Spirit of Initiative, Courage and Humanity: DAAD Award for Doctoral Student Kamila Costa

Research with social relevance: safety for the energy transition

For more than ten years, the DAAD has honored young people who shape the image of a global university community through high academic achievement and exceptional commitment. “It is an exceptional honor for me today to recognize a personality whose dedication, attitude, and academic excellence exemplify the values of the DAAD Prize for Outstanding International Students: Ms. M. Sc. Kamila Cristina Costa, doctoral student at TU Ilmenau from Brazil and scholarship holder of the German Federal Environmental Foundation,” said Dr. Diana Moehrke-Rasul, Deputy Head of the International Office at TU Ilmenau, in her laudatory speech.

Currently in the third year of her doctoral studies, the PhD candidate impresses with her sophisticated research on optimizing lightning and surge protection for large photovoltaic and agrivoltaic systems—“a topic of high social relevance for the energy transition and for sustainable development worldwide.”

Through her doctoral research, Kamila Costa is working to make photovoltaic systems safer and more efficient. Her particular focus lies on agrivoltaic systems, for which practical lightning protection guidelines are still largely lacking. Based on data and requirements from real plant operators, she calculates and simulates how air terminals and grounding systems must be designed to capture and dissipate lightning strikes more safely, prevent outages, reduce maintenance costs, and protect both personnel and livestock. In doing so, she helps ensure that these systems supply electricity reliably, last longer, and that innovative land-use concepts gain broader acceptance in the context of the energy transition.

Kamila Costa herself describes what drives her research:

Curiosity has always been at the core of my journey. 

What began during her bachelor’s studies as a fascination with lightning protection developed over the years into a deep engagement with electrical energy systems in the context of renewable energy. Whether working on grounding systems, electromagnetic interference, or technical consulting, she has always combined research with practical application.

Today, during her doctoral studies at TU Ilmenau, she sees her work in a broader context:

I see research not just as a profession, but as a purpose. It’s a way of growing, contributing, and keeping that curiosity alive.

The fact that the young woman also thinks far outside the box also impressed her supervisor Prof. Michael Rock:

I have never before met such an active and community-oriented doctoral student.

More than research: commitment to community, sustainability and exchange

Right at the beginning of her stay, Kamila Costa became involved in the German Language Club—a place that is much more than a simple language-learning format. There, she improved her German skills, supported others with English and Portuguese, and built her first networks. From this grew deeper engagement in intercultural exchange, such as participating in a tandem program with a local school in Ilmenau.

Her interest in sustainability led her to the university’s Sustainability Working Group and to the Ilmenau regional group of “Engineers Without Borders,” where she contributed to planning a rooftop PV system for a community kitchen in Malawi.

At the beginning of 2025, as she entered the intensive phase of her doctoral studies, a personal observation sparked a new initiative: the PhD Roundtable. Today, it has become a permanent part of Ilmenau’s early-career research community—a space without performance pressure, as she emphasizes: open, supportive, human—much like herself. Dr. Diana Moehrke-Rasul notes:

Ms. Costa embodies the values that are indispensable in globally connected science—intercultural understanding, solidarity, sustainability, and humanity.

"I really had to start from scratch here" - a personal look back
 

In her acceptance speech, Kamila Costa openly shared her journey to Ilmenau:

My path here began with a dream: to pursue a doctorate in Germany. Only afterward did I discover Ilmenau.

Staff from the International Office, the Academic Service Center, and her future supervisor supported her even before enrollment—experiences that showed her she was welcome. Still, the beginning was challenging:

When I arrived nearly three years ago, I came alone: without family, without friends. And I faced major challenges ahead of me: the PhD itself, the German language, a new culture. I truly had to start here from zero.

Over time, Ilmenau became a place she could call home—not despite its size, but because of it:

The town is small, but that’s exactly what I liked: the Thuringian Forest—my favorite place to relax—the calm, and the chance to focus on what matters.

But most important to her were the people:

Without these people, my experience here would not have been so rich—and never would have received this award.

Friendships became a kind of family, colleagues became companions along the way, and the PhD Roundtable became a community that supports her.

Two homes - and the DAAD Prize as a bridge

Shortly before leaving for her home country of Brazil, to which she will return for a few weeks at the turn of the year, she articulated something felt by many international students but rarely expressed so clearly::

Today I know: I do not belong ‘less’ to a place because I left my country. I belong to several places. Brazil remains my home. Ilmenau has become one.

This is precisely the feeling the DAAD Prize aims to highlight: Every international student brings something with them—and leaves something behind. An exchange that enriches both sides.