First of all, I would like to thank Professor Klaus Riedle for the opportunity to experience being a foreign student, to participate in the scientific activities of the University of Friedrich-Alexander and to carry out scientific work as part of the internship at the Department of Technical Thermodynamics of LTT in the city of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.
This internship didn’t comprise only the extension of work on the master's thesis, but also communication in a foreign language with colleagues at the department, as well as with students at the university. This was a great opportunity to improve skills of conversational English as well as to develop communication skills and gain new information and experience on a daily basis.
I would also like to thank the staff of the LTT and LSTM departments, especially Nicholas Schmidt, Jonas Bollmann, Wojslav Jovichich for professionalism, help and a warm welcome in Germany.
Special thanks to the entire teaching staff of the Department of Energy of High-Temperature Technology for their support in difficult situations during the preparation of documents for the internship in Germany.
Getting started and Tips
It is worth mentioning the beautiful organization of the trip from the German part. You can register in the system Mobility Online that serves like a base for your future enrollment to the University as a student and where you can upload all the necessary documents from the German side.
Before the departure, you are provided with much of all important documents and dates, i.e. meeting with new students, start of the semester and many other useful tips. I recommend you to attend all the meetings because there you can learn more about the University’s life and make useful acquaintances and maybe even friends. The FAU documents themselves are all sent in German and in English as well. However, all the letters received via e-mail are in German, and in many cafes, shops and other common places the German language prevails, so get ready for fun because in English you are not 100% understood.
Upon arrival and getting through all necessary encounters you have a meeting with at the department where you can discuss all the work moments and your schedule.
At the beginning of October you need to make the registration in the city, open a bank account and get the German insurance, which is along with the arrival and departure fees and the Russian insurance is provided by Klaus Riedle Foundation. The same procedure is to be undergone before your departure, 2 weeks in advance you need to sign out and close the bank account.
Hence you are a student of the Friedrich –Alexander University, you have a right to take all the transport using the semester card (you should examine the rules of VGN card), to have cheaper meals in Mensa, the students’ canteen, use the library and to print the papers in the Campus for a reasonable price, all due to the FAU card. In the Campus there are ATM’s to replenish your card, that can be recognized by queues near them.
You can take courses of German for free, starting up from the A1 for which you don’t even need to pass the test. For around 5 euro you can purchase a semester ticket for sport training sessions once a week, but, since there are a lot of students at the University that are willing to take the ticket, you should be very attentive to the registration time because within 15 minutes of it many sport sections are full and you risk to get to the waiting list.
As mentioned above, you can use any means of transport, but the most convenient and cheapest transport for a student in Erlangen is a bicycle. It is very useful to help you avoid the waiting at bus stops. Annually in October there are sales of the bikes where you can choose one for 50 euro.
It is necessary to remember the Traffic Laws, to maintain the bike in order (otherwise you are fined) and to use the bicycle helmet.
I recommend finding out all the upcoming details of paperwork that is required at the Foreign office or by the superiors at the University.
My internship experience at the LTT Department 2019-2020
The story commenced in the end of May 2019, when Nicholas Schmidt told me that I had been chosen as the best candidate for the Department if Technical Thermodynamics LTT. Before this I had to pass two video-interviews with the representatives of the Departments of LTT and LSTM and to undergo a conversation with professor Klaus Riedle at the general meeting with candidates. My scientific work at the department comprised the studying and carrying out the experiments on the device of dehydration of LOHC (Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier). The main goal of the work was the exudation of Hydrogen from the liquid-carrier. For this, the staff of the department specially designed an experimentation device that I could use to conduct the multiple experiments.
During the internship professor Klaus Riedle visited the Department to keep in touch with my working. Around the middle of January, professor Riedle invited Russian students for the simple meal to his place. The meeting was very warm and likeable, leaving the very pleasant impressions in the minds.
MPEI students at the dinner with family of Professor Klaus Riedle
I was living in the Student District of Erlangen on the Erwin-Rommel Street, 61, in a few minutes on foot from the Technical Faculty and a few stations away from the Department and from the City Centre. I was staying in the guest house, in a very charming place, almost in the forest, in a compact and comfortable flat with all the conveniences.
The guest house where I was living and surroundings
Erlangen is very comfortable for living. It is cozy, with all the features for well-being, calm and comfortable. Here you can feel the flow of time. The transport system is very developed. One can get to Nuremberg in 15-20 minutes and have some sightseeing in the historical places. The VGN ticket can be used to get to the small cities like Bamberg, Ansbach, Furth and others. In the beginning of the semester the representatives of FAU give the information about the coming events not far from Erlangen, which can give the excellent chance to see the life of local people.
Erlangen Downtown
During the scientific job at LTT Department I managed to get acquainted with many interesting people, students and teachers. It was interesting to make exchange with foreigners in traditions and lifestyles. Thus, we once organized the dinner in the styles of Russian, German and Korean cuisine with fellow students from Germany and South Korea.
I was learning German at FAU during my semester there on the A1 Compact course. I started right from basics, for free, because of my student status. If you do not skip more than 6 lessons during the semester, you can pass the test and confirm your result by downloading documents form MeinCampus website.
Moreover, you can have the glorious opportunity to make friends from the countries like Egypt, India, Korea, US, Pakistan.
Me, German language professor and our group
Due to my German professor I’m planning to learn German further on.
Conclusion
To crown my report I would like to tell you to imagine the horizons you are thinking about, 6 months of searching for new ideas, living and travelling in Germany. You should understand as well that if you are really focused on the trip, never give up even if you meet some difficulties. Believe in yourself and you will achieve anything you want!