"Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, we have been looking after numerous new refugees both at the university itself and at the Staatliches Studienkolleg Nordhausen, which is responsible for all Thuringian universities. In addition to questions of integration and preparing for or maintaining their studies, the challenges we face on a daily basis include parents who have become unemployed in Ukraine, cut-off money transfer channels in Ukraine, but also in Russia and Belarus, as well as financial hardship. We are therefore very pleased to be able to provide financial support to talented and inquisitive students at the university, preparatory college and in preliminary courses and thus enable access to the basic right of education and actually maintain it at all," said the President of Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, Prof Dr Jörg Wagner, at the scholarship certificate ceremony.

The scholarships were awarded by a selection committee consisting of professors and other members on the basis of written applications. With the exception of one Vietnamese citizen of Ukrainian origin and one Russian citizen, the applicants were all Ukrainians. Thanks to the approval of additional funding in the STIBET-I programme of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which is financed by the Federal Foreign Office, Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences is able to award three-month partial scholarships with a total funding amount in the five-figure range.

"The majority of the refugees sponsored by the Staatliches Studienkolleg Nordhausen are unaccompanied foreign minors. Their residence status and the question of legal representation are often unclear or in the process of being clarified. This causes financial difficulties for many of our protégés, which in addition to the refugee situation also entails further psychological stress," says Kathrin Gehrke, Director of the Staatliches Studienkolleg Nordhausen.

In cooperation with the Nordhausen District Office in the Department of Foreigners' Affairs and the Youth Department as well as supporting voluntary organisations such as schrankenlos e.V., Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences is looking for ways to support all those affected and minimise discrimination due to legally challenging circumstances.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences and the Staatliches Studienkolleg Nordhausen have been committed to helping international students and Studienkolleg students in need. Thanks to third-party funding from the DAAD with funds from the BMBF, the Staatliches Studienkolleg Nordhausen was able to set up additional German courses for refugee students and school leavers as early as March 2022 as part of the Integra project funding. These will continue in the winter semester 2022 and often help unaccompanied foreign minors to learn German. This will ensure the prerequisites for successfully entering university in Germany.

The International Office provides support in cooperation with the Staatliches Studienkolleg with the help of the DAAD Welcome and STIBET I programmes: "Until the end of December, a regular consultation hour for refugees can be offered, among other things, and we also organise cultural events and integration measures to strengthen the exchange with other students at the university," reports Jacqueline Heidler, the coordinator responsible for the two third-party funded programmes.

With the Thuringian ordinance on the promotion of prospective students who have fled Ukraine dated 27 September 2022, all universities were also obliged to provide access to (higher) education.