Press release: Welcome Centre opens first regional office

Nr. 47/2018 - 23.02.2018

New offer in the Northeim district – Great interest within the region

(pug) The Welcome Centre serving the Göttingen Campus and the region of Southern Lower Saxony has opened its first ever regional office in the district of Northeim. In front of approximately 100 guests from the fields of business, science and politics, the University of Göttingen, the Southern Lower Saxony Foundation “SüdniedersachsenStiftung” and the district of Northeim presented the joint project during the Economic Dialogue 2018 in Lütgenrode. Other regional offices are planned for Duderstadt, Hann. Münden, Osterode, Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg.

“Thanks to the Northeim Regional Office, professional service offers for companies will now be much more widely spread," explains Northeim’s district administrator Astrid Klinkert-Kittel. “I expect to see great interest within the region. Many companies have already inquired as to when our first offers will begin."

“We hope to develop Southern Lower Saxony into a lighthouse region, promoting a welcoming culture to qualified professionals and management experts", says Professor Hiltraud Casper-Hehne, Vice President for International Affairs at the University of Göttingen and the project’s leader. “With professional support for specialists from Germany, Europe and all around the world, we are counteracting demographic change within the region and opening important new doors for the future.”

Dr. Martin Rudolph, Manager of the Göttingen Office of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and member of the SüdniedersachsenStiftung’s foundation board, needs no convincing: “The University of Göttingen and the SüdniedersachsenStiftung both have many years of experience in assisting newly arriving researchers, scholars and scientists as well as specialists and business executives to the region. Thanks to the comprehensive networking of all stakeholders and the further development of services, we can now optimally advise newcomers.”

The new offers were presented to the guests by the head of the Northeim Regional Office, Petra Becker-Jörns: “If your company features the Welcome Centre in its job advertisements, you can already get in touch with us during the application period," she explains. “We will also help you with job interviews and offer an initial orientation appointment immediately afterwards." The offer includes support in looking for an apartment, a school or finding a place at kindergarten. Assistance is also provided when official business with the bureaucracy is needed. This includes what to do at the registration office, help with visas or any other residency issues and explanations about how the German banking and insurance systems work. In addition to that, language courses as well as social and cultural events are offered. During the project period, the services will be free of charge so as to give companies and professionals the opportunity to try out any of the offers. At the end of the project phase, offers will then be fee-based.

The Welcome Centre of the Göttingen Campus and the region of Southern Lower Saxony is a joint project of the University of Göttingen and the SüdniedersachsenStiftung aimed at welcoming researchers and qualified professionals to Southern Lower Saxony. The project is currently backed by more than 40 partners, including other institutions of higher learning, commercial enterprises, central associations and municipalities from the districts of Göttingen and Northeim as well as the districts themselves. The project will be funded by the state of Lower Saxony until the end of 2019 and should then go into regular operation. Further information is available at www.welcome-to-suedniedersachsen.de.

Contact:
Professor Hiltraud Casper-Hehne
University of Göttingen
Vice President for International Affairs
Wilhelmsplatz 1, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)551 39-13110
Email: hiltraud.casper-hehne@zvw.uni-goettingen.de
Website: www.uni-goettingen.de/en/110984.html