenKrupp, Deutsche Bank, Vaillant, BP Europe, and Deutsche Telekom. Together these companies employ around 2.25 million people worldwide and generate sales of about 630 billion Euros, and their executives make up the Initiativkreis Ruhr as personal members. With future-oriented strategies and real-world concepts, the Initiativkreis relies on the creative strength of its cluster of economic know- how. This cooperative effort yields highly renowned projects for the development of the Ruhr metropolitan area and the industry as a whole.

The University Alliance Ruhr is an alliance of three universities – TU Dortmund University, Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the University of Duisburg-Essen – all located within 20 minutes of one another, along the Ruhr River. This is Germany's largest academic hub and home to 4 Fraunhofer Institutes, 3 Max-Planck Institutes and 18 Collaborative Research Centers selected for funding through the highly competitive DFG (German Research Society) process. The alliance of the three universities brings together over 100,000 students and over 6,000 researchers and professors to create a unique interdisciplinary approach and cutting-edge research opportunities.

Student Story|Tats Daniel, Mathematics & Physics '20

Tats Daniel, Mathematics & Physics '20

Ruhr Fellowship awardee

Taros is looking to enter the 3D printing market. My main task was to do research into the companies around the world currently involved in this market, find out what materials/solutions they supply, and then find out the components of these materials. One of the first things I had to do was to learn the different types of processes of 3D printing. Once I became familiar with the different methods of 3D printing, I did research into the types of materials used in the industry. My focus was on plastics, specifically photopolymers, which change their properties when exposed to light.

When I wasn’t working, I was exploring the surrounding cities, including Essen, Cologne, and Dusseldorf. Some of the activities the Ruhr Fellowship Program organized included an excursion to a lake and a philharmonic concert in Essen. There were 12 Ruhr Fellows, and the other fellows were from UC Berkeley, Penn, Yale, Princeton, and Harvard. (I was the only student from MIT.) In addition to learning about the Ruhr region, it was interesting to hear about other students’ studies at their respective universities. One interesting thing I learned is that the campus-style university is still rather new in Germany, and they are looking into implementing this into more of their universities. One other thing that surprised me was that the Ruhr region is very green with lots of parks and lakes. I had expected the Ruhr region to be very industrial, so to say, but the region is trying to move away from its industrial past through “deurbanization.”

I found several papers I was reading to be interesting – I had a colleague send them to me so that I can read more about photopolymers and their optical properties. While I don’t expect to continue work with Taros directly, I do anticipate a research opportunity in the future that will rely on what I have learned at Taros, both from the technical aspect and the cultural/language aspect.

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Tats Daniel, Mathematics & Physics '20