“Sustainabilty in Action” - Global Master School 2026 at Aschaffenburg UAS: TH AB

International collaboration, intercultural exchange, and sustainability-oriented business education took centre stage at Aschaffenburg UAS as the university successfully hosted this year’s Global Master School (GMS). Organised as an Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) entitled “Doing Business in Europe – Think Global, Act Local: Sustainable Business Practices”, the programme brought together almost 60 students, lecturers, and international experts from across Europe and the United States for an inspiring week of academic cooperation, hands-on project work with a corporate partner, and cross-border learning.

During the official opening ceremony, Aschaffenburg UAS President Eva-Maria Beck-Meuth emphasised the importance of strong international partnerships and the shared commitment and mutual understanding that continue to shape the long-standing success of the Global Master School programme. The ceremony also marked the official renewal and exchange of double degree agreements at Bachelor’s and Master’s level in the fields of business and law between Aschaffenburg UAS and Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK), reaffirming their successful and enduring cooperation across a wide range of academic activities.

Prof. Dr. Eva Maria Beck-Meuth und Prof. Dr. Anne Maria Aho

Prof. Dr. Ivo Schäfer, Vice President for Internationalisation, hosted the official GMS welcome dinner, offering a warm welcome and creating a festive setting for dialogue between students, faculty members, international guests, and university representatives.

Official Welcome Dinner hosted by Vice President Prof. Dr. Ivo Schäfer (Restaurant Jedermann)

The GMS is based on a trilateral partnership between Aschaffenburg UAS, University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL), and SeAMK, the three founding consortium members. Over the years, the programme has developed into a highly successful and sustainable model of international cooperation. It has acted as a catalyst for internationalisation, contributing to the establishment of the fully English-taught Master’s programme in International Management at the Faculty of Business and Law more than a decade ago, where the GMS is now firmly embedded within the curriculum.

From left to right: Vinayak Rajagopal, Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Beck Meuth, Prof. Dr Petar Petrov, Prof. Dr. Ilkka Latomäki, Prof. Dr. Joe Rottman, Pieter van Nispen, Marcel Rother, Joel Rochard, Prof. Dr. Elisa Kannasto, Prof. Dr. Thomas Lauer, Prof. Dr. Alexandra Angress, Remco van Bebberen, Prof. Dr. Victoria Bertels
“The greatest value of the GMS comes from two facets; first, working in an internationally diverse team help students in becoming better global citizens and broadening their perspective - second, participating in a consulting project for a real client will differentiate students in the market place and make them more capable, marketable and allow them to immediately bring value to the company. This was an excellent GMS - to me the best one!” (Prof. Dr Joe Rottman, Photo from left to right.: Prof. Kannasto, Prof. Lauer, Prof. Dr. Rottman, Prof. Dr. Angress, Marcel Rother)
"To me the GMS vividly demonstrated the European added value of bringing together students form diverse cultural and academic backgrounds to tackle real international business challenges. This ERASMUS+ Blended Intensive Programme successfully combined structured online preparation with a highly interactive, hands-on experiental week and enriched both students and professors through shared cross-border learning. As coordinator of BIP programs myself I valued the attention to details and the company visits that added real business context including the ECB visit for a better understanding of the European single market, a vital aspect of doing business in Europe .” (Prof. Dr. Petar Petrov, Photo from left to right.: Oleski Bilko, Patricia Ivanova, Prof. Dr. Petar Petrov, Prof. Dr. Alexandra Angress, Victor Iliev)

The programme has also continued to grow steadily. This year marks a new record with almost 60 participants and was organised and funded by the EU as an Erasmus+ BIP. In addition to students and lecturers from UMSL and SeAMK, participants also came from Erasmus+ partner universities including University of Bergamo, the University of Economics – Varna, the University of Žilina, Škoda Auto University, and ISCAP Porto.

“The continued success of the Global Master School demonstrates how important international academic cooperation is in preparing students for the challenges of a globalised world”

Prof. Dr. Alexandra Angress

This year’s GMS combined academic learning with real-world business practice through a collaboration with the winery “Alte Grafschaft” in Kreuzwertheim. International student project teams presented initial posters featuring market intelligence reports and strategic recommendations for potential European market expansion, focusing on sustainability, consumer culture, and market regulations as part of their preparatory assignments.

Visit of the European Central Bank with ECB host and speaker Gabriel Glöckler
Lecturers in the Vineyard Alte Grafschaft

The project-based learning approach aims at strengthening intercultural teamwork and problem-solving skills through practical consulting tasks and interactive feedback sessions with the corporate partner. Students additionally benefitted from input and coaching sessions delivered by a dedicated team of GMS lecturers from Aschaffenburg UAS, SEAMK, UMSL, and Varna, as well as from a French expert in winemaking and sustainability. A visit to the European Central Bank Visitor Centre provided participants with deeper insights into Europe’s financial landscape, the Single Market, and the broader context of doing business in Europe.

Beyond the academic programme, students and lecturers also experienced regional culture through a range of intercultural activities, including a guided tour of the renowned Faust Brewery after a day at the campus of Miltenberg.

The week was concluded with students presenting their final strategic recommendations to the key stakeholder “Alte Grafschaft” and to all participants and the baton passed on to GMS partner SEAMK who will be hosting the next GMS in autum in Finland.

“One of the key factors for our success as an international project team was strong teamwork and motivation, open communication, mutual respect and the combination of diverse perspectives, experiences and educational background. We also made an effort to truly understand each other’s ideas and thought processes instead of simply agreeing without discussion. We think that this openness and willingness to learn from each another strengthened our collaboration and decision-making.” (Corporate Project Award Winning GMS Team 2026, Photo from left to right: Sann Maria Kallio, Alessandra Hirsch, Sachini Nimasha Jayawickrama, Caro and Julius Spielman (Alte Grafschaft), Paola Medica, Reese Lynn Harbison, Salomé Ramos Barreira, Patrik Zykan.)
“Having the chance to participate in the GMS of Aschaffenburg UAS was a pleasure not only for the academic opportunity but for everything that came with it: the people, the organization, the emotions – everything was perfect from the beginning to the end.” (Studentische Delegation der Universität Bergamo, Photo from left to right: Prof. Dr. Alexandra Angress, Paolo Medica, Gaia Nicoli, Margherita Brunelli)
"We are grateful for being part of such a a fulfilling and multicultural experience accompanied by outstanding lecturers, brilliant studens and an incredibly thought out programme!" (Delegation ISCAP students, Photo form left to right: Joaquim Augusto Mota da Costa, Ana Leonor Varela de Silva and Salomé Ramos Berreira)
Official Farewell photo

By combining sustainability with real-world business challenges, and interdisciplinary collaboration and intercultural exchange the GMS programme continues to create lasting impact far beyond the classroom and truly embodies – in the words of THAB university President Eva-Maria Beck-Meuth – the idea of “sustainability in action”.