The Hochschule Niederrhein's Faculty of Business Administration and Economics and Bundesliga soccer team Borussia Mönchengladbach have signed a cooperation agreement. The university will support Borussia in current issues with scientific research, which will be carried out in teaching projects. Initially, the focus will be on fan research. The cooperation is intended to be long-term and open up further new research fields in the future.

At a kick-off event in October, 17 students from the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics worked with representatives of Borussia Mönchengladbach to define research questions and the approach to be taken. The students also had the opportunity to get to know Borussia Park and the work at the VfL office. Divided into three groups, the students then used different methods to collect data for their research work. Students were out and about at the home matches against 1. FC Heidenheim (end of October) and VfL Wolfsburg (beginning of November), interviewing numerous fans around the stadium. Expert interviews were also conducted and additional fans were reached with an online questionnaire.

"The cooperation with Borussia is an example of how project-based learning can succeed. I am delighted that Borussia and The Hochschule Niederrhein are now working together in this way," says Dr. Marion Halfmann, Professor of Marketing and Sales at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, who initiated the cooperation on the part of the university and is supporting the pilot project with her colleague Judith Collier.

"This initiative marks the beginning of a promising partnership between Borussia and The Hochschule Niederrhein. With this cooperation, the foals have manifested themselves as a committed partner for the region. The aim is to give young people the opportunity to implement projects that have a direct connection to "real life" and offer them opportunities for personal development," says Pia Terstappen, Marketing Manager at Borussia Mönchengladbach.