International Viadrina Ambassadors

What is an International Viadrina Ambassador?

International Viadrina ambassadors are international Viadrina students who return to their former schools to tell the students in their home country about studying and student life at the Viadrina and to answer their questions directly. This helps the students to find their way around and makes it easier for them to get started with student life in Germany.

And what do you get out of it?

As an international Viadrina ambassador, we will reimburse you for part of the travel expenses to your hometown. The preparatory presentation training will also help you during your studies to present in front of an audience in a more relaxed manner - and you will also notice how happy the students are to receive "insider" information about their studies.

How to become an International Viadrina Ambassador?

In order to become an international Viadrina ambassador, you must take part in a workshop that prepares you for the presentation. This workshop consists of two units or training sessions that take place over two days. In the first part, you will receive all important information for the school assignment in an information training course. The second appointment is a presentation workshop where you will be prepared by a professional trainer for your assignment at your school.

I am an international Viadrina ambassador – how do I plan an assignment?

You have taken part in the information training and the presentation training. Now you can start planning your trip home. You can make a bet at any time during the year you were selected. When exactly you make your bet is up to you. It makes sense to combine a home visit to your family during the semester break with an ambassador assignment.

1. First, you get in touch with the coordinator Maria Krug-Firstbrook to find out whether there are currently opportunities to finance an outreach in your home country.
2. As soon as you get the message that you can carry out an ambassador outreach, you should make an appointment with the respective school.
3. If you have the ok from your school, you apply for your fee contract, so called Honorarvertrag. Please send an email to Maria Krug-Firstbrook (botschafter@europa-uni.de) in good time. Please bear in mind that the processing time for your application will take about two to three weeks. So please get in touch by email in good time. In the case of short-term inquiries, unfortunately we cannot guarantee that we can subsidize your travel.
4. As soon as your contract has been issued, we will send you an e-mail and make an appointment with you to sign the contract and pick up your ambassador's bag, which contains information material and forms. If you like, you can also collect material for your commitment (e.g. photos, city maps, course catalogue, etc.) that you personally associate with the Viadrina. This is a way to make your presentation more vivid and lively.
5. Shortly before you start, you should speak to those responsible at your school again to clarify technical questions, among other things. For example, you should clarify whether a projector etc. is available and whether you need to bring your own laptop

How do I conduct my ambassador presentation at the school?

Now that you have prepared as well as possible, the day of your school visit has come. During your visit you will report on studying at the Viadrina and (student) life in Frankfurt (Oder) and in Germany.

We would like to give you a guide with a possible structure for your presentation at school:

1. An icebreaker (5-10 min) at the beginning not only relaxes the atmosphere but also makes you familiar with each other. You can either do a general introduction (name, age, interests) or ask a specific Icebreaker question, e.g. If you could be any animal, what would you be? What would be one thing you couldn't live without? If you could travel anywhere, where would you want to go? If you were stranded on a desert island, what music or band would you like to have with you? If you could have dinner with one person of your choice (from history, politics, film and television - dead or alive) who would it be?
2. The presentation (30-40 min) "Presentation of the Viadrina" is also available to you as a Power Point here in the download area (below). You are welcome to modify it if necessary, but it is important that all important information is included and communicated to the students. You can either give the presentation in German or in your native language.
3. Finally, a round of questions (5-10 minutes) gives the students the opportunity to actively participate again. You can report on your own experiences and give tips and tricks. The students are usually the most grateful for this exchange because they learn from a direct source what it's like to come to Germany.

Please also remember to have the students fill out the participation list (names in Latin letters) and have the teacher sign the cover sheet

What should I do after my school presentation?

After your visit to the school you should write your experience report. You can find a template for this in our download area (below).

As soon as you have returned to Frankfurt (Oder), please make an appointment with us by e-mail (botschafter@europa-uni.de) in order to submit the documents from your assignment.

We need the following documents for the settlement from you:

• completed list of participants,
• cover sheet signed by the teacher,
• your personal report,
• your invoice.

You can find all of these documents in our download area below.

Only if you submit these documents can your fee contract be settled and you will receive your travel allowance.

Here we would like to provide you with important documents and materials:

• Power Point presentation "Presentation of the Viadrina" (09.10.2023)
• Prezi Presentation "Presentation der Viadrina (View Link Prezi)
• Cover sheet for the teacher to sign für die Lehrkraft
• List of participants to fill out for the students
• Brief information on the BIDS newsletter (for questions from students)

• Invoice Blanko
• Field report international Viadrina ambassadors

• Ambassador Fee Contract Form (to be sent by e-mail BEFORE the assignment so that the fee contract can be applied for)
• Collection of testimonials 2021
• Travel expenses overview (by country) (11.03.2022)