The Group's Foundation activities

This edition of the Report features some men and women with completely different interests and personal circumstances. Yet one characteristic unites them – they all demonstrate high achievements in their studies or professions. That is also the reason why Bayer has rewarded each one in a special way. With a scholarship from the Bayer Foundations, the students included have been able to develop their specialist knowledge at renowned institutes around the world. Read their reports on this. Professor Magdalena Götz and Professor Alois Fürstner have enjoyed a great deal of success in their own scientific fields. Both researchers have received a substantial award from the Bayer Foundations for their pioneering work. Read more about the Group’s Foundations here or on the Internet at http://www.bayer-foundations.com/.

Zoom image

Benjamin Buick
Physics student, scholarship from the Bayer Foundations for an internship at the Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy

Success
"It is an incredibly good feeling when the first functional test for some newly developed apparatus is successful, especially when it is witnessed by the renowned German physicist Prof. Richter, who teaches in Rome. I am writing my degree thesis in his working group without having to worry about how to pay my rent. Ideally, later on I would like to develop products in industry that derive their value from the service they provide and not from their price."

Zoom image

Professor Magdalena Götz
Director of the Research Center for Environment and Health at the Institute for Stem Cell Research, Neuherberg, Germany; Chair of the Institute of Physiology at Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany; received the Hansen Family Award in 2007

Award
"Regardless of whether cell death is caused by old age or injury, stem cells are on hand as a spare parts store for most organs. They help the body replace damaged tissue and dead cells, as stem cells have the ability to continue to divide and to reproduce all the cells of an organ. This property also makes them a source of hope to me in developing new therapeutic approaches for brain injuries. I am delighted my work has received recognition in the form of the Hansen Family Award."

Zoom image

Arasch Wafaisade
Medical student, scholarship from the Bayer Foundations for an internship at the Department of Surgery at New York Downtown Hospital, United States

Freedom
"The scholarship gives me a great deal of freedom. It also provides me with the extra investment that I need for the different stages of my clinical studies. My personal highlights certainly include my time in the Department of Surgery at New York Downtown Hospital. In my eight weeks here I have been able to broaden my specialist knowledge and gain an insight into the U.S. health care system. The positive experience with the country and its people has reinforced my decision to go abroad for a period after my exams."

Zoom image

Professor Dr. Alois Fürstner
Director at the Max Planck Institute for Carbon Research, Mülheim an der Ruhr; awarded the Otto Bayer Prize in 2006

Prize-winner
"The Otto Bayer Prize is one of the most renowned awards for scientists in Germany. Now to be among the winners fills me with pride and gratitude. Such awards are more than ever proof that basic research is receiving sufficient recognition. I very much hope that our advances in catalysis research will also help develop new active ingredients. The possibility of now being able to produce a natural anti-tumor substance synthetically is a good start."

Zoom image

Sabrina Höfer
Medical student, scholarship from the Bayer Foundations for clinical practice at Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Recognition
"The fact that a Bayer Foundation is supporting me is major recognition for what I have achieved in my studies. And what is particularly nice is that it relieves a burden from my parents, who have another three children to look after. I wanted to do my clinical practice in Rarotonga because here I see different disease profiles than at home. Medicine here is not equipment-based. Your own senses are the instruments of choice for diagnosis. Basically all activities here are a new experience. The most important thing for me has to be the motto of the happy, friendly islanders: 'Enjoy life.'"

Zoom image

Johannes Lorscheider
Medical student, scholarship from the Bayer Foundations for clinical practice at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil

Development
"The greatest experience during my scholarship was a birth I assisted at. Initially, I wasn’t actually supposed to work in gynecology and midwifery at the University Hospital in Florianópolis, but rather in surgery. But I don’t regret it – my time in Brazil developed not only my career but also my character. In the six weeks of my stay I learned how to improvise, keep calm and cope. Those are qualities that will benefit me in the future too."