For the first time ever, Freie Universität Berlin has awarded over two hundred Deutschlandstipendium scholarships to students, making it the most successful university in Berlin in this regard. Two hundred and five students in total will receive three hundred euros per month through the scholarship program, half of which comes from private donors, the other half from the German federal government. The new scholarship holders and donors were invited to an award ceremony hosted by the president of Freie Universität, Günter M. Ziegler, and the university’s vice president with responsibilities for teaching and learning, Sven Chojnacki. The celebrations also included a panel discussion with students who are currently scholarship holders.

Freie Universität’s president, Günter M. Ziegler, was delighted to welcome students to the award ceremony on campus after a hiatus of three years due to the pandemic. About three hundred and fifty guests were in attendance, including the scholarship holders, family members and friends, and donors.

Professor Ziegler said that the group of students who had received scholarships was as diverse and international as Freie Universität itself. With some currently studying abroad in countries like Egypt, Portugal, Jamaica, Finland, and Cambodia, it was also clear that their perspectives extended far beyond Germany’s borders. Ziegler acknowledged the great work students have been doing as volunteers in their free time, such as helping out at Berlin’s food banks and sports clubs, supporting vulnerable people, taking part in mentoring programs at schools and kindergartens, and organizing workshops and festivals. The Deutschlandstipendium scholarships are awarded on the basis of outstanding academic achievement and civic engagement, while also factoring in the applicant’s personal circumstances, background, and potential adversity they might have faced.

The panel discussion shone a light on the stories of three current scholarship holders and their accomplishments. Under the title “The Deutschlandstipendium Scholarship – Building Responsibility, Inspiring Change,” moderator and former scholarship holder Simon Schütz asked three students how the scholarship had improved their lives. 

Math student Dana Wehner said that the scholarship has given her “more confidence, peace of mind, and space to breathe.” Having more time on her hands has allowed her to go abroad to do an internship in Newcastle and an exchange in Cambridge. Students Sarah Brühl and Andreja Pazanin agreed that it was now possible for them to invest more time in preparing for exams and exploring their academic interests rather than working to finance their studies.

Pazanin, a psychology student in the master’s degree program, said that applying for the scholarship meant that she had to revisit the path her life had taken up to now. She attended a comprehensive school, where she was class representative, and later got her diploma at a high school focused on business studies. It took her fifteen years to have the confidence to apply for a bachelor’s degree program – which she finished with top grades. She sees her Deutschlandstipendium as “recognition for everything [she’s] achieved so far.”

Sarah Brühl, a master’s student in the art history degree program with a focus on East Asia and the first member of her family to attend university, says that the scholarship has given her a confidence boost in her studies. Dana Wehner first went to university at the age of sixteen, and the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship has made it possible for her to begin a second degree program in mathematics. She volunteers on the board of directors for the Deutschlandstipendium chapter of the Ernst Reuter Society of Friends, Supporters, and Alumni of Freie Universität Berlin. Membership is free for current and former scholarship holders as well as private donors. She organizes scientific colloquia and networking events together with her fellow board members Marie Gräf and Maximilian Weigand.

Extracurricular volunteering and civic engagement are also very important to Sarah Brühl and Andreja Pazanin. Brühl is especially interested in provenance research, which involves examining the origins of works of art and cultural artifacts and determining, for example, whether they were misappropriated through colonial violence. She believes that museums bear a great responsibility to carry out investigations of this nature and would like to work in this field in the future. Pazanin can also imagine linking her current volunteering activities to her future career. The aspiring psychologist accompanies the children of imprisoned mothers to visitations.

The award ceremony was accompanied by music composed by scholarship holder Constanza Vera-Fluixá. All scholarship holders received their certificates during the celebration and got the chance to talk to each other and their donors afterwards. Vice President Sven Chojnacki closed the ceremony with the following remarks: “When you study, it’s a never-ending journey. You never know where it will take you – maybe you’ll even become vice president one day!”

The original German version of this article appeared in campus.leben, the online magazine published by Freie Universität Berlin.