Join BEST

Having a BEST Group at your university comes with quite some advantages. As a member of this group you will belong to a European family, develop yourself, take part in the hundreds of BEST events all around Europe, meet new people and of course you will have a lot of fun while doing this.

The basic requirements to create a Local BEST Group are:

  1. The group should consist of students of technology.
  2. The group shall belong to a university that provides an education that leads to the highest degree below the Ph.D. in technology studies.
  3. The members of the group shall have the ability to communicate within the BEST network. Access to internet and telephone are compulsory.
  4. The group shall write a motivation letter where the information about the group is briefly presented: who are the members, how and when did they hear about BEST, how would BEST benefit the new group, the support received (university, student union, city, companies etc), future plans of the group and what are the reasons the group is interested to join BEST.
  5. The group's university must be situated within the current borders of BEST - European countries including the entire territory of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Turkey and Russian territory west of the 61° Meridian and excluding colonies.
  6. The group must have a basic overview about the activities of BEST, which should be reflected in the motivation letter.
  7. The group shall be recognised by their University as an existing group. The University should support the potential Local BEST Group, therefore the International Board should receive a support letter from the University authorities (rector, vice rector for studies or equivalent from their university) where the university gives the consent to create a BEST group and its veracity is confirmed by the stamp of the university or the of the entity signing the letter. The support letter should be written in English elsewise its official translation shall be provided.

Besides the basic requirements, you should keep in mind that the most important criteria to join BEST are, in all stages, the students' initiative and motivation. This means that it is the students who have to take the initiative to apply for BEST Membership.

First steps towards creating a Local BEST Group (LBG):

  1. Find some other interested friends of yours
  2. Make a small research to have the overview on BEST
  3. Get a friendly contact from your university to support you in your application (international office, management of school, student union etc.)
  4. Write to us on [email protected] so we can get to know you and provide further assistance in becoming a part of BEST

Procedure for creating a Local BEST Group (LBG):

First step you should take is to write an official application to the Secretary of BEST ([email protected]) and the detailed steps to be taken to create a Local BEST Group will be explained. If youg group fits the criteria and/or upon request, the Secretary of BEST we will send you all the necessary documents (official application form and guidelines for motivation letter and support letter from the university) for creating a BEST Group at your university.

Briefly, these steps include:

  1. Filling in an application form which gathers questions about your university, your group, etc.
  2. Submitting the motivation letter by your group explaining why you want to join BEST, a few words about yourselves (what you study etc), and how you learnt about BEST.
  3. Submitting the support letter from the university.

Collect these documents in one .zip file, and be ready to transfer it electronically before the deadline. The deadlines are two per year: on the 1st of July at 23:00 CEST, and on the 1st of December at 23:00 CET.

The International Board examines all the applications, but can accept only a limited number of new groups.

The criteria taken into account while deciding upon the acceptance of new Observer Groups are:

  • Geographic location (compliance with the current borders of BEST)
  • Support letter from the University
  • Founders of the group are students of technology
  • University provides an education leading to the highest degree below the Ph.D. in technology studies
  • Basic overview of BEST activities
  • HR situation of the group
  • Motivation
  • Educational system
  • BEST coverage of the country/city
  • Additional factors (number of the students of technology, ranking of university within the country/Europe, competition at the university, university support etc)

If the applying group is accepted as an Observer Group, then its representatives will be informed about it and invited to the next General Meeting. The attendance to the General Meetings is mandatory for Observer Groups, otherwise the status is automatically lost.

From the moment you are accepted as Observer Group, the procedure is running. Keep in mind that you present both your university, as well as your group at the General Meetings and within the organisation.

As a BEST Observer you get the chance to get to know BEST through taking part in our meetings and activities. You are however not yet a Member of BEST, and cannot use the name "BEST Member" nor "LBG", neither the logo of BEST nor other associated visual elements. You also get an experienced volunteer of BEST appointed as your Doctor, and this person provides you with practical information on how to start in BEST.

Take the first step in the wonderful journey towards being a Local BEST Group!