Global Capstone in Germany

This course will be led by Professor David Audretsch and the client will be The International Center, based in Indianapolis. This course will specifically focus on consulting with one of the International Center’s unit's, the Indiana-Germanic Business Council (IGBC) which works to build business and civic connections between Indiana and Germany.

The course will provide students the opportunity to work with IGBC exploring strategies for growing and fostering business and civic connections in Germany. Students will design and carry out research, gain an understanding of IGBC’s operational, and strategic challenges, and propose new ways to strengthen partner relations through creative economic development enhancing the impact and effectiveness of the organization. The course will also provide opportunities to develop project and team management and analytical skills as well as apply professional oral and written communication skills.

Students will self-divide into workgroups to tackle various projects for IGBC. The course will have a workshop format. Thus, class members will self-divide into groups to address the various aspects and tasks of the project. Each group should focus on a specific task of the project. While the exact structure and focus of each group will be established by class consensus and instructor and client input, an initial structure should consider how group participants can best be structured and organized to achieve the relevant task within the time schedule. Students will also need to establish an organizational structure to coordinate both within and across groups, to generate the final recommendations and summary analysis, and to work with the Client. The precise organizational structure will be established by class members with input and guidance from the instructor.

There will be an opportunity for students to travel to Berlin, Germany during Spring Break 2026 to work directly with the IGBC team, interact with professionals in the field, and visit cultural sites throughout Berlin. Travel is not required for enrollment in the Capstone.

Partner and client work will take place on Zoom until spring break 2026, when the optional travel portion of the course begins. The class then resumes in Bloomington/online for the remainder of the spring semester.

The International Center, based in Indianapolis, is a nonprofit organization founded in 1973 as catalyst for Indiana’s global growth and diverse collaboration in various international sectors. The Indiana-Germanic Business Council (IGBC) was later founded in 2022 as a subset of the International Center. The mission of IBGC is to support business, educational, and civic ties between Indiana, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. IGBC hosts a number of international delegations and consulting services to strengthen engagement and global expansion.  A few of their recent initiatives include partnership with the Indianapolis Colts international market expansion, hosting a business conference in Indianapolis for transatlantic business opportunities, hosting various delegations such as the German Counsel, Germany Deputy Ambassador, and German Parliamentarian, among many other efforts and collaborations.

Dates of travel portion: Saturday, March 14, 2026 – Saturday, March 21, 2026 (IU Spring Break)

The travel portion of the course will take place over spring break 2026 in Berlin, Germany. The travel component will include the following items:

• Comprehensive pre-departure training covering country-specific health and safety information
• Lodging for one week in Berlin
• Professional meetings with client
• Site-visits to organizations relevant to client
• Cultural excursions
• Welcome and farewell dinners as a group

All O’Neill International programs are academic, credit-bearing courses that take place abroad. As such, your bursar will be charged two amounts for participation in this program:

1. Program Fee for Global Capstone: Germany (made in two payments)
2. Tuition for the course (3 credits at your normal IU-Bloomington tuition rate)

2026 Program Fee:$1000

The Program Fee for this program includes:

• Shared lodging for 1 week in Berlin
• Site visits and guest speakers
• Cultural excursions
• Welcome and farewell dinners
• International health insurance

The Program Fee will be charged to your IU Bloomington Bursar account in two installments:

1. A $250 non-refundable pre-payment will be charged shortly after you confirm your participation in the program
2. The remaining balance will be charged in January prior to departure

Tuition: 3 credits paid at your IU-Bloomington tuition rate for the V600 course

Students will pay for 3 credit hours of tuition based on their student status (resident/non-resident, graduate/undergraduate, etc.) on the Bloomington campus.

Additional Costs

Students will pay for their own flight to and from Germany, meals that are not included in the Program Fee, and other personal incidentals. 

For a full breakdown of costs, please see the Germany Capstone fee sheet.

Scholarships

The O’Neill International Office offers several scholarships to support students studying abroad. The O’Neill International Equal Opportunity Scholarship is a need-based award available to help O'Neill students from IUB and IUI to be able to study abroad. Please visit our scholarship page for eligibility requirements and application deadlines. Other need and merit-based scholarships are available on a competitive basis. Students are encouraged to apply widely to all scholarships they are eligible for. Please email us at oio@iu.edu if you want help navigating different funding resources.

We invite applications from O’Neill graduate students who are in good academic and disciplinary standing. Course capacity is 20 students.

Any MPA, MSES, dual (MPA-MAAA, MSES-MPA, MIA-MPA), and online MPA students may enroll in this course to satisfy their capstone requirement. MIA and MAAA students may take this course as an elective. Online MPA students may take this course fully remotely. Consult your academic advisor for further information or ways to take this course for credit.

Applications will open on September 15th, and applications are due on October 15th.  Enrollment decisions will be first come, first serve with a priority for students who want to participate in the travel portion of the course. There is a preference for second year graduate students.

The application is very simple. Everyone who wants to enroll in this course (travel and non-travel) must complete the application. You will need the following to complete the application:

• Personal information (name, degree, GPA, etc.)
• Intention to participate in the travel portion of the course (yes/no)

The O’Neill International Office will administer a pre-departure training and preparation process covering health, safety, security, and cultural information for students doing this program. A pre-departure group meeting covering these topics will take place in February preceding departure for those participating in the international travel portion of the course.