Professor Bresser, who would benefit by attending the information session on January 19?

The four-hour program is designed especially for refugees interested in enrolling in degree programs in business administration or economics. Together with colleagues and student assistants, I will describe all the bachelor's and master's programs at the School of Business and Economics. We also provide information about numerous other activities, such as the fact that the students have many opportunities while they are still studying to get to know potential employers – for example, through our vacancy postings or seminars with professionals who share their work experiences with students.

You already offered a similar information session during the summer semester. How did it go?

It was very well attended. There seems to be a great deal of interest among refugees to study business administration and economics. Manuela Kasper, the spokesperson for the management of the School of Business and Economics, is very committed to reaching out to refugees. She asked me, if I would like to organize the information sessions. I was very happy to do that because English is easy for me, and I have always been involved in integrating students, for example, after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

How did that come about?

At the time of the fall of the Wall, I was living in the United States. I returned to Berlin because of the reunification of Germany. At Freie Universität I advised many students who came from East Germany, Russia, or other former Soviet states, and I liked doing that. Of course, it is difficult to compare the immigrant groups back then with the refugees groups now. Due to digitalization, the refugees now, for example from Syria or Iraq, have completely different ways of informing themselves and learning online. In the information session during the summer semester, we dealt with the issue of getting credit for online courses that refugees completed through the Internet. Many of them do not want to sit around idly and wait; they take the initiative to find opportunities through the computer.

What do you advise refugees who wish to study at Freie Universität?

It is crucial to learn German. That is a prerequisite for studying business and economics at our school. It doesn't matter that some classes are held in English and that a lot of the required literature is in English. We also advise potential students to ignore the restrictions of numerus clausus and to apply anyway. It is also a good idea to apply at other universities too, in case they are not accepted right away at Freie Universität.

The interview was conducted by Annika Middeldorf.