Asian Studies in Business and Economics (ASBE) - Your gateway to the Asian economic region
The “Asian Studies in Business and Economics” program offers Master's students from the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics at Paderborn University the opportunity to take the first step towards an international career. The Asian economic region has experienced enormous growth in recent years and is also becoming increasingly interesting for Europe.
Due to its special structure, the ASBE program offers you the opportunity to gain a deeper insight into the economy and culture of one of our three countries (Japan, China or South Korea). The three-semester program is structured in such a way that the language and intercultural skills for the stay abroad are created in a preparatory semester (summer semester). This is followed by a semester abroad in the winter at a renowned partner university in China, Japan or South Korea. Students attend specialist courses at the university and carry out research and data collection for their project work. After the stay abroad, the project work is completed and presented to the other participants and professors at a final event.
Program structure
The “Asian Studies in Business and Economics” program consists of four container modules of 10 ECTS each. As a rule, the container modules cannot be split up, which is why it is important that you have a total of 4 x 10 ECTS credits open in the major areas of your degree.
ASBE 1 contains the courses of the preparatory phase and is generally booked in the Economics section of your study plan. Accordingly, you need 10 ECTS in the area of Economics that have not yet been taken.
ASBE 2 includes the project work. This is booked in the appropriate major area of your degree according to your research topic. Example: Your supervisor is part of the Business Education Department, then the container module will be booked with 10 ECTS in the major area of Business Education.
Depending on the partner university, ASBE 3 and ASBE 4 each consist of 1-2 specialized courses with a total value of 20 ECTS (2x 10 ECTS). Recognition depends on the courses chosen at the partner university.
Note: Students at Tohoku University have to take two specialized courses worth 5 ECTS each instead of the project work. This is due to a university policy of Tohoku University that exchange students must take courses worth a total of 35 ECTS.
Note: Students in the Management Master must take the ASBE 1 container module in the "Ergänzungsbereich" instead of the Economics area.
Note: A container module cannot be split between two major areas of your degree. There must be 10 ECTS credits available for a container module in a major area. Example: If you take two courses in Business Administration abroad and only have 5 ECTS credits available in elective modules and 5 ECTS in the business administration area you cannot receive credit. You need either 10 free ECTS credits in the upper-division elective module or the upper-division business module.
* If your degree programme does not allow full crediting of courses abroad (20 ECTS) in the area of business administration/economics modules, additional work of at least 10 pages may be required for each container to be credited (ASBE III or IV) in order to ensure that the subject content fits in with your degree programme specialisation. This regulation does not apply to the area of method modules, which is generally not available as a crediting area for international credits.
Please contact the ASBE team during the application process if you have any problems integrating the programme into your study plan.
Please note: Completion of the ASBE I - IV modules is compulsory and 40 ECTS must be kept free!
Phase 1: Preparation phase
The preparation phase always takes place in the summer semester and consists of two main components. A four-week intensive language course at the Language Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (LSI) and a course during the semester in which the intercultural competence and Asian expertise of the students is developed.
The intensive language course at the LSI in the respective national language(Chinese, Japanese or Korean) is compulsory for all participants of the ASBE programme and is supervised by several bilingually trained lecturers and native speakers. Participation in the language course is compulsory and usually takes place during the lecture-free period before the summer semester. The costs are covered by the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics upon successful completion of the programme.
At the beginning of the course, a literature study is carried out with reference to the students' respective exchange countries. Based on the findings from the literature studies, students work in groups to create a podcast on current relevant topics in the Asian economic region. This encourages students to actively engage with social, political and economic issues and problems in the target countries. The course is rounded off with a workshop on intercultural skills development to familiarise students with the aspects of communication in different contexts. The models learned are then applied using so-called "critical incidents" experienced by previous participants in the ASBE programme.
During the preparation phase, an idea for the project work should also be developed and students independently look for a professor to supervise them. A list of previous topics can be found at the bottom of this page.
To summarise, the preparation phase is based on the following four pillars:
- Fundamental linguistic and cultural competence
- Communicative and intercultural competence
- Professional competence
- Methodological competence
Please note that active participation in the courses is compulsory.
Phase 2: Stay abroad in Asia
The stay abroad always takes place in the winter semester and represents the second phase of the programme. Here, the focus is on deepening Asian expertise through specialised modules at the partner university, project work and the use of the local language.
Specialised courses worth 20 ECTS* are taken during the stay abroad. A list of courses that have been offered in the past and the respective conversion into ECTS can be found at the bottom of this page.
In order to reflect on learning processes and personal experiences, a reflection diary should record the opportunities and problems experienced in order to identify differences between the cultures and adapt accordingly.
To summarise, the second phase is based on the following five pillars:
- Advanced linguistic and cultural competence
- Social competence
- Regional competence
- Professional competence
- Project competence
*Exchange studentsat Tohoku University have to take 35 ECTS due to a guideline of the partner university. Accordingly, the project work (ASBE 2) is replaced by two specialised courses with 5 ECTS each. In addition, a further 5 ECTS course must be taken, which can be credited outside the ASBE programme via the normal credit transfer system.
Phase 3: Follow-up phase
In the follow-up phase, students reflect on and evaluate their own findings. The project work is finalised in this phase and presented to fellow students, professors and the following ASBE year at a closing event. The final event is expected to take place in May.
