Testimonials

I’ve been part of the University of Bonn Foundation’s support program since 2019, something I’m very happy about and grateful for. At the time, being part of a scholarship scheme was something completely new for me. This made it an even nicer feeling to be accepted for the 2019/20 funding period, which allowed me to experience a sense of appreciation for my academic achievements at school and in the first semester of my medical degree.

What I particularly appreciate about the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship is the direct personal support you get from your sponsors, in my case from Dr. Frank Schürmann, a notary public who has now been supporting me with his generosity for 18 months. Something else I think is excellent about the support program is the open and fair application process. I’d never heard of the scholarship until I saw a University circular that went out to all students in all semesters and degree programs, who, if they were interested in seeking funding, simply needed to write a brief letter of motivation introducing themselves, presenting their academic career so far and saying something about themselves and why they were applying.

Particularly because of how the day-to-day life of a student has changed so much over the past 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the funding I get from the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship has become a major source of support for me, because opportunities to earn some money at the start by working as a student assistant or taking part-time jobs are severely limited. The scholarship is also proving very helpful to me in that it allows me to invest more time in the experimental doctoral work that I’m pursuing alongside my studies. I’m now coming to the end of my medical degree and am gradually turning my attention to preparing for my state examination. The funding I received from the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship was a great help to me during my studies and always gave me the motivation to keep working towards my goals in my degree program and in my future. I’m very grateful for that.

Over the three years I was supported by the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship, I came to realize that it’s something truly special. Not just because getting a scholarship gives you an unbelievable amount of freedom but also because the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship itself is a really valuable experience.

But a bit about me first of all: my name’s Anna-Maria Heyn, I’m now 21, and I’m currently in my third year studying physics at the University of Bonn. I’ve been supported by the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship since the start of my studies. Although people tend to accuse physicists (not entirely unjustly) of being a little obsessed with figures, the best thing about the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship is that it’s not just about the numbers. As a scholarship recipient, you’re more than just a number, because you’re not being reduced to just your average grade or how often you attend political events. What’s much more important is what you do, how you get involved, how you contribute, and I think that’s fantastic, because it allows you a much more personal degree of contact, particularly with other scholarship recipients, but it also opens many more doors for your own personal development.

Particularly now, with everything dominated by the pandemic, it gives you a way despite all that to talk to people from completely different fields and grow as a person, instead of only ever encountering a handful of people during a semester spent online. This means that you have a constant stream of new opportunities to get involved, listen to fascinating presentations on completely unfamiliar topics or simply experience a drastically different point of view. That’s what makes the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship what it is in my view, and it’s perhaps the most important reason why I’m so incredibly happy about this support.