UNIGIS Kraków 2013 – 10th intake

The already 10^th intake of UNIGIS students in Kraków has started its distance learning program in GIS&T. These students joined more than 200 UNIGIS distance learners at the Jagiellonian University, who during these ten years decided to broaden their GIS&T professional qualifications and skills. The 2013 group is rather young with the majority of students born in the 80ties, male-dominated (80%) and with a prevailing engineering education background (forestry, geodesy and cartography, spatial management).

To establish good relations within the learning group and with instructors and organizers of studies, the new students attended a two-day kick-off workshop. They had a lot of possibilities for getting to know each other, to present themselves, to discuss and to enjoy common meals. They also got to know some of the UNIGIS Kraków graduates, who were awarded their diplomas during the workshop. We wish our new students to achieve their goals at the end of their two-year UNIGIS journey!

Distances shrink, networks matter: UNIGIS MSc 2013

"I need to know more about GIS." This was the common objective of 28 students meeting in Salzburg for the UNIGIS MSc starter workshop. However, GIS was not the central topic of the workshop. Prof. Strobl challenged such expectations right away in his welcoming talk: "we do not expect you to leave Salzburg knowing much more about GIS, we want you to get to know each other". On the way towards a community of practice of GIS students, coffee breaks during the workshop and delicious Austrian "Ripperl" with "Keller-Bier" facilitated this aim. Supervised by the UNIGIS_2013 mascot GISmo, the basis of a strong network was successfully built. A distance learning course has morphed to a networked, collective learning experience. We wish all new students interesting 2-3 years ahead and success in meeting their aims!

New UNIGIS-Graduates at USFQ-Quito

On Saturday, February 2nd a group of twenty students from Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Nicaragua and Costa Rica graduated from their UNIGIS program in Quito, Ecuador. They attended the official graduation ceremony at the Campus of the University San Francisco de Quito, sharing this special moment with their families and the UNIGIS team in Quito. We wish them all the best for their future applying the acquired know-how in their professional GIS careers!

Salzburg Winter Festival

“Salzburger Festspiele” is a world famous festival in Salzburg comprising music, opera and theatre. It takes place every summer. However, acting is not limited to summer as Anita and Markus from the new UNIGIS professional group demonstrated last weekend: They gave an authentic performance of difficult situations that might appear during the coming year of their UNIGIS studies. Although we do not hope that any of these scenes will come true, it was great fun to watch them acting!

We wish all of our 14 new students a smooth studying experience and all the best for their future as (UNI)GIS professionals!

UNIGIS India Students at IGF'2013 in Hydrabad

Dr. Shahnawaz, Director (S/E Asia), UNIGIS International conducted a day long workshop with current and former students of UNIGIS India on January 23rd during the India Geospatial Forum' 2013 held at Hydrabad International Convention Centre from 22nd to 24th January, 2013.

16 former and current students shared their UNIGIS learning experiences and came up with several practical suggestions for making UNIGIS India a more vibrant community of GIScience learners and practitioners. They unanimously proposed that this community should discuss ideas and share experiences on an open web based platform beneficial not only for current and future UNIGIS students but for all GIScience learners beyond the UNIGIS International Network worldwide. Dr. Shahnawaz appreciated the enthusiasm of the students for getting involved in 'educating the GIS professionals worldwide' and agreed to set up a common platform for this purpose at the earliest possible.

In addition to leading the workshop, Dr. Shahnawaz also delivered a keynote address on 'UNIGIS Online Distance Learning - Empowering GI Students Worldwide' during the 'Student Forum' at the India Geospatial Forum' 2013.