Right from the beginning the scholarship holders took the chance to talk to each other, further encouraged to do so by a small starting activity: The participants were invited to write the sentence “Spring and happiness will inspire me.” in their mother tongue on a poster at the entrance. Some of them did not write down which language it is right away and the speculations started. It was tough to guess right for languages like Armenian or Amharic.
Katharina Engel from the Centre for International Cooperation and Mobility – ICM – welcomed the guests to this event at March 21, 2019. She gave brief information about the OeAD and presented the upcoming events4scholars, which will take place during the next months.
In remembrance of the APPEAR scholarship holder Anne Mogoi Birundu, who tragically perished in the ill-fated plane crash ET302 in Ethiopia, a moment of silence was held. Some of the participants had known Anne quite well.
This time the traditional format of the Alumni Talks was slightly modified: Doris Bauer from the OeAD introduced Kesang Wangchuk, a scholarship holder from Bhutan, who is presently in Vienna with an Ernst Mach Follow-up Grant. Doris interviewed Kesang and they talked about his professional career, his experiences during his scholarship supported stays in Austria and about life in Bhutan. The title of the Alumni Talk was “Finding happiness in Science and Research”. Kesang Wangchuk made clear, that happiness is a crucial state of mind and that this is what he feels when working in science and research.
The complete Alumni Talk was broadcasted live on Facebook and can so be seen worldwide. You can follow the entire talk on Facebook here.
After a short discussion and the traditional group photo session, all scholarship holders were invited to meet in groups referring to their field of study. So they could get to know each other and their respective research or study interests. Supported by food and drinks, the evening ended with lively discussions and socializing with each other.
