Ceremonial acceptance into the ‘NRWTalente - Region OWL’ scholarship programme at Paderborn University
Creating the best possible educational opportunities, regardless of social and economic circumstances - that is the aim of the ‘NRWTalente - Region OWL’ student scholarship programme. On Saturday, 28 September, 30 pupils from East Westphalia-Lippe were officially accepted into the programme at a ceremony in the Audimax of Paderborn University. The programme supports performance-oriented and socially committed young people from the eighth grade onwards from all types of schools to discover their strengths and potential, to develop these in the best possible way and to shape their own academic and professional path. The scholarship programme is funded by the State Ministry for Schools and Education and implemented by Paderborn University in cooperation with Bielefeld University, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and OWL University of Applied Sciences.
With the official acceptance, the scholarship holders are supported in their future planning through personal counselling and talent development, benefits in kind to support learning success and a diverse educational programme with insights into business, science, politics and culture. Prof. Dr Birgitt Riegraf, President of Paderborn University, praised the scholarship holders' academic achievements and commitment: ’Your commitment in various areas - be it as class representatives, in the student council, as mediators, in the club, in the neighbourhood or in your own family - shows how much you are committed to your future and not only take responsibility for yourselves, but also for others. We believe in your dreams and goals and want you to do everything you can to achieve them, true to our motto ‘Aim high’.’ She also thanked all the supporters of the programme, the Ministry of Schools and Education, as well as the companies, foundations and private individuals in the OWL region and all those who recommended them. The programme now supports more than 100 scholarship holders.
Together with Maximilian Loeper, who attended on behalf of the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Schools and Education Dorothee Feller, Riegraf presented the certificates to the 30 new scholarship holders. At the admission ceremony, which was hosted by Christopher Müller, those present were given an insight into the scholarship programme during a round of talks with four scholarship holders and an alumna. Scholarship holder Noah Frickenstein reported live from the USA, where he is currently spending a high school year with the Parliamentary Sponsorship Programme, on the wide range of support opportunities offered by the scholarship programme. ‘The educational trips to Berlin and Brussels have particularly encouraged my political interest and connected me with many people,’ added Abdurrahman Eker, a scholarship holder since 2022.
Nicole Schwier, alumna of ‘NRWTalente - Region OWL’, also made it clear how the scholarship has supported her in developing her future prospects: ‘Thanks to the individual counselling and the diverse events on professional fields, I was able to consolidate my desire to study and now realise it. I have been studying social work since this winter semester and have been accepted for a scholarship during my studies.’ She called on the new scholarship holders to take advantage of all the opportunities offered by the scholarship, to ask lots of questions and to dare to go above and beyond. The celebration was rounded off with a balloon campaign, in which the scholarship holders released balloons with personal wishes in keeping with the motto, and an experimental show by Event Physics at Paderborn University.
Further information on the event and the scholarship programme can be found on the ‘NRWTalente’ page.
This text has been translated automatically.
