Wine Campus Neustadt receives EU funding for new career-integrated Master's degree program
The Wine Campus Neustadt is receiving funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for a period of three years to develop and implement a new Master's degree program in Viticulture and Enology. The new course is integrated into a professional career and will be run in cooperation with the Université de Haute-Alsace in Colmar (France).
The funding is part of the Interreg Upper Rhine program. In total, the Wine Campus Neustadt* (consisting of the Rural Area Service Center (DLR) Rheinpfalz as the project sponsor and the universities of Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern and Bingen) together with the Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) will receive co-financing of around 1.7 million euros for the period from 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2026. "The funding will enable us to create an innovative range of courses that will allow students to combine their studies and careers," says course director Prof. Dr. Lena Keller. "This benefits both the students and the companies. The former because they are paid during their studies and expand their professional network. The latter, because in times of a shortage of skilled workers, they have the opportunity to attract and retain skilled workers in the long term. In addition, innovative developments in the companies are systematically driven forward by the students."
Cross-border Master of Viticulture & Enology (MoVE)
The Franco-German career-integrated Master of Viticulture & En ology (MoVE) is currently being developed by the two universities and will start in the winter semester 2024/2025 as a Master of Science with a double degree. It aims to train managers for the wine industry who will be able to support companies in the wine industry in the long term in overcoming current challenges (sustainability, new grape varieties, energy costs, adaptation strategies to EU regulations to reduce the use of pesticides, e-commerce, digitalization, competitiveness and globalization). The program takes place in both countries (at the Wine Campus Neustadt and at the UHA), alternating between work phases in the company (in Germany, France and Switzerland) and study phases. Students have the opportunity to be paid by the company for the entire duration of their studies (24 months). "MoVE thus serves to retain employees in times of a shortage of skilled workers and is an important measure to secure the future of companies in the wine industry in the Upper Rhine region. In addition, students receive a degree from both universities, learn the language and culture of the partner country and acquire intercultural skills. This makes the course unique," says the course director.
Bringing companies in the Upper Rhine wine industry together
At the same time, the project partners are working on establishing a cross-border network of companies in Germany, France and Switzerland, which will continuously contribute to improving the career-integrated courses on offer and host students during their studies. The transfer between science and practice will be promoted by an "Enterprise Wiki" as part of this network. The planned Enterprise Wiki is a web-based platform for the exchange of experience and documentation of practical reports and Master's theses, which is intended to provide a networking platform for companies in addition to the continuous transfer of knowledge from student research projects. Cross-border networking will thus develop contemporary solutions through targeted exchange and thus create a market advantage for the Upper Rhine region.
Picture credits: Stephan Presser Photography