In addition, the ASBE graduates will be available to the following year group as contacts for questions and will organise a small country-specific workshop in the country groups to facilitate the exchange of experience and information between the year groups.
To summarise, the follow-up phase focuses on the following four pillars:
- Presentation skills
- Reflection skills
- social skills
- Project competence
Partneruniversitäten
Application requirements
- The application must be submitted in the winter semester before the stay abroad
- Successful Bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification
- Enrolment in one of the Bachelor's or Master's degree programmes of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics: M.Sc. Business Administration, M.Sc. International Economics and Management, M.Sc. International Business Studies, M.Sc. Business Information Systems, M. Sc. Management Information Systems, M.Sc. Taxation, Accounting and Finance, M. Sc. Business Education, M. Ed. Business Education - Teaching at Vocational Colleges. (Bachelor's students of Economics in the 5th or 6th semester can already apply for the ASBE programme if they will start their Master's degree at the faculty within the next two semesters).
- Proof of language proficiency: DAAD language certificate or TOEFL test result of at least 90 points or equivalent tests IELTS at least 6.5 points / TOEIC 860 points / Cambridge ESOL Certificate. For further information, please contact the Centre for Language Teaching.
Finanzierung
Aufgrund der Kooperationsvereinbarungen werden an den Partneruniversitäten generell keine Studiengebühren erhoben.
Dem ASBE-Programm liegt das DAAD-ISAP-Rahmenprojekt (Internationale Studien- und Ausbildungspartnerschaften) zugrunde. Jede Partnerschaft ist einem eigenen ISAP-Projekt zugeordnet. Deshalb ist die Stipendienförderung von der gewählten Partnerhochschule abhängig. Zurzeit stehen jeweils 5 Stipendienplätze für die Partnerschaften mit Beijing (Beijing Institute of Technology), Shanghai (Tongji University) und Seoul (EWHA University) zur Verfügung.
Land | Semester | Städte | Vollstipendien für Studierende | Reisekostenpauschalen |
China | 01.09. - 31.01. | Beijing, Shanghai | 1.350 € 1.275 € | 825 € 825 € |
Südkorea | 01.09. - 31.12. | Seoul | 1.275 € | 1.125€ |
Der Krankenversicherungszuschuss für deutsche Teilnehmer mit Teil- oder Graduiertenstipendium beträgt generell 35 € pro Teilnehmer und Monat. | ||||
Quellen: Vom jeweiligen Projektbeginn abhängige Fördersätze des DAAD. Dort finden Sie entsprechend die Fördersätze für deutsche Studierende.
Für die anderen Universitäten können Sie sich unabhängig vom ASBE Programm auf Stipendien, wie PROMOS oder von der Phoenix Contact Stiftung bewerben. Weitere Informationen dazu finden Sie hier.
Zusätzlich übernimmt die Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften die Kosten für den mehrwöchigen Intensivsprachkurs an dem Landesspracheninstitut an der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, bei erfolgreichem Abschluss des Programm.
Sprachkurse
Die Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften ermöglicht jedem Programmteilnehmer die Teilnahme an einem mehrwöchigen Intensivsprachkurs zur jeweiligen Landessprache am Landesspracheninstitut in der Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Die erfolgreiche Teilnahme an den Sprachkursen ist verpflichtend für Teilnehmer*innen am ASBE-Programm. Das Kursentgelt, entsprechendes Lehrmaterial und die günstigste Übernachtung werden bei erfolgreichen Abschluss des ASBE-Programm übernommen.
Sprachkurs | Termine |
Chinesisch I + II |
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Japanisch I + II |
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Koreanisch I + II |
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Bitte beachten Sie, dass sich die Termine noch ändern können. Bitte informieren Sie sich auf der Website des LSI über eventuelle Änderungen.
Zum Ende des Sprachkurses wird eine mündliche Prüfung durch das LSI durchgeführt. Es handelt sich um eine individuelle Überprüfung der Leistung im Sinne einer fundierten kompetenzorientierten Prüfung. Die in dem Sprachkurs erbrachte Leistung wird im Umfang von 5 ECTS durch die Universität Paderborn anerkannt. Aufgrund der Mitarbeit im Unterricht und der mündlichen Prüfung erhalten die Teilnehmer eine Note, die zu 50% bei der Gesamtnote des Moduls ASBE I (W4071) angerechnet wird. Die Prüfungsgebühr in Höhe von 30 € übernimmt jeder Teilnehmer selbst und kann vor Ort bezahlt werden. Die Anmeldung zum Sprachkurs erfolgt gesammelt durch die ASBE-Programmleitung.
Topics of completed project work
Kursangebot an den Partneruniversitäten
Bitte beachten Sie, dass sich das Kursangebot der Partneruniversitäten jährlich ändern kann. Kurse, die in der Vergangenheit angeboten wurden, können eine gute Orientierungshilfe sein, sind aber keine Garantie dafür, dass diese Kurse auch im nächsten Jahr wieder angeboten werden.
Idealerweise erhalten Sie von der Partnerhochschule eine Liste der aktuellen Kurse für das jeweilige Wintersemester.
Courses offered at the partner universities
Our team
The ASBE team currently consists of
Further information and FAQ
In this section we have compiled useful links and information about the ASBE programme. You can gain a good impression of the ASBE programme from experience reports, interviews and completed projects.