Meeting between students and sponsors to get to know each other.
Shortly before Easter, the Germany Scholarship holders of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences met with their sponsors and the university management. The aim of the event was to get to know each other. This year's sponsors were TRUMPF Sachsen GmbH in Neukirch, Deutsche Keditbank (Dresden branch), Sparkasse Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien, VattenfallMining & Generation (two scholarships), AUKOM e. V., GWT-TU Dresden, Förderverein der Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz e. V. and Cellpack GmbH (two scholarships).
Member of the Bundestag Michael Kretschmer and members of the state parliament Dr. Stephan Meyer and Octavian Ursu jointly provided a Deutschlandstipendium scholarship. The sponsors thus made it possible for eleven Deutschlandstipendium scholarships to be awarded to students from different faculties in the 2014/2015 academic year.
These are Johannes Hebrich (KIA Electrical Engineering degree course), Frank Resick (KIA Mechanical Engineering degree course), Stephanie Bahr (Business Administration degree course), Daniel Peuker (KIA Mechanical Engineering degree course) Paul Herrmann, (Energy and Environmental Engineering degree course), Moritz Pietsch (KIA Mechatronics degree course), Robert Wagner (KIA Mechatronics degree course), Kati Knoll (Business Administration degree course), Susann Rudolf (Business Mathematics degree course), Michael Pein (Tourism degree course) and Marie-Luise Sakowski (Culture and Management degree course).
After a general round of introductions, a lively discussion developed among the participants. Susann Rudolf spoke enthusiastically about her time abroad in South Africa. She completed internships at BMW there. The Germany Scholarship was a great financial relief for her. Paul Herrmann was in Mexico for an internship at VW. The Deutschlandstipendium was also a great help for him. "In Mexico, Master's students usually go to work to earn a living," he reports. It is also not known that an academic thesis has to be submitted after a practical semester. He could only write it alongside his internship. But this "pressure" from the university also meant that the quality of the work was good.
The Rector remarked that "an exceptionally high number of KIA students are among the scholarship holders ", which also shows that this group of students is made up of very high-achieving students. Overall, our Germany Scholarship holders represent a certain level of performance at the university. It is not only performance in the subjects that would be taken into account for selection, but also social and community involvement play a major role," continued the Rector.
Moritz Pietsch is studying mechatronics in his 10th semester and will be completing his diploma phase at Trumpf Sachsen GmbH from May. He has been a KIA student at this company from the start of his studies and has also received encouragement and support from them. He is very grateful for this, as he would also like to stay in the region. In the meantime, he has specialized in software development and is already receiving independent orders. He will start working there after completing his studies.
All scholarship holders feel that the award of the Deutschlandstipendium is a personal recognition of their achievements during their studies. It also allows them to concentrate more on their studies and eases their financial situation.
Saskia Grosser from Vattenfall emphasized that the company would like to be more involved in the selection process and that it would be desirable for students in the lower semesters to apply for a scholarship and would like to have more early contact with the scholarship holders. In addition to supporting particularly talented young people, the donors of the Deutschlandstipendium also aim to offer them prospects in the region. The Rector thanked the sponsors present and presented them with a certificate in recognition of their commitment.
Further information can be found at www.hszg.de/deutschlandstipendium.