International Student Week in Ilmenau, ISWI 2009

Right Now!

About 350 students from all over the world participated in the ISWI 2007 and discussed about "Education". This meeting was very successful. The Ilmenau University of Technology is proud to be the host for a successful student conference in 2009. A lot of interesting workshops will be held in order to give you the chance to have fruitful discussions, to establish new contacts and to get an insight into current problems. I look forward to welcome you to Ilmenau in May 2009! - Professor Peter Scharff, Rector of the Ilmenau University of Technology


By MARKO ANDREJIC
from Belgrade, SERBIA


60 years have gone by since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been approved and announced by the general assembly of the United Nations. Now, it is the time for looking back on what has been achieved through those years. A great deal of work has been done to raise consciousness of human rights, actively exercise them and defend them even under adverse conditions. Human rights are a subject that has found its way into many school curricula. Also various human rights organisations have been founded and are fighting for the preservation and enforcement of specific rights. At political level, institutions have been established which monitor and ensure adherence to human rights - the United Nations, the European Court of Justice for Human Rights in Strasbourg and the International Court of Justice in Den Haag.

Some goals have been reached but there is still much left to be done and to attain a long-lasting effect there has to be a continuous dialogue about and constant action for human rights. For this reason, organizers of International Student Week in Ilmenau - ISWI 2009 have decided to make the "Human Rights" the main topic of the 9th conference.

Professor Peter Scharff, Rector of the Ilmenau University of Technology says that the aim of ISWI is to provide a platform where students, scientists and outstanding experts from all over the world can meet and exchange their ideas, opinions and visions.

- Young people with different origins, diverse cultural backgrounds and various religions will get to know each other and present their points of view on important topics and current problems. Similar to all the previous Student Weeks there is a central topic the conference is linked with. In 2009, the motto is "Right now!" and the focus is set upon Human Rights. Many different aspects of the main topic are discussed and especially current global issues are taken into consideration - explains Prof. Scharff and reminds of previous conferences:

- About 350 students from all over the world participated in the ISWI 2007 and discussed about "Education". This meeting was very successful. Many challenges to the young generation have been pointed out and the need for international cooperation has become clear to everyone. The Ilmenau University of Technology is proud to be the host for a successful student conference in 2009. A lot of interesting workshops will be held in order to give you the chance to have fruitful discussions, to establish new contacts and to get an insight into current problems. The discourse will be supported by acknowledged experts from all over the world. I look forward to welcome you to Ilmenau in May 2009!

The ISWI is a conference that attaches high importance to the thematic work. There are different ways to deal with this topic, e.g. there are lectures, debates, workshops and presentations. But the main part of the thematic work of ISWI 2009 will be the group work - 25 groups that deal with certain aspects of the central topic, consisting of 15 to 20 participants. At the beginning of the group work or during the week, a lecture will be given on every topic by an expert.

Application deadline is January 15th and in your application you can choose your favourite three work groups (WG). Because of the big amount of applications it may be that your first choice unfortunately cannot be considered. But the organizers try their best to fulfil the wishes. Also, you can get involved in discussions focussing on the topics even before ISWI through the official website.

Please, visit their homepage for more information - www.iswi2009.org.


(Published: 10.01.2009.)