At this kick-off event which was the first edition of a future EU4Dual event series for industry and business partners, leading company and industry representatives, graduates of FH JOANNEUM dual study programs, and program directors of dual programs discussed the advantages, disadvantages, and future needs of dual higher education. Essential questions that were analyzed included:
- How can students, companies, and regions alike benefit from joint theoretical and practical training?
- What benefits do companies gain from getting involved in training and continuing education?
- What makes it difficult for companies to take on students?
In addition, our two new EU4Dual Joint Master’s programs, “Digital and Sustainable Manufacturing Engineering” and “Green Economy and Sustainable Future,” which will start in the winter semester 2026/2027, were presented to the companies.
Our keynote speaker Georg von Falck, who is responsible for dual education at AVL as Deputy Skill Area Manager, confirmed that dual university studies are definitely a unique selling point in Austria. He sees the advantage for companies in the fact that they can actively participate in the design of the degree program, that the program enables agile learning, and that dual studies enable the implementation of targeted projects for the company and the region.
The necessity of upskilling students in order to increase the competitiveness of graduates and thus of Austria as a location, as well as the urgency of establishing flagship projects for the region, was repeatedly emphasized. The personal benefits that students gain from dual education were also highlighted several times.
Student Julia Bachschweller raved about how dual higher education, i.e., the combination of two learning locations, gives you “the best of both worlds” and provides you with tools that you would not get at one location alone. As an example, she mentioned that it is only during training in a company that you learn what teamwork, conflict management, and how to behave professionalley towards managers in the real world really mean.
Georg von Falck also emphasized this, as in his experience, dual students are always on an equal footing with the employees in the company. And this is precisely what makes dual students future role models and graduates who can be immediately deployed in valuable roles within the company and entrusted with responsible tasks.
Nevertheless, dialogue between universities and companies has also been emphasized as an important measure, as many companies are currently struggling with difficult staffing conditions due to the industrial crisis and often wish to see improved media exploitation of the potential of dual study programs and a joint exchange of knowledge on transformation topics. This makes it all the more important to remain in constant communication in order to adapt future dual study programs at FH JOANNEUM—such as the new EU4Dual Joint Masters—and possible cooperation formats to the needs of business partners.
Background:
FH JOANNEUM has been part of the European University Alliance EU4Dual since 2023. The university alliance consists of nine universities across Europe.
EU4Dual’s vision is to become the world’s largest dual university, where universities, industry, and regions work together to jointly train tomorrow’s top performers.
