Talentegrate project celebrates its first graduates
FAU, Siemens, adidas and SCHAEFFLER are bringing refugees and companies together
Tackling two major challenges facing today’s society and economy at once. That is the idea behind the “Talentgrate” project. The joint project involving FAU and the companies Siemens, adidas and SCHAEFFLER aims both to integrate people with a refugee background and to take action against the shortage of skilled workers. The first cohort of talents have now received their certificates in a ceremony held in the student cafeteria at Insel Schütt in Nuremberg.
A few impressions from the ceremony
“The first cohort was highly successful and we are very pleased with how the project was implemented in practice,” reports project manager Xenia Mercier from FAU. “We started 18 months ago with 14 talents from Turkey, Syria, Yemen and Ukraine and were able to arrange a permanent position for 11 of them during the internship period.” A second cohort of 15 people began in September 2023, the first of them has already received a permanent position as of February 2024. And a third cohort has already had the opportunity to submit an application. There was great interest in the program in each application round. More than 150 refugees who are academics applied for the 15 internship places in each round.
“Talentegrate” runs for 18 months. During this period, the participants complete a six month internship in each of the three companies Siemens, adidas and SCHAEFFLER.
The first cohort of the Talentegrate program also participated in an accompanying language and intercultural course offered by FAU. This was offered by the Chair of Teaching German as a Second Language led by Prof. Dr. Magdalena Michalak and the Professorship for Business Education led by Prof. Dr. Nicole Kimmelmann. The program includes various components, individual tailored support, project-based mentoring and training courses held during and at the end of the program. Workshops in a variety of different formats were offered to teach transferable methodological skills. In individual sessions tailored to their specific needs, participants in the program received guidance on the German labor market and labor culture.
Further information:
Xenia Mercier
Phone: +49 9131 85 65160