Events

Welcome to Sodom is a thought-provoking Austrian documentary on Europe’s largest waste dump, which is located in Africa, on the outskirts of the Ghanaian capital of Accra.

Electronic waste and other items discarded in Europe end up here, at the Agbogbloshie waste dump. It is one of the most polluted places on earth.

On 7 May 2021, we viewed a number of scenes from the film before speaking with Lucas Schmitz, a Germany Scholarship alumnus of Universität Hamburg and founder of Sana Mare e. V., along with Frederik Töner and Florian Keil from the waste management department at Hamburg’s environmental authorities. What impact does our consumption behavior have on other parts of the world? How can we dispose of electronic waste responsibly in Hamburg? Fascinating questions and reflections made for a compelling event.

On 19 May 2021, a particularly entertaining event entitled ‘Sharing my talents’ took place, during which 3 Germany Scholarship holders showcased their outstanding musical talents. The following musicians took part, some of whom presented self-composed works:

Kubilay Demir: Jazz music in Hamburg
Giorgia Macrelli: Being a songwriter traveling the world
Adrian Börner: Unusual pieces on left and right-handed guitars

The event concluded with a networking session on Zoom.

Since the coronavirus continues to have a major impact on our daily lives and will have lasting effects for our society long after the pandemic has eased, we sought to address these long-term consequences from different perspectives during two events:

At 6 pm on 3 June 2021, Prof. Dr. Georg Ringe gave a presentation on “COVID-19 and EU Financial Stability.” As the director of the Institute of Law and Economics at Universität Hamburg, he provided fascinating insights into the EU’s financial policy, the ECB’s crisis management, and the associated legal aspects.

The event concluded with a networking session on Zoom.

On 10 June 2021, Prof. Dr. Gabriele Klein gave a lecture titled “Berührung und Ansteckung. Warum Körper systemrelevant sind” (Contact and infection. Why bodies are systemically important). Klein is a professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science at Universität Hamburg and, since 2020, has been using a sociological approach to examine the impacts of social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic on our body perception.

The event finished up with smaller discussion groups.

At the end of the summer semester, an event titled “Sharing my talents,” part 2 took place on 7 July 2021 at 7:30 pm.  This time, the focus was on artistic interests and talents:

Margarita Ilieva: video production

Lynn Meeder: painting and clay sculpting

Anke Ehrenreich: artistic work with children

Before splitting up into smaller discussion groups, there was a joint artistic conclusion.

The opening event for the new winter semester took place on 12 November 2020. Scholarship holders had the opportunity to get to know one another and to network. The event naturally also took place online, via Zoom. Given that the current circumstances are leading to new situations, scholarship holders were able to talk about the pandemic restrictions and challenges they are facing in their studies, and to share tips and ideas via Padlet.

A total of 6 Germany Scholarship holders presented their master’s theses this semester. Jenny Gabel (informatics) went first, giving a presentation on 13 November 2020 on the development of a software framework for researchers working in the fields of human-computer interaction, psychology, and therapy/rehabilitation. In her interactive presentation, Ms. Gabel showed how software can be used to execute test subjects’ hand and arm movements in virtual reality (VR). These movements can also be manipulated in a number of different ways to address specific research questions about human perception or to test therapy approaches. She used optical illusions to explain which part of the brain was relevant for this software.

On 27 November 2020, Prof. Dr. med. Gerhard Adam gave a presentation on one of the most important Germans in history, Konrad Wilhelm Röntgen, and traced the evolution of diagnostic imaging.

Professor Adam is the director of the Department of Interventional and Diagnostic Radiology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. He outlined Konrad Röntgen’s work and explained how diagnostic procedures began in medicine and how they have since evolved.

On 30 November 2020, Laura Rohsius (educational science) presented the second master’s thesis on encouraging coherence and addressing mental health during counseling for victims of sexualized violence. Counseling children and young people affected by sexualized violence can be particularly emotionally draining. Rohsius conducted expert interviews with 4 advisors from different counseling centers in Hamburg to gain insights into daily practices beyond the theory. It became clear during the research that different methods exist to lend coherence.

On 10 December 2020, Germany Scholarship holders and donors participated in an online live cooking event with the Düsseldorf-based chef, Dennis Gasper. Whether in student accommodation or their own apartment, they were all able to rustle up a delicious menu in their own kitchen. A pleasant evening “together” was enjoyed by all after cooking, with opportunities to chat and exchange experiences.

On 16 December 2020, Robin Stuhr (chemistry) presented the third master’s thesis on the photooxygenation of cardanols under flow conditions.

The cultivation of cashew nuts produces a great deal of waste in the form of nut shells. Inexpensive methods exist to extract a substance called cardanol from these shells. One of the aims of the master’s thesis was to alter this raw material chemically to produce polyurethane (e.g., foams, insulation, etc.) under the most environmentally-friendly and sustainable reaction conditions possible.

