New scholarships worth EUR 417,000 awarded by Bayer Foundation to promote international talents

With approximately EUR 417,000, the Bayer Science & Education Foundation is providing a record amount for 65 talented young people who wish to realize international study and vocational training projects. The new scholarship recipients are students of the natural sciences, agriculture and medicine, as well those training to become science teachers or young people from skilled non-academic professions. "We need dedicated and creative young scientists if we are to successfully shape the future. That's why with the Bayer Fellowship Program we are helping talented young people to participate in special projects abroad," says Kemal Malik, Bayer Management Board member responsible for Innovation

Today's "Bayer Fellowship program" follows the tradition of the first company scholarships initiated back in 1923 by Dr. Carl Duisberg, at that time Managing Director of the Bayer Group. Duisberg is regarded as a pioneer in the intensive cooperation between industry and universities, as well as in corporate social responsibility. Explains Dr. Carl-Heinz Duisberg, member of the Scientific Committee of the Bayer Fellowship Program and youngest grandchild of the program's founder: "My grandfather wanted to provide the best development opportunities for young talents because he saw this as a means of ensuring long-term benefits for society. He is also quoted as saying 'We must spend every spare penny on science - it is the best investment we can make.'"

All scholarships underline the mission of the Bayer foundation to work with young people and the next generation of scientists and opinion-leaders and to strengthen interest in the major challenges facing our society, such as health and agriculture.

Alongside the Otto Bayer, Jozef Schell and Carl Duisberg scholarships, the Bayer Fellowship Program also includes the Kurt Hansen and Hermann Strenger scholarships. For the third time, the Bayer Science & Education Foundation offers an additional special budget for "Talents for Africa". The scholarships are targeted at students and vocational trainees in natural science and medical disciplines who would like to realize a particular foreign study project and require financial support for this. In addition to Germany-based applicants who would like to study abroad, the foundation supports scholarship recipients from outside of Germany who wish to realize a comparable project in Germany.

Academic disciplines receiving support this year include the life sciences, chemistry, agriculture as well as human and veterinary medicine, with a total of 56 scholarships being awarded. Three Kurt Hansen scholarship recipients are also receiving assistance for teacher training in the natural sciences. The scholarships in the academic sector are being supplemented by Hermann Strenger scholarships to support young people looking to gain initial work experience abroad as part of a non-academic training program. This year, six young people from Germany are being supported who are planning a period abroad as part of their commercial, technical or health profession training.

Thanks to the Bayer scholarships, 47 new fellows from Germany will start their projects in 18 different countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Israel, Mexico, Nicaragua, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. Another 18 new scholarship winners will be able to implement their individual projects in Germany, coming from: Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Singapore, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and United Kingdom.

The Bayer Science & Education Foundation thus is launching the eleventh round of its funding program, which offers targeted support for scientific exchange and international work experience for young people. It targets creative, highly motivated and socially committed young people with above-average grades.