Programme Details
My Name is Lilli Lechner (lilli.lechner@stud.th-rosenheim.de), I am studying Management and Engineering (Faculty Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen) in my hometown Rosenheim. Shortly before the start of my 4th semester, I took part in the BIP “Sustainable Self: Biohacking for Life-Work Synergy” at Skoda Auto University in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic. It lasted for one week from the 9th till the 13th of September with two additional online sessions.
Preparation
I saw the program on the TH Rosenheim website and decided to apply. I only had to fill out one Application Form and got selected to join the program. I had to apply for Erasmus+ at the International Office in Rosenheim and pay a 70 € fee for the program to SAU (Skoda Auto University).
Accommodation
The International Coordinator of SAU asked me if I want to stay in the dorms, so I had accommodation by only writing one e-mail. It cost 18 € per night and it was an apartment for 4 but only me and one other girl were staying there.
Study at the Host University
The program started on a Monday at 8:45 am. The first day was mostly lectures and a visit to the Skoda office, where the Skoda Health Department presented us with the challenge that we had to do for this program. Afterwards we had a lovely welcome dinner. In the following days we formed groups of six and worked on the challenge.
The professors held short lectures from time to time and assigned us exercises that would help us with our teamwork. On the last day we held our final presentation in front of two Skoda employees and the professors.
After the lectures we had lots of social activities. For example, a tour through a local brewery, bowling and the Skoda Museum. I made lots of friends, especially with my Israeli roommate. It was amazing to spend time with so many different people from different countries and study courses.
Everyday Life and Leisure
Mladá Boleslav, or as I like to call it: Skoda town, is dominated by, you guessed it, Skoda. Half of the area of the city is claimed by the Skoda Factory and office buildings. ¾ of the working population work for Skoda. There is not much to see except for nice cafés and restaurants.
But food is all we cared about after these long days at the university, so we didn’t mind.
Conclusion
The program was much better than I expected! The community we, the participants, formed after just one week was amazing. I had so much fun just talking with my new friends and working together on one project. And, this weird industrial city has conquered my heart. I definitely recommend doing a short program and I definitely want to do more of these during my studies in Rosenheim.
Download Lilli Lechner’s report