On Monday 3rd April 2023, a delegation from DAAD headquarters consisting of Dr. Christian Hülshörster, the head of division for scholarship programs Southern hemisphere, and Mr. Christian Strowa, the head of division knowledge exchange and network, visited the Institute of Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology at the University of Duhok. The aim of this visit was to know more about the funded projects by DAAD, and to strengthen the collaboration with the University of Duhok.
Dr. Lokman Hadi, the Vice President of the University of Duhok for Scientific Affairs, Dr. Rund Hammoudy, the Director of the International Relations Office at the University of Duhok and Dr. Bohar Suleiman, the Vice President of the Institute of Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology, welcomed the delegation and expressed their gratitude for their continued support.
Dr. Lokman, began the meeting by introducing the University of Duhok, its history and activities to the delegation. Dr. Rund Hammoudy, talked about the international collaboration with the University of Duhok. She said: “I want to take this opportunity to thank you, DAAD has really changed the profile of our university because of their consistent support. We currently have 10 projects funded by DAAD.” Dr. Rund added that DAAD is the key player of the three projects that University of Duhok is always proud of. She also explained three projects to the delegation, the first one is the joint bachelor degree program in spatial planning with TU Dortmund University, which was established in June, 2007 with the aim to provide the Kurdistan Region with highly qualified spatial planners with different academic backgrounds to cater for the myriad of needs of the people of Kurdistan, and to keep a sustainable development transcending into a modern society of the 21st century. The second project is biomedical engineering. This program is a double degree undergraduate program with Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen University of Applied Science (THM), which allows students to study 3 years and a half at the University of Duhok and 6 months placement and internship in Germany, THM. The last project is the Institution of Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology which was established in 2014. This program is three-year Master degree in Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology. The aim is to teach and train the Master students to support the local mental health services with clear long-term goals.
After that, Dr. Bohar talked about the IPP and thanked them for extending the contract until 2026. Mr. Ibrahim Khalil Musa, the Admin Officer at IPP gave a presentation on the IPP project activities from the beginning year of its establishment until the current year. Mr. Ibrahim said that “So far, 49 students have graduated from IPP. The alumni are privileged to work in different fields including IPP Clinic, Health departments, organizations, Private Sector and the University of Duhok.”
The delegation showed their gratitude to the good achievements of the projects, Dr. Christian Hülshörster said “IPP project outstanding achievements were discussed in the German Parliament. So, the politics in our country acknowledges the importance of this institution.”
At the end of the meeting, the delegation discussed the sustainability of the IPP project in the University after the contract is completed in 2026, Dr. Lokman said “We always take the issue of sustainability seriously after the completion of the fund; therefore, we believe it is required to prepare some university staff for PhD in order to run the program after the project completion.” From its side, the delegation will work with the University of Duhok to give opportunity to the university PhD students to get scholarship in Germany for studying the psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology field.
UOD Media; April 4th 2023
Report: Firmesk Haso
Photo: Hussein Titimi