Teaching

The professional field orientation PR is offered annually at the beginning of the winter semester for students of the 3rd semester in the Bachelor's programme Applied Media and Communication Studies and runs over two semesters. In the first half of the seminar, students receive an initial insight into the professional field of public relations from their seminar leaderElisabeth Wagner-Olfermann, and learn about relevant methods and instruments that they will need in PR practice. Step by step, they practice how to develop a successful PR concept using examples, write their first press releases and listen to guest lectures by PR professionals who report on their career paths and everyday professional life, impart additional know-how and give the students important tips along the way.

In the second half of the seminar, students apply what they have learned and put it into practice. They set up junior agencies and develop strategic communication concepts for two real clients from the region, which they present in a celebratory PR pitch at the end of the seminar. They work here very independently and under real conditions (real assignment, given budget, time pressure) and are actively supported by their lecturer and, since 2018, also by Ninette Pett, founder and business owner of the first specialized consultancy for strategic communication management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) "MITTKOM".

In the past, the seminar participants have already been able to inspire numerous different clients such as the Thuringian Climate Agency, GB Neuhaus GmbH, Regional Management Kreis Gotha & Ilm-Kreis, Schmitz Cargobull, Flight Design and SAE Schaltanlagenbau Erfurt with their concepts and give them many ideas for PR work to take with them. For the students, the career orientation is an excellent opportunity to gain initial practical experience in their future field of activity and to establish contacts with potential future employers.

The Corona pandemic has massively hampered the cross-border mobility of students. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), together with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is therefore providing short-term funding for the digitization of internationally oriented master's degree programs. To this end, 18 German universities have received a total of around eight million euros until the end of 2022 - including the TU Ilmenau with the highest funding share.

Over the next two years, three existing and successful master's degree programs are to be further developed so that in the future they can be studied purely digitally as well as in person. The research group for Public Relations and Communication of Technology (PRTK) is also involved in the international master's program "Media and Communication Science". In addition to innovative online courses, social virtual reality applications are planned that will allow students to meet in virtual spaces and experience student interaction alongside teaching. Digital-only study will be available for the first time starting in the winter semester of 2021/22. PRTK will primarily offer online seminars on risk and crisis communication and international public relations.

The experience gained from the first cohort will be used to gather long-term expertise for the development of further digital study programs. The flexibilization and digital hybridization of study programs will make the course offerings even more interesting for prospective students from Germany and abroad in the future. PRTK is actively involved in the development of the new online courses and will offer the research module "International Crisis Communication Research" and the seminar "Public Relations in the Context of Globalization" as part of the digital curriculum.

Project start date: January 2021

Project website:https://www.tu-ilmenau.de/vedias

Contact:Elisabeth Wagner-Olfermann