Last week, the Think Digital scholarship holders followed the invitation of Judith Gerlach, the Bavarian State Minister for Digital Affairs, to the Digital Ministry.
The application period for „THINK DIGITAL– the scholarship for lateral thinkers and visionaries“ has started. The initiator of the first digital scholarship for students in the Munich metropolitan region is the association Internet Business Cluster (IBC) e.V., a cooperative venture of Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, University of Regensburg and leading German digital companies. The Bavarian Minister of State for Digital, Media and Europe Georg Eisenreich is the patron of the scholarship.
“The digital industry is already an important employer and will become even more relevant in the future. This means that digital skills will continue to gain in importance. The THINK DIGITAL scholarship facilitates precisely that, making an important contribution to digital education in Bavaria.“
Georg Eisenreich, Bavarian Minister of State for Digital, Media and Europe
Besides the IBC companies Hubert Burda Media, Publicis.Sapient, Messe München, HSE24 and Hoffmann Group, sponsors of the scholarships include IBM, Xing, Cyberport, as well as the founders’ festival Bits & Pretzels and the community network Startup Grind, among others.
“By awarding the first digital scholarship in Germany, we’re sending out a strong signal. No matter what you study today, everyone should acquire digital skills as well. The THINK DIGITAL scholarship allows us to support the greatest talent in the Munich region, providing them with a door opener to get started in the digital industry in the future.“
Mathias Wahrenberger, director of Burda Digital and IBC chairman
Attractive benefits
The scholarship is addressed to Bachelor students (from third semester onwards) and Master students of all disciplines who are enrolled at a university or college in the Munich metropolitan region. The application deadline for the scholarship is 28 October 2018. The prerequisite is academic excellence in the student’s major subject and proven experience with digital technologies. This can be a minor subject in this field, practical experience in digital companies or a business formation of their own. The duration of the scholarship is 12 months; it starts on 29 November 2018.
The scholarship includes attractive benefits: access to exciting conferences, learning events with Google Zukunftswerkstatt, IBM and netlight, as well as a unique network in the digital industry. Moreover, every scholarship holder receives a new MacBook Air, a free Xing Premium membership and a “learning” budget of 250 euros, which may be used flexibly for software, courses and events. Interested students can send an e-mail with their questions to stipendium@ibc-muenchen.com. You can find more information on the scholarship here (in German).
New IBC member
GEMA will support IBC as a new member company from now on. The Society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights is one of the biggest authors’ societies for works of music across the globe and is increasingly involved in the digital sector.
“Collaborating with IBC allows us to cooperate closely with the scientific community, exchange views with the local digital industry and get in touch with talent. These are important levers for us to take an active part in the digital transformation of the music industry. GEMA is happy to be a partner of IBC and to launch digitization initiatives together in the future.“
Tilmann Hemminger, head of strategic development GEMA
The aim of IBC is to invigorate Munich as a digital location and the local tech and digital community, to encourage practical research topics and bring the member companies together with young talent. Burda has been involved in the initiative since 2011.
