University facilitates contact between sponsors and scholarship students / Awardee of the Rhineland-Palatinate Teaching Award donates prize money
08.08.2012
In the 2012/2013 winter semester, 102 gifted and dedicated students at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) will be the recipients of a scholarship in the German "National Scholarship Program", the so-called Deutschlandstipendium. These scholarships will be funded half by the federal government and half by private donors. To finance these scholarships, JGU has managed to raise some EUR 230,000 from 27 companies, private donors, and foundations. The money will be used to fund both one-year scholarships and scholarships covering a period of up to four years. JGU was one of the first universities in Germany to participate in the federal government's scholarship program in 2011, when it awarded 100 Deutschlandstipendium scholarships in that year. So far, 202 Mainz students have received financial support through this program designed to promote academic excellence.
The 102 scholarship to be awarded in the coming winter semester include 20 Deutschlandstipendium scholarships sponsored by the Friends of Mainz University, 15 Evonik Deutschlandstipendium scholarships, and 10 Carl Zeiss Foundation scholarships. In addition, the recipient of the 2010/2011 Rhineland-Palatinate Teaching Award, Professor Stefan Scherer of the Institute of Nuclear Physics at Mainz University, has donated his prize money in order to finance five scholarship grants. "The National Scholarship Program represents an excellent way to financially support up-and-coming academics at our university," explains Scherer. "I have decided to donate the prize money from my 2010/2011 Rhineland-Palatinate Teaching Award as a way of expressing my deepest thanks to the students for voting for me and thus again providing evidence of their endorsement of my work. To be successful, learning and teaching must be based on mutual trust and respect. Of course, I would be thrilled if my gesture was to be imitated and future teaching award recipients used the opportunity to provide optimum support for young talents."
Scholarships are also being financed by Bertelsmann AG, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co KG, Clariant, Ernst & Young Stiftung e.V., the Friends of the Botanic Garden, Heraeus Kulzer GmbH Division Dentistry, Herdt-Verlag für Bildungsmedien, Lotto Rheinland-Pfalz-Stiftung, medatixx GmbH & Co. KG, NSM-Löwen Entertainment GmbH, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, and Rohwedder & Partner Rechtsanwälte. The following private individuals are sponsoring one or more scholarships: Dr. Klaus Adam, Hans-Joachim Belitz, Professor Rolf Krebs, Dr. Elke Göbel and Dr. Reiner Göbel, and Klaus Wierzbicki. There are also other donors who wished to remain unnamed.
"At Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the willingness of our supporters and donors to finance scholarships for very talented students has already made a decisive contribution to our being able to provide research and teaching at the highest possible levels," explains the President of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Professor Georg Krausch. "We see the Deutschlandstipendium scholarships as an opportunity for our university and for our region to develop and reinforce this active scholarship culture."
The Deutschlandstipendium scholarships are designed to provide support to gifted students, who receive EUR 300 a month irrespective of income over a period of at least two semesters. Sponsors and the federal government each contribute EUR 150 of this.
"When selecting the scholarship recipients, the most important factor is proven top performance at secondary school and/or at university. In addition, the assumption of social responsibility within the family, societies and associations, or in social institutions may also be taken into account. Another selection criterion can be the applicant’s family background," explains the Chancellor of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Götz Scholz. Support is thus provided to young talented people who are willing to assume responsibilities in the business and academic communities that are not necessarily related to their own specialist qualifications. The program is also designed to make it possible for young people to attend university who might not otherwise be able to do so for financial reasons. The scholarship recipients are selected by the university.
By sponsoring Deutschlandstipendium scholarships at JGU, donors are not only demonstrating their social responsibility but also emphasizing their commitment to Mainz University. "There is no doubt that the future of our country lies in the hands and minds of a well-educated next generation. The German National Scholarship Program is thus an important means of providing optimal support and challenges to the talents of young people in a decisive phase of their lives," claims Peter Radermacher, Chairman of the Friends of Mainz University. "We have decided to continue with our sponsorship of last year and provide financial support for 20 Deutschlandstipendium scholarships at Mainz University. We see this as an opportunity to provide highly targeted and individual support which in the end will benefit society."
Companies also see this as an excellent chance to establish contact with the leaders and managers of tomorrow. Thus Evonik Industries AG, one of the world's leading specialist chemical companies, is participating once again in the federal support program by sponsoring 15 Deutschlandstipendium scholarships. "Our funding of the Deutschlandstipendium scholarships is both intended to provide support for the executives of tomorrow and at the same time make a social contribution," states Christine Drath of Employer Branding at Evonik Industries. "Our support of the scholarship program allows us to create and intensify contact and cooperation with relevant universities and to promote the transfer of knowledge."
The Deutschlandstipendium scholarships were made possible by the Scholarship Program Act (StipG) approved by the German federal government in July 2010. The Deutschlandstipendium scholarships are designed to provide support to gifted and particularly talented students who receive, regardless of income, EUR 300 a month over a period of at least two semesters. Donations can be claimed as tax exempt.