DAAD Prize Awarded to Antonio Martins

The prize, which is worth € 1,000, was presented by Professor Dr. Manfred Kaul, Vice President for Tuition, Studies and Further Education, and Dr. Roland Weiß, Head of the International Office.

At the university in his home city, Martins completed a Bachelor’s programme in Biology with a dual degree. Subsequently, in 2007, he went on a journey around the world which was longer in terms of time and distance than he had previously planned. It also changed his private life because while travelling, he met a lady from Ingolstadt who is now his wife. Four years later - after having visited 31 countries - he set his hopes on an academic career, which caused him to enrol in the Master’s degree programme at the Rheinbach Campus of Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University in autumn 2011.

According to Antonio Martins, the two lecturers Dr. Nadina Stadler and Dr. Michaela Häger managed to fuel his passion for science and research and his hope to become a scientist and a global citizen as early as in the first semester - and that despite his long break from the world of science. As a result, he himself was inspired to give something back by supporting students in a similar situation.

Nadine Stadler, who recommended Antonio Martins for the prize, is currently supervising his thesis in collaboration with Prof. Oliver Brüstle and Dr. Simone Haupt (both from the Life and Brain Institute of Bonn University). The thesis is scheduled to be completed in December and is entitled Stem Cell Technologies Applied to Neuroscience. Award winner Martins has already been admitted as a doctoral student by the Hemholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research of the Saarland.

The time spent at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University will certainly have a long-lasting impression on Martins, “The University’s international atmosphere is unique and plays a fundamental role in providing students with additional experiences in an increasingly globalised world. We transgress boundaries, thus getting to know other cultures and lifestyles.” The students in his year were from eight different nationalities. Most of all, Martins praises the combination of academic research and application-orientedness, involving numerous visits to companies.

Antonio Martins thanked his Department for the wide variety of programmes offered to international students. He dedicated the prize to his fellow students, who, as he put it, had rendered the learning atmosphere so pleasant and with whom he had gone through some ups and downs. In addition, he thanked Dr. Nadine Stadler, who had inspired and supported him in times when he doubted his academic career. He also gave thanks the International Office for their support and for providing him with the opportunity to help others. In Martins’ view, being a responsible global citizen involves getting engaged in social projects. To give a practical example, he suggests providing accommodation to first-semester students at any time because it is difficult for them to find a flat of their own at a reasonable price. In addition, he thinks they should be encouraged to learn the German language and to benefit from the cultural programmes offered in Bonn and the surrounding area.

Antonio Martins is the seventh student at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University to have been awarded the DAAD prize. The previous prize winners came from Russia, Singapore, China (2), Egypt and India.