On 13 January 2021, Georgi Zhelev (business administration) presented the fourth master’s thesis on demand estimation with machine learning.

He addressed the following questions: Which methods for machine learning are there? What are they used for in industry and science? Can they be used to predict consumer decisions or the demand for products?

On 21 January 2021, Souhaila Wüsthoff (molecular life sciences) presented the fifth master’s thesis on the development of the brain in embryos.

She analyzed the development of singular neurons and their connectivity using mouse embryos.

The main focus of Ms. Wüsthoff’s working group on understanding the development of embryo brains is extremely important to the understanding of a whole host of diseases and their development. To date, disorders such as autism have mainly been considered psychological in nature, however research has now also revealed molecular biology aspects.

One further highlight followed on Wednesday, 27 January 2021: Prof. Dr. Frank Fehrenbach, who is a professor from the Art History Seminar at Universität Hamburg took us on a trip to Italy for a tour of the world-famous Uffizi in Florence. He explained paintings and sketches by Leonardo da Vinci during an online museum presentation.

On 10 February 2021, Arne Glink (geophysics) presented the final master’s thesis on the development and geometry of fracture zones on mid-oceanic spreading centers where 2 tectonic plates are drifting apart.

These fault zones can circulate hot fluids, resulting in a complex interplay of different physical processes. Mr. Glink has developed a numerical computer model to map these processes, most of which cannot be observed directly.

The final event in the winter semester took place in February 2021: the award ceremony for the Germany Scholarship 2021.

Events in the summer semester 2020

Due to the corona pandemic, we had to cancel all planned events for the summer semester at short notice. The following events could alternatively take place via Zoom:

The traditional semester opening evening with around 70 participants, took place online on May 6, 2020. In this format, conversations in small groups and information in the plenary session were also possible.

In the Corona phase, in which many did little sport in their free time and watched all the more movies, two Corona Specials had to be offered:

On June 8, 2020, nine teams competed against each other in an online film quiz. In three rounds, 26 questions about film clips, actors and producers had to be answered.

On June 24, 2020, many scholarship holders accepted the challenge of an intensive 45-minute interval- and ZUMBA training session. Vera-Sauter-Bruijn, employee of the Germany Scholarship office and Zumba trainer, made everyone sweat with a lot of enthusiasm and fun.

Events in Summer Semester 2019

On April 17, 2019, the scholarship holders were invited to a semester opening evening in the Anna Siemssen Hörsaal.

On April 24, 2019, all scholarship holders and sponsors whad the opportunity to meet British American Tobacco (BAT) and the “Stiftung für Zukunftsfragen”. BAT is again sponsoring ten Germany Scholarships for students with a refugee background at the UHH this year. The international company is committed (mostly invisibly) in many cultural and social areas. Prof. Dr. Ulrich Reinhardt (Foundation for Future Studies) gave a lecture on the topic "Beautiful new world of work - What's coming? What remains? What is possible?"

On Friday, May 3, 2019, one of the Germany scholarship holders gave us the opportunity to spend the afternoon at the sailing club at Neuländer See. It was planned to barbecue together and chill around the campfire ...

On May 10, 2019, the University of Hamburg celebrates its 100th anniversary. All Germany Scholarship holders are invited to the official anniversary ceremony in the Audimax. Following the celebration, a campus party will take place around the Audimax.

On June 12, 2019, we offered interested scholarship recipients and sponsors a boat trip/ harbor cruise in cooperation with Hafen Marketing GmbH. The boat passed the Speicherstadt, terminals, shipyards and berths. The guide explained a brief history and then went into more details about the services and capacities of the port facilities, as well as figures and facts about the Port of Hamburg.

On the 20th of June 2019 we once again celebrated a big summer party of all Germany Scholarship holders of the Hamburg universities and their sponsors. Scholarship holders and sponsors of all Hamburg universities were welcome!

Events in Winter Semester 2019/20

The semester opening evening of the winter semester took place on October 4, 2019. The scholarship holders met in the “Geomaticum” and dealt with the topic of “excellence” in groups.

Donors and scholarship holders took part in the University Ball in November 2019, with which the UHH ended its 100th anniversary year. Once again, the tombola prizes were destined for the Germany Scholarships and raised a total of 7200 euros that evening. A consistent sponsor, the Lothar and Ingrid Hemshorn Foundation, doubled the amount of money. This enabled eight Germany Scholarships 2020 for talented and committed students.

 In November 2019 we had the opportunity to visit the Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR), the broadcasting service in Northern Germany, twice with a group of 25 scholarship holders and donors. We received an interesting tour through the studios, technical rooms, the fund, etc.

On February 1, 2020, a total of 70 scholarship holders and donors were able to enjoy a concert by the “Audience Orchestra” of the Elbphilharmonie.

