’Cooperation is rooted in almost all’areas’

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60 years ago, the Universities of Münster and Twente laid the foundations for their strategic partnership

60 years of partnership must be celebrated. The best way to do this is with a cr
60 years of partnership must be celebrated. The best way to do this is with a cream cake labelled with the logos of both universities. Tom Veldkamp (2nd from right) cuts off a slice for Johannes Wessels. © University of Twente
There are reasons to celebrate these days - on both sides of the German-Dutch border, at the universities of Münster and Twente. We are talking about a friendship that began 60 years ago and has developed into an intensive partnership over the following decades, in which links in research and teaching are constantly being expanded to this day. It all began on 21 May 1964, when representatives of the University of Münster and the then still called Twente Technological University of Applied Sciences met for the first time to get this network rolling. Although 14 years passed before the two universities signed a first written partnership agreement, the joint relationship blossomed even without this document. To celebrate this, the university management of both institutions came together in Enschede on 21 May 2024. "We all profit from this long-standing partnership to this day: Academics, staff and students," emphasised Johannes Wessels, Rector of the University of Münster. "Cooperation is rooted in almost all’areas - from medicine, the natural sciences and politics to the REACH - EUREGIO Start-up Centre and transnational degree programmes."

The fact that it even came this far goes back to an exchange of letters in spring 1964 between J. B. G. M. Ridder de van der Schueren, Chairman of the General Curatorium of the then still called Twente Technological University of Applied Sciences, and the then Rector of the University of Münster, Heinz Bittel. The polite exchange and the pleasure of the visit can still be read today in the typewritten correspondence. "The curator of our university, Freiherr von Fürstenberg, will be present, as will the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and a professor from the Faculty of Law. I would be delighted if you and your honourable friends would join us for lunch", Heinz Bittel wrote on 12 May 1964.

Johannes Wessels and his counterpart Ir. Tom Veldkamp as well as Vinod Subramaniam did not have lunch, but instead enjoyed a special cake with the logos of both universities together with colleagues on a sunny Tuesday morning at the offices of the Executive Board of the University of Twente. After all, in order to maintain friendships, there must also be time for such bonding activities outside of research and teaching.