President’s Welcome Award
Scholarship program supporting young researchers in the field of human rights research
What is the President’s Welcome Award?
FAU’s President’s Welcome Award started out as a scholarship program in part funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG). With the quickly evolving field of artificial intelligence in mind and considering FAU’s expertise in this area, the initial run of the award was dedicated to support international doctoral candidates working in AI.
For this new run now, the award is going to help young researchers from human rights research settle in.
The award includes one year of “carefree living” in the new apartment complex “The Brucklyn“ in Erlangen. Thanks to a close cooperation with The Brucklyn, FAU will be able to provide free housing for the award winners for the time of winter semester 2024/25 and summer semester 2025.
Moreover, FAU will take care of enrolment fees for these two semesters, a free German language course and general support with settling in in Erlangen and at FAU. In addition, FAU’s president Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger will welcome the candidates and share advice and guidance regarding their research journey.
Guided by the M.A. Human Rights and the Research Centre CHREN, the program also aims at offering at least one free workshop that can contribute to the young researchers’ scientific growth, e.g. a course on scientific communication.
In return, awardees will use whatever channel suits them best to act as an “FAU ambassador”, sharing their experiences of working at FAU and living in Erlangen (and Bavaria).
This could be through a personal blog, a podcast, a small video series (e.g. on youtube or TikTok), or other creative outlets such as writing poems, creating a photo collage or mixing several channels.
Make your FAU experience visible to other young researchers around the world!
For example:
What do you find strange or funny in everyday life living in Bavaria?
How does your daily routine look like?
What is special about studying or working at FAU?
What do you enjoy that you don’t know from home?
What kind of foods have you never eaten before?
What trips in Bavaria or Germany are you going on?
What misconceptions did you have about working at a German university?
Experiences of recent President’s Welcome Awardees at FAU and in Bavaria
In the fall of 2024, six people made up the new cohort of the President’s Welcome Award scholarship program. They came from all around the world, striving to make a change in Human Rights. Four of them would start their master’s degree program Human Rights, two of them worked at FAU as doctoral candidates in the field of Human Rights. When having settled, they started sharing some experiences:
From Sharmin Shamim’s blog post “A Night to Cherish Forever: FAU Awards 2024”
“It was sometime in the middle of June 2024 when I received an email from our MA Human Rights Programme Coordinator, Ms. Ines, stating that there was a scholarship opportunity available for students in our program. FAU President’s Welcome Award. […] Little did I know then that exactly seven months later, my profile would be featured on that same website as a scholarship recipient.”
A Leap of Faith – Choosing FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, by Daniela Vallejo
“Have you ever had one of those moments when everything just clicks? That’s how it felt when I discovered FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg. I was scrolling through Google, looking for master’s programs, and stumbled upon their Master of Human Rights. Suddenly, it was like the stars aligned—this was exactly what I had been searching for.”
Visit Danhy’s blog “Bridging borders”
Alejandro Gomez Lopez: “Being an FAU Ambassador has been an incredibly enriching experience.”
“The President’s Welcome Award gave me the opportunity to pursue the M.A. in Human Rights. Erlangen-Nuremberg offers the perfect environment to study: a region rich in history, culture, and academic life, where tradition and innovation go hand in hand. The scholarship has allowed me to fully focus on my studies and take full advantage of everything the program has to offer. Living at the Brucklyn complex has also been a great support—it provides excellent facilities and a vibrant community of international students. Although moving abroad to Germany can be challenging at first, the President’s Welcome Award has made the transition much smoother. I’m deeply grateful that FAU provides this kind of support to young researchers who are eager to grow and make a difference. It’s an experience that will shape both my academic and personal journey for years to come.”
Why pursue your scientific career at FAU?
FAU is the place to be for talents who would like to start their scientific and academic careers at an outstanding university rich in tradition and strong in research. We help talents from all over the world to fulfil their potential and become part of a growing, global community of innovative researchers and entrepreneurs.
FAU strives to promote open-minded, independent individuals whose research helps to shape tomorrow’s world, whether contributing to the humanities, medical progress, science or AI. As a full-spectrum university we are at the forefront of driving innovation and setting knowledge in motion. The Office of Research Career Development and the Graduate Centre provide information on doctoral degrees, postdoctoral research, habilitations and junior professorships for all faculties and offers advice and support to doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers and habilitation candidates.
A peek into the doctoral experiences of the first awardees
In the fall of 2021, our fist three President’s Welcome Award candidates started their journey, followed by further candidates. The research focus of this first two cohorts was with artificial intelligence. In the videos below, they shared with us typical working days, trips to other cities, Christmas markets and old castles, food explorations and also their motivation to work here. Have a look!
About Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Founded in 1743, FAU is proud of its history and to be the intellectual home of many talented minds. It is a strong research university with an international perspective and one of the largest universities in Germany, with around 38,000 students, about 260 degree programmes, 4,000 academic staff (including more than 660 professors), 210 million euros (2019) third-party funding, and 500 partnerships with universities all over the world. Teaching at the University is closely linked to research and focuses on training students in both theory and practice to enable them to think critically and work independently. The research itself also strikes the perfect balance between a theoretical approach and practical application.
With its Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology, the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Engineering, FAU offers many opportunities for interdisciplinary research. FAU’s values of innovation, diversity and passion are the key to its consistent success in national and international rankings. FAU is ranked #1 in Germany among the world’s most innovative universities and #14 worldwide.
Living in Bavaria – The place to be for bright minds
Your scientific and academic path in the heart of Europe! As a part of Bavaria, Franconia is an intriguing mix of cities with a long history, beautiful nature and a vibrant innovation ecosystem. FAU’s two main sites, the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg, are located at the heart of the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region.
Both Erlangen, a bicycle-friendly city with 100,000 inhabitants, former home of the Huguenots as well as a key location for Siemens, and Nuremberg, a city with a population of half a million and a metropolitan flair, have their own unique charms.
The opera, theatre, cabaret and museums, various sporting and leisure activities along with a lively pub scene and night life, offer plenty of opportunities to relax after a day in the lecture theatre, lab or library. The mixture of academia, innovative companies, art and culture makes the region the perfect place for creative minds, keen athletes and nature lovers.
In fact, it’s the place to be for bright minds who want to combine a career and a life!