The Award Ceremony for the Germany Scholarships 2020 took place on February 6, 2020.

Dr. Dr. Uwe Koch-Gromus, Dean of the Medical Faculty of the Universität Hamburg, welcomed the 162 scholarship holders and the donors of the Germany Scholarship. The thematic focus of the celebration was the support of medical students. Two scholarship holders interviewed two medical students with a refugee background and a donor in medicine. A law student reported on the nationwide Summer Academy of the Germany Scholarship 2019. The musical accompaniment of the cellist Eloy Medina and the accordionist Daniel Roth, both Germany Scholarship holders from the Liszt University of Music in Weimar, completed the evening with music.

 

Picture: Bente Stachowske

Events in Summer Semester 2018

On 12 April 2018 all scholarship holders were invited to a start of the semester evening. The evening was a good opportunity for new and current Germany Scholarship holders to get to know each other.

On 2 May 2018, scholarship holders and sponsors attended a rehearsal by the NDR Orchestra at the Elbphilharmonie.

Rehearsal in the Elbphilharmonie, Photo: Andrea Schultze

 This followed on 13 May 2018 with an exclusive group tour for scholarship holders and sponsors through the Elbphilharmonie.

All sponsors were invited to a boat trip on the Outer Alster to celebrate this year’s Japanese cherry blossom festival on 25 May 2018. On board, participants had the chance to meet with Prof. Dr. Jetta Frost, the vice president of Universität Hamburg, University professors, and other Germany Scholarship sponsors. Snacks were provided. The fireworks display, organized every year by the Japanese community in Hamburg to celebrate the cherry blossom festival, begins around 10 pm.

Boattrip on the Outer Alster during Japanese cherry blossom festival, Photo: Dr. Petra Wohlfarth

On 6 June 2018, Dr. Krause from the Center for the History of Universität Hamburg hosted a tour of the Von-Melle-Park  campus for all interested sponsors and scholarship holders. The campus tour is in English. After the tour, a joint round table was planned.

On 27 June 2018, the great summer festival for all Hamburg Germany Scholarship recipients was held for the second time. Participants met the Germany Scholarship recipients from other higher education institutions and from different departments. This year the sponsors from all higher education institutions were also invited. The summer festival was held at the major higher education institutions around Hamburg. This year the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) was host.

                                                                 

Hamburg Germany Scholarship recipients at TUHH, Photo: Andrea Schultze

Events in Winter Semester 2017/2018

 Scholarship providers and holders enjoyed a visit to the theater on 12 October 2017. Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Physicists was performed at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus. After the performance, the group stopped at a cozy pub for a chat.

On 2 November 2017, scholarship providers and holders had an opportunity to visit the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) together. DESY is a research center of the Helmholtz Association and one of the world’s leading centers for particle accelerators. A guided tour was held in English and German. After the tour, there was time for another pub visit.

Scholarship holders and providers visiting DESY, Photo: Andrea Schultze
All Deutschlandstipendium (Germany Scholarship) providers were invited to attend the University Ball on 18 November 2017.

 The Germany Scholarship and its provider MLP Finanzdienstleistungen AG organized a workshop on personality analysis (based on the Golden Profiler of Personality method) for the scholarship holders on 29 November 2017.

 The scholarship award ceremony for the Germany Scholarships took place on the UKE premises on 31 January 2018, 6:30 pm.

The fringe program of the winter semester concluded with a joint visit to the University orchestra concert for scholarship providers and holders on 4 February 2018 at 8 pm. The orchestra performed Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the Laeiszhalle.

Events in Summer Semester 2017

On 30 March 2017, the University Society Hamburg, Universität Hamburg’s largest scholarship provider, invited all scholarship holders to a lecture on a highly topical issue: “Security and Peace Research: Contrary or Complementary?” The lecture was given by Prof. Dr. Michael Brzoska, director emeritus (2016) of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH) at Universität Hamburg, which also sponsors two scholarships.

On 6 April 2017, around 40 scholarship holders attended the first regular get-together of the semester at the Deutschlandstipendium Office. Above all, the evening—now an annual tradition—enables former and current scholarship holders to network and exchange information, make suggestions, and ask questions.

Scholarship holders at the first get-together of the semester. Photo: Andrea Schultze

In light of our scholarship program’s focus on sustainability, a group of around 30 scholarship holders visited the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ) on 12 April 2017. Michael Böttinger, Group Head Visualizations and Public Relations, showed us the supercomputer and data archive used to evaluate global climate data. The DKRZ uses the supercomputer to develop climate simulations that impressively illustrate the effects of climate change. It was the subject of a lively group discussion during and after the visit.

Visit to the DKRZ. Photo: Andrea Schultze

On 22 June 2017, we hosted an evening on the topic of studying as a refugee. Nils Razum, a member of the #UHHhilft team, and three scholarship holders who had successfully participated in the #UHHhilft program before beginning their studies explained the situation of students with refugee status who have already studied in their home country and/or wish to start studying in Hamburg.

