Education and Qualification

North Rhine-Westphalia is the center of the chemical industry in Germany. Not only research but also vocational and advanced training are on a European top level. Germany is envied the quality of its dual training system worldwide. Enterprise and school jointly impart the munition for the chosen profession. The objective is always to adapt training to the enterprise’s needs and to train in step with actual practice.

With about 100,000 workers and employees (2009), the chemical industry in North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the most important employers. The level of the employees’ professional education is at top level worldwide. The enterprises at ChemSite locations put special emphasis on continuous vocational and advanced training – for both safety-related and economical reasons.

Marl Chemical Park offers training in all disciplines far beyond its own needs. The training rate of about 9 percent (2010) exceeds by far the average in the German chemical industry (5.1 percent). Both the enterprises and the training schools mind the high level of practical relevance.

In addition, Marl Chemical Competence Center (ChemKom) offers seminars to enhance knowledge in fields of individual interest. Particularly people working with enterprises as well as schools and institutions are addressed in the region by offering qualified vocational and advanced training in natural sciences and technology. The range is as manifold as the target group. It stretches from kindergarten teachers wishing to experience the adventure “chemistry“ with the children to the highly skilled specialist in an enterprise wishing to get advanced training, e.g. in automation electronics.

Within the framework of “Verbundausbildung Emscher-Lippe“ (Joint Training Emscher-Lippe) strong business partners in the region, supported by the employers’ association, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and the Industrial Union Mining, Chemistry, and Energy strive at further boosting the vocational training offer. This is why the joint training networks provide a wide range of training in natural sciences/technology and in the commercial sector.
As a partner of the economy, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) North Rhine-Westphalia attends to just under 30,000 apprenticeships in nearly 150 professions and is responsible for conducting 20,000 intermediate and final exams every year, completed by an extensive offer in advanced training.

Moreover, a close cooperation with universities has been established. For example, Dortmund University and Gelsenkirchen University of Applied Sciences launched a Master of Science course “Polymer Science” in the winter term 2007, imparting knowledge in the fields of natural sciences and process technology – for this is exactly the knowledge being particularly important for the enterprises in the region. So they can find highly motivated and qualified workforce at any time.

Enthusiasm for chemistry and topics in the fields of natural sciences/technology should be awakened already in pre-school age. Many initiatives in the Ruhr region playfully introduce these topics to the young “researchers“ in the kindergarten. However, the aim is to awaken and further extend the interest in natural sciences and technology especially in students. An example is the zdi-Zentrum MINT.Marl that was opened in 2009. It networks schools, universities, enterprises and politics in the region to raise enthusiasm in students for MINT subjects (mathematics, engineering and natural sciences, technology) as early as possible. To this end, stationary and mobile offers have been developed that are open to all secondary schools of the city of Marl starting with form eight. The offer of the zdi-Zentrums MINT.Marl includes, for example, bionics, chemistry, digital technology, and robotics. For example, students experiment in workgroups and school projects in the fields of energy saving, deal with airplane or rocket models, research on every-day chemistry, and programming of robots.

Moreover, North Rhine-Westphalia has the most tightly meshed network of universities and research institutions in Europe. This environment is ideally suited for application-oriented research, cooperation with scientific institutions, and start-ups. The figures tell their own tale: with 92 courses in chemistry, the universities in North Rhine-Westphalia train one third of all chemists and almost half of the chemical engineers in Germany. 54 institutes, including eleven of the Max Planck Research Association, and 63 technology centers cover a wide range of sciences, stretching from basic research to bioorganic to environmental chemistry. North Rhine-Westphalia also ranks among the top regions in biotechnology worldwide.

Marl Chemical Competence Center (Chemkom)

Hans-Böckler-Vocational Institute

Infracor GmbH (training)

Chamber of Industry and Commerce North Rhine Westphalia

Mint, Marl

University of Duisburg-Essen

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Technische Universität Dortmund

Fachhochschule Gelsenkirchen, University of Applied Sciences

Fachhochschule Dortmund, University of Applied Sciences and Arts

Hochschule Bochum, University of Applied Sciences

Hochschule Ruhr West, University of Applied Sciences

Hochschule für Oekonomie & Management, University of Applied Sciences