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Seeing - The portraits
Get to know the people behind the projects of the University of Bremen Foundation. What drives them, where do they see the pressing challenges of our time and what do they get up for in the morning? Our very personal portraits of those who create meaning show committed doers who at some point simply started doing instead of talking. But their answers to our question about what makes them happy are just as touching. Their stories are different. What unites them is the deep conviction that their actions - be it donations or research - can change something for the better.
COMING SOON: MAKES SENSE! - the book with all 10 Sinnstifter:innen stories soon in bookshops or directly from the publisher.
(www.open-space-edition.de)
"How can you become a pied piper for maths?"
Prof Heinz-Otto Peitgen, Trust Founder
"How can you get young people who say I have to do maths, but I don't really want to, to experience maths the way I did?
Prof Heinz-Otto Peitgen studied mathematics, physics and economics at the University of Bonn. After his habilitation, he took up a professorship in mathematics at the University of Bremen in 1977. There he founded several institutes for medical imaging diagnostics,
including today's Fraunhofer MEVIS and MeVis Technology GmbH, which went public in 2007 as MeVis Medical Solutions AG (MMS).
Karin and Heinz-Otto Peitgen Foundation
"I have learnt that I never miss out on opportunities. You can't lose anything. You can only win."
Khaled Swaidan, scholarship holder
"The programme supports people who come from war zones and no longer have a secure future. I took part in the HERE programme. After completing my language course, the HERE office told me about this scholarship. And then, of course, I applied for it."
Khaled Swaidan fled Syria in 2015 and came to Bremen via Bavaria. His goal: to learn German and complete a degree. After successfully completing the HERE preparatory programme, he applied for a scholarship from the Jürgens Foundation. Alongside his computer science studies, he works as an interpreter for the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
"Born to be wild"
Axel Schubert, Chairman of the "Bremen Stock Exchange Foundation"
"After leaving school, I got on the tram, went to the harbour at Hermann-Böse-Gymnasium and signed on without talking to anyone. And three weeks later I was sailing around on a freighter off the coast of East Asia. That's freedom."
Axel Schubert has travelled far and wide in his life. He successfully managed the Bremen Stock Exchange for many years before transferring the traditional company to a foundation in 2001. Nothing is as important to him as freedom.
"Many people think you have to be a millionaire to set up a foundation. You don't have to be."
Manfred Fluß, Founder of the Trust
"It's nice when the scholarship holders invite the donors and you then hear what they are studying, what motivates them, what problems they have, how they make ends meet financially and what they have in mind for the future. And you learn a lot from that."
He is a Bremen native with heart and soul, was Senator for Finance and has supported the university from the very beginning. Manfred Fluß. In 2015, he and his wife founded the Manfred and Ursula Fluß Foundation. The long-standing SPD politician has been associated with the idea of the foundation for years.
"In the middle of nowhere, just the three of us in a small boat, under this huge sky, I realised once again how great this world is and how much I appreciate this planet."
Charline Wolff, Germany Scholarship Holder
"The appreciation I receive makes self-doubt disappear and always motivates me to continue realising my dreams. I therefore try to pass this appreciation on to others, even if it's just a 'Hey, that's really great what you're doing'."
Her goal is to make a difference in small and large ways. That's why she is not only studying the basics of ecology, but is also committed to environmental protection in a variety of ways
"You give money away - and get richer."
Dr Rita Kellner-Stoll, founder of the trust
"And then you do something, there are interesting projects and you get to know people. And then suddenly you're sitting down and giving an interview to celebrate the university's 50th anniversary in the city. That, too, is a consequence of the foundation's work and was anything but predictable when we signed our signatures in 2012."
Together with her husband Reiner Stoll, she founded the KELLNER & STOLL FOUNDATION FOR CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT in 2012 as the first trust foundation under the umbrella of the University of Bremen.
- Das ganze Gespräch im Podcast
- The Kellner & Stoll Foundation for Climate and the Environment