On the 19th of July, an online Pre-Departure session was conducted for a large audience of students from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Representatives of the Indian embassy in Germany were also present to guide the students. This session became even more informative as student representatives of nine different student associations along with Dr Avinash Chekuru (coordinator) and Deeban C Mathivanan (co-coordinator) of the Indian Students in Germany team joined it. They helped the students by answering questions about life in Germany and at the universities.

The second Pre-Departure Meet was conducted on the 28th of July at the DAAD Information Point, Pune. The interactive session gave the Germany-bound students a chance to get to know and connect with their fellow students, to understand cultural do’s and don’ts in Germany and to clear their doubts about the new chapter of life that they are about to start. The session was joined by Poorva Naik, a PhD Scholar from Max Planck Institute, who shared her experiences about living in Germany.

The third Pre-Departure Meet was conducted on the 4^th of August at the DAAD Information Point Bangalore. The session was a nice platform for the students to network with other students, flying to the same university, city, course etc. Akshay Kshirsagar from Bavarian-Indian Centre Science Office (BayIND) joined the session to answer questions about student in life in Germany.

In the coming month, further Pre-Departure Meets are arranged in Chennai  and online for Germany-bound students who have started their visa process.