European Union Week

“One of the best decisions I ever made as a student”

The impetus for European Union Week came from the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the EU. Prof. Henkel recalls, “The result of the Brexit referendum would have been different if more young people had taken part. When it happened, we spent time considering what we could do to counter this development within the possibilities available to us.” The idea of European Union Week was for every university to host high-profile figures from European institutions themselves, but also from the worlds of research and business. The in-person and online events are open to students from all partner countries. 

Together with the student-run TUM Speaker Series, in 2025 Joachim Henkel and his team invited Magnus Brunner, EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, to give a talk at TUM during the European Union Week. EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall has confirmed her appearance at the next event in May 2026. 

Ten universities from all over Europe

“We aim to bring together people who hold positions of responsibility at the European level with our students. By doing so, we are also preparing those students for decision-making positions in business and society,” explains Ute Helfers-Zentgraf. The team leader at TUM School of Management International Office coordinates European Union Week. Its original partner network of three business schools and universities has now expanded to a total of ten. “We can now boast a truly European network of partner universities representing almost every part of Europe,” says Helfers-Zentgraf. 

Additionally, the TUM School of Management team introduced the “Blended Intensive programme” (BIP), which is a one-week in-person course accompanied by online preparatory and debriefing discussions. Funded by the Erasmus+ program, it is hosted by Kozminski University in Warsaw. Around 30 students from Germany, Estonia, and Poland explored the topics of European competitiveness and innovation at the program’s premiere in May 2025. Students from Italy, Romania, and the Netherlands will join in 2026.

Immersive experience in a new country

TUM offers plentiful opportunities to gain international experience. It is a member of the EuroTech Universities Alliance, a strategic partnership between leading European universities of science and technology. The alliance initiated EuroTeQ Engineering University (EuroTeQ), a project to establish an inter-university campus offering a broad range of joint courses, individually tailored curricula, and digital formats to students from its partner universities as well as professionals. In addition, the Erasmus program enables students and staff to study and work in European countries. Around 2,000 members of TUM take up this opportunity every academic year.

“Applying for the BIP in Warsaw was one of the best decisions I ever made as a student,” recalls Marco Zimmermann, a master’s student of Management and Technology at TUM. “The students within the group contributed a wide variety of different experiences and perspectives. Those on-the-spot discussions were such a memorable experience, a tangible presentation of why we should not isolate ourselves in national structures,” says Zimmermann.  “We can achieve far more by working together with in the EU.”

Prof. Henkel agrees: “The EU is not perfect. But we need to stand together as Europeans; there is no alternative. And to do that, we need to have an emotional bond with the EU.” Henkel advises all students to spend time abroad, either on a BIP or by taking an Erasmus semester. “They can familiarize themselves better with the language, the country, and the people, and breathe life into the idea of Europe.”

Student Marco Zimmermann needs no convincing. He affirms that the BIP in Warsaw has strengthened his ambition to apply for a further Erasmus seminar, after spending time in Denmark during his bachelor’s degree. This time, Italy is his goal.