The application deadline for the Continuing Studies Programme Offshore Wind Energy starts today. Interested applicants have until 30 June 2012 to submit their documents to ForWind - Centre for Wind Energy Research at the University of Oldenburg. The world's first further education programme of its kind at an academic level will begin its first intake in October 2012 with 24 participants.

The programme is aimed at subjects and managers in the offshore wind industry and the maritime sector. The aim of the part-time distance learning programme with face-to-face seminars is to teach the risk, interface and project management of offshore wind projects as well as basic insights into the technical and engineering contexts. Participants gain the know-how to analyse and practically implement the complex interplay of offshore projects.

There are currently hardly any academic-level training and further education courses that even come close to meeting the demand for subjects and managers in the offshore wind industry. ForWind, the wind energy agency WAB and the city of Oldenburg are tackling this problem with the offshore wind study programme. The project partners have been working together successfully for more than five years and offer a further education programme in wind energy technology and management for onshore wind energy that is unique in Germany. "It was therefore obvious for the organisers to offer a similarly designed further education course for offshore wind energy," says Dr Stephan Barth, Managing Director of ForWind.
The content of the offshore wind study programme is taught in a flexible and practical manner and covers all areas from wind farm design, project development and installation to service and operation. In addition to the self-study elements, there are attendance phases at the Bremerhaven and Oldenburg locations, where the future offshore experts can network with each other. The project work that accompanies the course emphasises the practical approach of the programme. After nine months, graduates of the internationally oriented and English-language programme receive a graded certificate from the University of Oldenburg. The participation fee for the 2012/13 pilot phase is 10,500 euros.

The development of the offshore wind study programme is supported by the Metropolregion Bremen-Oldenburg im Nordwesten e.V., the Lower Saxony Ministry for the Environment and Climate Protection, the Senator for Economics, Labour and Ports of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, the Economic Development Agency of the City of Oldenburg, the Bremerhavener Gesellschaft für Investitionsförderung und Stadtentwicklung BIS and the Oldenburger Energiecluster OLEC e.V.. The following sponsors from industry and business support the offshore wind study programme: Bremer Landesbank, nkt cables GmbH and wpd offshore solutions GmbH.

[01 February 2012]