The first Hamburg-wide meeting of scholarship holders took place on 6 July 2017. Six higher education institutions at which these scholarships are awarded attended, including Universität Hamburg, HafenCity University, Hamburg University of Technology, and Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. HafenCity University hosted the event with a summer party on its large terrace overlooking the Elbe River.

Summer party for the scholarship holders, photo: HCU

Events in Winter Semester 2016/2017

On the 8th November 2016, scholarship providers and holders at Universität Hamburg took part in the Falling Walls Lab in Berlin. Sayantan Auddy, a recipient of a Deutschlandstipendium from the Verwaltungs-Berufsgenossenschaft (VBG) completing a degree in intelligent adaptive systems, reports:

“Thank you very much for giving me the wonderful opportunity of attending the Falling Walls Lab. It was an incredible experience for me. There were 100 participants from more than 50 different countries who presented their unique and innovative ideas in front of a reputed jury and a diverse audience… The ideas ranged from topics of alternative and renewable energy to nano technology to ways of reducing food waste and many more... I followed the presentations with great interest, and was inspired by the way these young people had set out to make a positive impact in the world. I was also motivated to try and shape my career in a way that allows me to contribute to the betterment of society… All in all, this day was a memorable one, and I am really happy that I could be a part of such an event.”

On 10 November 2016, all scholarship holders and providers participated in an English-language tour of the historical rector’s office at the University.

2016 University Ball. Photo: Manfred Carl

On 19 November 2016, we once again invited all providers to the University Ball.

Airbus BizLab workshop. Photo: Lena Boedeker

On 7 December 2016, scholarship holders and providers were invited to participate in an English-language tour of the Airbus plant and a workshop in the Airbus BizLab. We discussed start-ups and their challenges.

In January 2017, scholarship provider Ernst & Young hosted an all-day workshop on project management for scholarship holders for the second time. Lukas Kellermeier was there:

“During the workshop, we covered the key principles of project management, and then worked in small groups to apply these to case studies at fictitious companies. This allowed us to consolidate our knowledge, which will help us correctly plan and implement future projects.”

The award ceremony for the 2017 Deutschlandstipendium was held at 6 pm on 24 January 2017 in the Main Hall of the UKE’s Erika House. See the photos in the online gallery. A report on the award ceremony appeared in Universität Hamburg’s newsletter.

Events in Summer Semester 2016

Visit to WindGas Hamburg. Photo: Andrea Schultze

On 2 June 2016, scholarship holders and providers visited the WindGas Hamburg project as part of our sustainability efforts and the German Action Days during the European Sustainable Development Week. The WindGas Hamburg project is developing path-breaking energy technology in Hamburg.

On 24 June 2016, scholarship holders and providers attended the final production of the master’s degree in performance studies at the Kampnagel performance arts center. Several scholarship holders took part in the performance. There was a discussion afterwards with the scholarship holders, course supervisor Prof. Dr. Gabriele Klein, and the Artistic Director of the K3 Center for Choreography, Ms. Kerstin Evert.

On 20 July 2016, around 20 students and providers went on an all-day excursion to Kiel to visit the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research and Universität Hamburg’s research ship Alkor. We spent the morning at the GEOMAR with scholarship holders and providers from the University of Kiel. In the afternoon, Dr. Dehghani from the Department of Geophysics at Universität Hamburg and one of the scholarship holders from the Department of Geophysics showed us around the Alkor research ship and talked about current research on the Baltic Sea. This wonderful sunny day ended with a BBQ aboard the Alkor.

Visit to the GEOMAR. Photo: Andrea Schultze

Visit to Universität Hamburg’s research ship. Photo: Andrea Schultze

Events in 2015

14 March 2015:

The Deutschlandstipendium provider Seerechtsstiftung (German Maritime Law Foundation) invited all scholarship holders to the Maritime Talks conference at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg.

30 April 2015:
Visit to the wind tunnel at the Institute of Meteorology at Universität Hamburg.



13 May 2015:
The Deutschlandstipendium provider Avantgarde Experts invited all scholarship holders in Hamburg to an application training course.

10 October 2015:
All Deutschlandstipendium providers were invited to Universität Hamburg’s University Ball.

14 October 2015:
First regular get-together of the semester with an introduction to the Join the Best international internship program of Deutschlandstipendium provider MPL Finanzdienstleistungen AG.

On 23 October 2015, Deutschlandstipendium provider Ernst & Young GmbH hosted a day of training to introduce scholarship holders at Universität Hamburg and other higher education institutions to project management. This was followed by our regular get-together.

13 November 2015:
Visit to the Hamburg Observatory in Bergedorf, followed by relaxed chat.