»Seizing Opportunities« - The German National Scholarship
The Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) funding programme "Seizing Opportunities" - the German National Scholarship - is aimed at high-achieving students from all faculties at HHU. All students can receive funding from the first semester of their Bachelor's degree to the completion of their Master's degree or state examination. In the winter semester 2023/24, 465 students from all faculties at HHU were supported with the German National Scholarship.
The programme is based on the "matching" procedure: The federal government provides €150 per month for each scholarship. This amount is matched by private donors, companies or foundations, so that each scholarship holder is supported with €300 per month. In addition to financial support, this programme enables scholarship holders to take part in events with "their" benefactors, the Ambassador for Scholarships, Honorary Senator Prof. Dr Hannelore Riesner and other members of the university. Since 2020, Dr Kai Dannenberg, Youth Ambassador, has also been available as a contact person for scholarship holders. A scholarship thus promises additional insights into the most diverse areas of science as well as social, cultural and economic life in the city and region of Düsseldorf. The idealistic support concept for scholarship holders was honoured by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft in the nationwide competition "Die Besten begleiten".
Detailed information can be found on the official website of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Scholarship award ceremony 2023/24
The 15th scholarship award ceremony for "Seizing Opportunities" - the German National Scholarship at HHU offered some superlatives and a lot of emotion. Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf has once again defended its top position in the ranking of the number of scholarships awarded in North Rhine-Westphalia. As part of the scholarship ceremony, it was time to bid farewell to our successful and likeable scholarship ambassador and honorary senator Prof Hannelore Riesner, who maintained personal contact with almost all of the 88 donors. "Hannelore Riesner ran the scholarship programme with her own enthusiasm - the fact that 70 scholarships in 2009 have now become 465 shows the power of her work over the years," praised Rector Prof. Anja Steinbeck in a personal speech. The direct contact and individual support form the basis of the scholarship programme and are a special feature of HHU: "The idea that the scholarship programme at HHU is more than just an anonymous awarding of scholarships is largely due to the idea and concept as well as the nature of our scholarship ambassador and founder from the very beginning," said the Rector. A video message of greeting from former Science Minister Prof Andreas Pinktwart (FDP) was followed by a standing ovation for Prof Riesner and then a cheerful celebration in the lecture theatre foyer. You can find more details here.
You can find the full report here