Report of Summer Academy 2000 in Dubrovnik, Croatia

by Pieter Scheelbeek, participant
 

From 9th September until 20th September 2000, four students of the faculty of Applied Physics of Delft University of Technology and Professor Hanjalic of the Thermal and Fluid Sciences Section (Sectie Warmte en Stroming) participated in Summer Academy 2000, which was held in the beautiful city of Dubrovnik on the Croatian coast. Summer Academy 2000 is the fourth in a series of five summer academies organized by the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany) and University of Sarajevo (Bosnia i Herzegovina) in cooperation with the University of Hamburg and Delft University of Technology. All costs were covered by German gouvernment and German industry. Accepted students (mechanical engineering, (applied) physics, mathematics, computer science, chemical engineering, aeronautics and chemistry) were from Bosnia, Germany, The Netherlands, Croatia, Israel and France, about 40 in total. The academy offered three courses: "Thermo-Fluid Dynamics", "Computer Applications in Engineering" and "Precision Measurements and Applications in Machine Elements". All students had written an article and prepared a presentation. On 9th September at 14.00 the four Dutch students (including myself) took off from Schiphol. First to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. The plane from Zagreb to Dubrovnik was scheduled late in the evening so we had the opportunity to visit the city centre of Zagreb. After we had fled from scary taxidrivers (the kind of guys that you can find in B-crime-movies from the seventies) we took the bus and we were pleasantly surprized by the city, the atmosphere and the nice people we met. (Hereby I want to fiercely attack all bad stories about women in eastern Europe.) We arrived in Dubrovnik round midnight. Together with the delegation from Erlangen (Germany) we were picked up and we drove to our hotel ‘Vis’ situated among many hotels in the pleasant bay of Lapad (Rivala Lapad) in the outscirts of Dubrovnik. Next day 9 a.m. a joint session was scheduled. Of course a warm welcome and presentations of professors. Some time was dedicated to encourage Bosnian students to do their graduation projects in Germany and elsewhere abroad. German representatives showed much enthusiasm for attracting Bosnian students, who can use a number of exchange programs offered by D.A.A.D. (Deutsche Akademie Austauschdienst), industrial and other gouvernmental sources. At 5 p.m. the first session of each of the three courses began: presentation of a student and then discussion on this topic by all course participants and professors.

Throughout the summer academy a lot of interesting subjects were presented in our course Thermo-Fluid Dynamics. Ranging from stellar fluid dynamics to droplets, from computational fluid dynamics to solar collectors, laser diagnostics and many more. The questions and discusssions following a presentation were often interesting and useful. During the discussions one remarkable difference between Bosnian and Dutch students emerged. While Dutch students think that questions and discussions are a sign that the presentation was pretty clear and definitely interesting, the Bosnian students thought of questions as kind of an insult of the presenter and also questions would make the poser seem not smart. I think the American students are the most extreme questionposers. There a student can ask: ‘Professor, could you repeat that, I just was not paying attention for a moment’. Although most discussions were interesting and useful, I felt that the organization planned to have more (read: longer) discussion. I think it would be usefull if the presenter, in addition to his presentation, also prepared the discussion, for instance, by listing open questions or points of interest for discussion.

This time schedule for lectures (every day 9-11a.m. and 5-7 p.m.) created a lot of time for an important aspect of this academy: meeting interesting people from other countries, socializing, and, of course, enjoy the weather, the sea (very clear water) and the beautiful surroundings. The majority of students came from Bosnia and some other countries of former Yugoslavia. These countries suffered a lot from war since 1991. The impact on the educational process was also severe. Some of the students did not travel abroad for eight or nine years. I heard horrible stories and things that one cannot imagine. More important was that the atmosphere of the summer academy was very good. We felt we were building something together which made contacts uncomplicated and fun. Many new contacts were made, existing ones were deepened and strengthened. I am looking forward to visit my friends in Bosnia i Herzegovina maybe next summer. Dubrovnik, also called "Pearl of the Adriatic", is famous for it's old city. Located on the rocky coast-line and surrounded by impressive walls, it manages to rise the curiosity of every visitor. After passing the medieval gate the visitor is overwhelmed: it seems as if he has just stepped back in time say 300 years. I immediately thought of Venice, without water.
	I visited the old city numerous times during my stay, alone, in small groups and once with all participants and professors. Amongst others I visited the city walls, St. Ignatius church, the Rectors Palace, the surprising aquarium (inside the city walls). Also I heard the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra (which was a must for me being a classical music enthousiast) playing in the beautiful Atrium of the Rectors Palace, and the ‘etno-rock’ of the Festival of the Sea performed in the famous stone promenade ‘Stradum’. I must not forget to tell about the numerous nice bars and terraces. My favourite one was located on the seaside on the rocks outside of the city wall. At night while sipping a beer and listening music of the 50’s you could see the Adriatic and the coastal islands in the moonlight.
Every day swimming in the clear blue sea in front of the hotel, rent a canoe (don’t do that when wind is blowing in the direction of the sea) rent a scooter, climb a mountain (OK, I agree that a Dutchman sees a mountain in every pile of sand), stroll around…….. On Sunday 17th of September the organization took the students on a very nice boattrip to de coastal islands. It was a beautiful wooden ship, we had a lot of sun and a fresh seebreeze that caused the real sailor experience. Fresh fish from grill and drinks were served on board for lunch. We visited islands and dived from the ship. On the way back to Dubrovnik harbour I think I’ve heard the total reportoire of Bosnian folksongs performed by guitar and choir. I was stunned by the fact that they can all sing well and they all knew the reportoire. Such a thing is unthinkable with Dutch students. They can only shout the first lines of a club-song.

My presentation was scheduled Tuesday morning 19th of September, the very last presentation. I was satisfied with my performance. That afternoon we rented scooters and drove along the coast. Later in the afternoon I took care of presents for my sisters (oh, the amount of useless expensive tourist stuff is just as big as anywhere else) In the evening we had the last joint dinner in the open air. On that occasion dear professor Lekic, who acted as a chairman throughout the academy, handed out very beautiful certificates to all the students.

The Dutch delegation, the four of us and Professor Hanjalic who joined us from 13th of September, were to leave at 5 a.m. the next morning, so why go to sleep…? Summer Academy 2000 Dubrovnik was a great succes. Next year in September, the last in the series, the fifth Academy will begin in Sarajevo and continue in Dubrovnik. I hope this initiative will continue to exist so that other students can have the same opportunity as the participants of this and previous years. Moreover I recommend all students to closely watch the announcements for Summer Academy 2001.

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