Promotion of excellence in the Oskar von Miller Forum

Studies

4/13/2021

A 10-minute walk to TUM – a luxury for scholarship holders of the Oskar von Miller Forum. The meeting center with a focus on the topic of building and construction does not only offer exciting lectures and exhibitions, but also a living space in the middle of Munich.

TUM student Tonderai Koschke is a scholarship holder of the Oskar von Miller Forum in Munich. (Image: Oskar von Miller Forum)

The Oskar von Miller Forum is located less than a kilometer away from TUM Main Campus in the city center. It was founded in 2009 by the Bavarian construction industry – with the aim of promoting excellent training and, thus, securing the future of the construction industry in the long term.

To date, the facility has seen around 400 successful scholarship holders: students from the TUM Faculty of Architecture and the TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering as well as students from the municipal vocational school for structural engineering (Städtische Fachschule für Bautechnik).

Apartments, a shared kitchen, a library

One of them is Master's student Tonderai Koschke. After returning to TUM from a semester abroad, she applied. "I thought it would be a good opportunity to gather experience in addition to the actual course of studies," she says.

There are five floors, each with ten to twelve apartments, and spacious common rooms with kitchens. A project room can be used for group work, and the library serves as a reading and music room. Everyone can meet for lunch in the in-house bistro.

Interdisciplinary exchange

In addition to living together, the scholarship holders take part in lectures, workshops, and a coaching program – and they present their projects in internal events.
For architecture student Tonderai Koschke, participation in the program and the interdisciplinary exchange have paid off right from the beginning: "If there is something I don't understand, I have experts here who I can ask," she says. "That's extremely helpful. Also, the lectures provided me insight into completely new subject areas. As a result, I approach my work from a more interdisciplinary perspective."

In addition, researchers from all over the world are invited to stay in the forum for a while and to exchange ideas with the fellows. This way, the students are able to deepen and expand their interests and their specialist knowledge, preparing them for a professional life with interdisciplinary tasks.

Worldwide alumni network

For Tonderai Koschke, who was born in Berlin and grew up in Zimbabwe, international exchange with her fellow residents was a particularly important factor.
"I would like to improve the relationship between Germany and the African countries," she says. "In doing so, I want to avoid having to focus my work on a small area. I'm sure we'll be working all over the world later on. So, if you decide you want to go to New York in a few years, you might already know someone there who can help you get along."

This is where the international alumni network of the Oskar von Miller Forum comes in handy. Alumnae and alumni from more than 50 countries are now working all over the world.

More information:
Oskar von Miller Forum
OvMF Scholarship application
OvMF Upcoming Events