Twelve foreign students studying in Germany on German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarships who have pondered on their host country’s present and future are to be honoured at the Federal Foreign Office on Thursday (30 September). The Federal Foreign Office and the DAAD are co-hosting the presentation of prizes for the essay competitions “Germany 2025 – Prospects for my Study Location” and “Germany – As I See It”.

Since the prize-winners come from 10 different countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia, they all approach the essay topics from a different angle.

The DAAD organized the two competitions under the auspices of the Federal Foreign Office’s “German – Language of Ideas” initiative. In early September a jury composed of current and former scholarship-holders as well as Federal Foreign Office and DAAD representatives selected the best twelve of the around 90 competition entries.

The prize-winners will be presented with 500 euro each by Thomas Götz, Deputy Director-General at the Federal Foreign Office responsible for Research and Academic Relations Policy. The citation will be given by Marc Brost, head of the Berlin office of the weekly DIE ZEIT. The event will be moderated by Ana Plasencia, herself an alumna of a German school abroad and well known from Deutsche-Welle TV and MDR, another German broadcaster.