The Deutschlandstipendium aims to create a network and focus on the interaction between donors and scholarship holders. When awarding the scholarship, at our annual summer party or at digital meetings, the exchange between both sides has priority and allows us to grow together.

Hardly any other company in Wuppertal has such strong regional roots as the Cronenberg-based pliers manufacturer Knipex. This is illustrated not only by its location "in the village", but also by the company's social and societal commitment, which is an important part of the corporate culture at every level. It therefore came as no surprise that Ralf Putsch, who supports and accompanies many university projects, personally welcomed the 30 German scholarship holders taking part in the excursion and gave them a brief insight into his company.

In the subsequent specialist lecture on design thinking, Dr. Bernd Riepe, Head of Product Innovation, inspired his audience with strategies for creative product development - from idea to implementation. Now we know why a mother is not always a good advisor, compliments can be misleading and fear of conducting an interview can even be a positive thing. The vivid presentation not only illustrated the traditional company's open approach to development issues, but also that pliers can be a thoroughly innovative product.

The theoretical part was followed by a detailed and informative tour of the factory, which provided a complete overview of the entire production process and was rounded off by a visit to the company's own museum.

During the lunch that followed, the participants had the opportunity to ask questions and network even better with each other and the company. All in all, it was another successful excursion to one of our sponsors, which we owe to the excellent organization of Linda Schackmann and Stefanie Päsler.

Everyone is talking about AI and many people can no longer imagine their writing experience without it. What relevance does the use of AI have in writing processes? How far can the application go? More questions arise in this regard every day. Many of these questions were clarified in the workshop by Wuppertal writing experts Prof. Dr. Kirsten Schindler and Jana Fritze, who opened up new perspectives on the topic.

The approximately 75 participating scholarship holders were taught how AI tools can be used in the writing process and what needs to be considered when using them. Various tools for researching literature, discussing and summarizing specialist texts, argumentation, structuring and formulation were presented and tested together. Prompting was also discussed in concrete terms. Individual case studies were used to explore the opportunities and limitations of AI in academic writing. Our conclusion: Writing programs with AI harbor opportunities and risks. Blind trust is highly risky, but if you use it as a well-trained tool, you can also benefit greatly from it.

With 246 scholarships awarded, the 2023/24 scholarship year is the most successful in the history of the University of Wuppertal's Deutschlandstipendien program to date. Of course, it is the course of time that many scholarship holders finish their studies at the end of the winter semester or leave the program for other reasons. The high number of scholarships awarded therefore also results in an enormously high number of scholarship holders who were able to move up to the summer semester due to the departure of others. In order to honor these scholarship holders, the office team, with the active support of the mentors, organized a small additional award ceremony in the guest house of the University of Wuppertal.

Almost all of the 44 new mentors accepted the invitation to the Freudenberg campus. The guest house offered a relaxed and festive setting and the newcomers took advantage of the relaxed atmosphere after receiving their certificates to ask questions about the program and network with each other. The office is very pleased with the design of the new format, as the integration of the newcomers into the program and thus their identification with it will hopefully be more successful. This confirms the newcomers' interest in becoming more involved in the program. With this in mind: welcome and here's to a good time together!

The first excursion of the year took the Deutschlandstipediat* to the beautiful seclusion of a local recreation area in Wuppertal. While a Sunday walk in Herbringhausen often ends at the fence of the dam of the same name, the operators of the facility, WSW, opened the gates to this area exclusively for us and thus access to the waterworks. With a view of the dam wall and the surrounding forest, an informative program awaited the scholarship holders. First, Dr. Bernd Voges, Managing Director of WSW Netz GmbH, explained the topic of the energy transition. He vividly explained the challenges its requirements pose for grid operators, but also for service providers and citizens.

The briefly touched upon topic of dealing with crisis situations was equally challenging. Even if these cannot, of course, be planned in their entirety, it gives a good feeling to know that the municipal utility company is well positioned. This applies not only to electricity, but also in particular to the water supply, as Markus Klemann, who manages all three WSW waterworks as Head of Water Supply, explained in his presentation. This was followed by an impressive one-hour tour of the heart of the whole thing: the water treatment plant. Getting access to this area and being given such a comprehensive tour is really not an everyday occurrence.

We would therefore like to thank WSW as a network partner in general and Sylvia Rath for the (once again) excellent organization in particular: From the coach transportation to the catering and the content of the lectures - it was an all-round successful excursion from which all participants were sure to gain something for themselves. We would love to come again!

On the morning of 25.01.2023, the rectorate invited the sponsor family of the Deutschlandstipendien program together with the office to the traditional New Year's breakfast. Around 40 sponsors accepted the invitation and admired the architecturally special rooms of the large library reading room, which boasts a magnificent view over Wuppertal. In addition to pure networking, the format always offers participants an even more intensive insight behind the scenes of the university, both with the presentation of different rooms and a constantly changing specialist lecture from different faculties, which is intended to provide insights into the diversity of research. Such a lecture was also planned yesterday after the address by the rector, Prof. Dr. Birgitta Wolff, and a short introduction by library director, Uwe Stadler, on the subject of terahertz research. However, if the speaker falls ill at short notice, a talent for improvisation is required. It's good when the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering happens to be among the sponsors and spontaneously agrees to stand in for his colleague who is unable to attend. Our heartfelt and emphatic thanks go to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernd Naujoks, whose entertaining and informative lecture on freeway bridge renovation enriched the program enormously!

Special thanks go to our colleagues at the library for the great preparation and support, as well as to all the guests for this wonderful and harmonious networking event, which once again showed us how many great people and companies are part of our constantly growing sponsorship community. We look forward to all upcoming events in the still young scholarship year!

"Living network - shaping together." This was the title of the scholarship award ceremony on November 9, 2023, which took place at the Barmer Bahnhof in Wuppertal. In front of over 300 invited guests, we were able to award 245 Germany Scholarships to our students. It was a fantastic evening with lots of great conversations, delicious food and a very relaxed atmosphere. We would like to thank all sponsors who support us and are committed to promoting young talent. We are proud to now have two Rotary clubs and two private donors in our network in addition to the many companies and foundations. We would also like to thank our scholarship holders, who are not only characterized by good grades, but also by their personality and commitment. These qualities unite us all in the Deutschlandstipendium. And it is the many joint events that form the foundation for this inspiring and lively network at the University of Wuppertal!

The following video, which premiered at the award ceremony, gives an insight into the diverse network events in the program of the University of Wuppertal, which we create together with our sponsors. Thank you very much for this great cooperation. We are already looking forward to the next event!