Students awarded scholarships by the DAAD will do internships at universities in Germany

germany internship

The Rector of the ULS, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, presented the tickets to both students, who will spend a year studying at prestigious German institutions. 

Happy are the students of the Industrial Civil Engineering program at the University of La Serena, Xaviera Castro and Sebastián López, who, thanks to the scholarships awarded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), will be able to do internships at two prestigious universities in Germany (Technical University Dresden and Ruhr University Bochum). Both students received tickets to travel to German lands in August from the Rector of the ULS, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, in a ceremony in which the young people were accompanied by their proud parents and by authorities and directors of the state campus.

“Leaving Chile and staying abroad allows us to realize that the world is different and that there is permanent learning. One of the challenges of studying in another country is the responsibility of representing the Chilean student and an entire country; Fortunately, the students, in general, take it seriously and that is what you are undoubtedly going to do,” said the Rector, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, who congratulated the students and their parents, along with wishing them the greatest success in their stay in Germany, where they will be “our ambassadors”.

For his part, Dr. Mario Durán, coordinator of the exchange program and director of the Department of Civil Works Engineering, pointed out that “they have deservedly earned this opportunity to travel to study for a year at a German university (…). They have earned it thanks to excellent academic performance, their knowledge of German and all the tests they have passed to reach this stage. For us it is a pride that they represent our country, especially our University and their career in Germany”, also highlighting that in these 11 years of the program, more than 30 students from the University of La Serena have been able to do internships in Germany. 

Sebastián López thanked the Rector and Dr. Mario Durán for their words and pointed out that obtaining this scholarship has been the result of a long process and much sacrifice. “It is an important stage in life, I am very grateful to my family and the authorities for giving us this opportunity to improve in every sense, from an academic but also a personal point of view. I'm looking forward to making the most of it,” said the student.

Opinion shared by Xaviera, who thanked the University, the degree program, her professors and her family for supporting her in this important decision. The student indicated that it is a valuable opportunity, “I hope it is not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I hope that tomorrow something similar can also happen and that is the beauty, being able to go and not only do things related to my career, but also improve the language one hundred percent, to then be able to opt for even greater things.” 

The parents of both students, Carlos López and Luis Castro, expressed their satisfaction with the achievement achieved by their children and highlighted the opportunity they will have to develop personally and academically, also becoming a very important instance for their lives and that will allow them grow and learn. 

In this regard, the DAAD reader at ULS, Eva Birke, maintained that this experience abroad will help the two students learn a lot about themselves, while the coordinator of the International Relations Office, Mg. Dietmut Graeff highlighted the dedication and perseverance of the students and that it will be very important that upon their return they can share their experiences with other students. 

Also present at the ticket delivery ceremony, held in the Raúl Bitrán Room of the ULS Headquarters, were the vice-rector for Economic and Administrative Affairs, Dr. Marcela Aguirre, the director of Student Affairs, Mg. Miguel Zuleta, and the academic secretary of the Faculty of Engineering, Mg. Jorge Pizarro.