An interview with Bashar Almazrawi from the German Jordanian UniversityComparing and Contrasting two University Systems

12 October 2023

Photo: UHH/Kunze

Bashar Almazrawi is visiting the Faculty of Education on a Staff Exchange from the German Jordanian University from September 23rd to October 20th. He is an International Projects Coordinator handling the financial and administrative auditing of International projects in the International Projects Office at GJU and wishes to get an insight into the management of international projects and funding at Universität Hamburg.

The international office has arranged a diverse program for Mr. Almazrawi, which included the participation in the Network Conference from 25-29th of September as well as meetings with project managers at the faculty and colleagues from the university’s central administration.

We spoke to Bashar about his first weeks and the upcoming program.

Hello Bashar, thank you for taking your time to speak to us. How has your first weeks in Hamburg been and what was your first impression of the city and university?

It is my first time in Hamburg and Germany and so far, I love the city. The greenery and architecture are so different from Amman. When walking through all the parks and past the wonderful buildings, it feels like walking through a work of art! I find myself getting lost in the many streets and stumbling upon old buildings and statues and so much history that further compels me to learn more about the areas I walk through.

I was lucky to attend the Network conference in my first week here and even though I am not from the Teacher Education background myself, everyone was very pleasant and I was able to have interesting conversations and interactions. Also, all the university staff was very welcoming and friendly, so I feel like I have already made many connections.

Additionally, I was also lucky enough to be in Hamburg for the German Unity Day celebrations, which were interesting to see.

Can you explain to us what the purpose of your visit to the Faculty of Education is and what are you excited for about your visit?

On a professional level, I came to Hamburg to be able to gain insight into the administrative processes at one of GJU's partner universities to gain inspiration for my own and my team’s work at home. After working at GJU for three years, I am very familiar with its administrative processes and would like to change perspectives to see if there are possibilities for changing and improving the current way of working by learning from a university that has been working on these matters for a long time. It is interesting to compare and contrast our systems and to exchange ideas with colleagues who do similar jobs as me.

I am going to meet with colleagues from the International Office of the University to speak about funding acquisition and funding distribution in international projects as well as with colleagues from the financial department who are in charge of external funding management. At the faculty of Education, I will meet with colleagues who manage international programs. Many have also offered to take me along to meetings and events outside the regular working hours, like choir practices and other musical events, as it is an area of interest of mine.

On a personal level, I have wanted to travel to Germany for a while. Europe was high on my list as it is so easy to travel and see various places. Originally, I was planning on travelling quite a bit around Europe. However, now that I am in Hamburg, I am excited to stay here and explore the city further. I wish to see the Elbphilharmonie and hear some concerts, visit museums and just keep getting to know Hamburg more.

 And maybe to sum up your plans for your time here: What will you have achieved when you go home?

Professionally, I wish to complete a small but detailed case study on the differences in the financial and administrative processes between GJU and UHH and to give some concrete ideas to the team at GJU on how to best learn from how things are done at UHH. But I hope to also give some new ideas to colleagues here at UHH.

On a personal level, I hope to have seen a lot of Hamburg by the end of my stay and to have a better understanding of whether I would like to come back to Germany to start my PhD at some point in the future.

Contact Info:

Email: bashar.almazrawi"AT"gju.edu.jo

GJU Website: www.gju.edu.jo