Honored: Germany Scholarships and prizes awarded for outstanding achievements and intercultural commitment

One of them is Thomas Röckl, a fifth-semester mechatronics student and student assistant at both the Product and Systems Engineering Group and the Central Institute for Education, where he passes on his practical skills to pupils and students in workshops on soldering and 3D printing. On behalf of all the students receiving funding, he described his perspective on the Deutschlandstipendium and thanked the sponsors. He developed an interest in physics and technology while still at school in Bavaria. He was selected for the scholarship when he began his studies in Ilmenau:

That was a great encouragement for me in the early days. Like many others, not everything went smoothly for me. But I knew that, in addition to my family, someone else had my back and gave me the feeling that I was in the right place here at university.

This year, three new associations, companies and private individuals have been added to the list of supporters of talented and committed students at TU Ilmenau. In his speech, Dr. Nikolai Gauss from the Christian Bürkert Foundation explained the motivation for supporting the young people on behalf of all sponsors: "The scholarship is intended to give you freedom: Freedom for educational opportunities and your development." At the same time, the support should also be seen as a mission:

We live in a world with increasing uncertainty and limited resources for us humans. We have the task of creating conditions that enable eight billion people on this earth to live well together. Use your talents and skills, your dynamism and your sense of responsibility to make a personal contribution to good, prosperous and peaceful coexistence in this world.

This is exactly what the two students who were awarded the Prize for Intercultural Commitment by the City of Ilmenau and TU Ilmenau and the DAAD Prize for Outstanding Achievement by International Students at German Universities at the event are committed to.

The Prize for Intercultural Commitment of the City of Ilmenau and the International Office of the TU Ilmenau 2023, which is endowed with 500 euros, recognizes individuals who have made a special contribution to the integration and support of international citizens. This year, Jennifer Körner, a student of the Media Economics Master's degree course, received the award. She has been committed to helping people from different cultural backgrounds since the beginning of her Bachelor's degree in Applied Media and Communication Studies initially as a student assistant in the International Office at TU Ilmenau, but since 2022 also as a volunteer in ISWI e.V.. In the non-profit association, she is committed to bringing students who want to spend part of their studies abroad together with international students at TU Ilmenau as part of a local Erasmus+ initiative for Ilmenau that she co-founded. "We have the deepest respect for you and congratulate you on your well-deserved award for Intercultural Commitment 2023," said Maria Franczyk, Integration Officer of the City of Ilmenau, in her laudatory speech.

Jennifer Körner was unable to accept her award in person, as she is currently spending a semester abroad in Nantes: "But I can already say that I will return to Ilmenau from France with a suitcase full of ideas and experiences," the student said online: "I hope that I can continue to develop and, above all, share my passion and intercultural commitment at the TU Ilmenau and in the city of Ilmenau in the future."