Düsseldorf, March 27. 2014 – Round about 30,000 Euros: That is the amount of money Cohausz & Florack has invested to further the educational elite in Germany since the winter term 2010/2011. Every year the law firm supports four RWTH Aachen students with a scholarship in the framework of the university’s education fund. Beneficiaries receive 3,600 Euros for at least one year, fifty per cent of which are donated by private patrons, companies, foundations, societies or associations, the other fifty per cent are added by public funds, namely the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, via the Germany scholarship. Philippe Walter, a partner of Cohausz & Florack, explains the law firm’s motivation as follows: “In a post-industrial society labour, capital and resources are no longer the main focus of attention, but knowledge. Above all, this applies for a country which is comparably poor in natural resources like Germany. On the one hand, it’s this social aspect which encourages us to support young people via the education fund. On the other hand, we, as a provider of knowledge intensive business services, take a direct interest in accompanying outstanding and promising students on their way to success.” The law firm’s commitment to the RWTH Aachen could be accounted for some C&F attorneys’ desire to give something back to their alma mater which they still feel closely connected to.
Promoting graduates from STEM fields
The law firm also regards its dedication as a promotion of graduates from STEM fields: Companies are desperately looking for graduates from the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. STEM jobs offer a variety of chances and prospects, not least because STEM stands for sunrise industries such as medical technology, power supply, information technology, natural sciences and engineering. “A lack of engineers endangers Germany as a business location. This has to be prevented at an early stage. As a law firm, we are dependent on new inventions – predominantly those created in Germany. That is why we think it is our duty to make such inventions possible and thus we promote young engineers”, Walter says. Our law firm is currently supporting the scholars Dominique Dresen (Master of Applied Physics), Stefan Kühl (Master of Engineering), Jannik Burre (Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering), and Andreas Backhaus (Bachelor of Environmental Engineering).
Alliance of Civil Commitment and State Funding
The Germany scholarship students will be granted stands for high-quality promotion at a broad approach. The basic idea is to further students independent of their income. The concept of accomplishment which the scholarship takes as a basis intentionally covers a wide range: good grades and achievements are just as important as the willingness to assume responsibility via social and societal commitment as well as the triumph over obstacles in one’s personal life and education. The universities, which award scholarships according to an individual method of selection, are responsible for the raising of private funds. An individual support ranges between at least two terms and the standard period of study.
The RWTH education fund goes along with a framework programme which includes mentorings, factory visits as well as social, cultural and sportive activities and events for the promoters and the promoted. It is the aim to create a vivid network and a continual exchange between the individuals involved. In this aspect, scholar Dresen sees an important advantage of the Germany scholarship: “The scholarship is so to speak automatically linked with private business contacts. This is very valuable and is generally not offered by any other scholarship programme, at least not in this way.”
