Experience reports from former students

Brianne Altmann (Country of origin: Canada)

"I come from a country that has contemporarily been built on internationalization; therefore, it only seemed logical that I would pursue a program of study with an international focus. Little did I know how international it would be. If there is one thing that I took away from a M.Sc. in International Sustainable Agriculture (SIA), it is my expanded awareness of other countries and their political situations, cultures, and of course climatic and soil conditions; most of which were conveyed by my peers ... "
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"I started my Master’s, Sustainable International Agriculture (SIA), specialization “Tropical Agricultural and Agroecosystems Sciences”, in 2015. In hindsight I can say that I was quite lucky to get the opportunity to study in such an internationally oriented study program. Meeting people from all over the world, learning about their cultures was a very rewarding experience. Of course studying in an international program also comes with some challenges. However, by accepting and overcoming these, one gets the unique chance to improve numerous soft skills such as, intercultural communication, leadership skills and the ability to work in a multicultural team, which are key to a later career in an international working environment ..."
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"Back in 2014, while I was working in the area of environmental economics in Costa Rica, I asked myself a question: how could I gauge sustainable development properly without an in-depth understanding of the sector that provides the essentials for living: the agricultural sector? Fortunately, the solution to this challenge came shortly after. In 2015, I was granted a scholarship by the German Academic Exchange Service (abbreviated DAAD in German) to study the joint master’s degree program “Sustainable International Agriculture” with the specialization in “International Agribusiness and Rural Development”. As part of the master program, I spent the first two semesters at the University of Talca in Chile studying and visiting different agricultural production systems across the country. This experience allowed me to broaden my knowledge in the field of agricultural economics in Latin America ..." Read the whole report.

"One of the most misguided notions of conventional wisdom is depicting that the SIA program is not suited for working in regular companies but rather in research, development agencies, NGOs or in academia. This narrative unfortunately, is echoed by a lot of present and past SIA students. This often prevents SIA students like myself from exploring options outside academia or research. My name is Kofi Barnes, I am in my fourth (4th) semester of the SIA program studying International Agribusiness and Rural Development Economics. I am also currently interning as a Market Intelligence Analyst at BIOMIN Holding GmbH in Austria ..." Read the whole report.

"Every two years, the SIA program offers the most amazing class one could think of: an international study trip. When we started the master degree, we were told that this is one big highlight to look forward to! The older students had been to Myanmar in 2015 and never stopped being thrilled about their experiences. So, in spring 2017 around 20 students from the University of Göttingen and the University of Kassel, including me, joined together with three brave Professors to go on an unforgettable trip to Costa Rica. After a long flight ... " Read the whole report.