HAUS Blatt 2024🍁Heidelberg University Association


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HAUS Blatt 2024

Welcome to the latest issue of HAUS Blatt!

We invite you to join us in reflecting on this past year. From inspiring reunions to exciting collaborations, it’s been a year of growth, but also a time of transition.

Looking ahead, we are thrilled to share news of some upcoming events in 2025, designed to deepen our connections and expand our impact. Whether you're joining us in person or virtually, there are many ways to stay engaged.

Best wishes,

Kathleen, Katja, Melanie

Kathleen Lance, HAUS President

Dr. Katja Simons, Executive Director & Melanie Grossmann, Program Officer

Heidelberg University Association

News from Universität Heidelberg

Lecture Series: Freedom?! The University as a Space for Discourse

This winter semester a lecture series explores the theme “Freedom?! The University as a Space for Discourse”. The events take place on Mondays in the Great Hall of the Old University and take up the role of universities and research in society and current political conflicts, examining them from different angles and transcultural perspectives. Subsequently, recordings will be accessible on heiONLINE, allowing you to take part from abroad.

Successful Placement in Times Higher Education Ranking

Heidelberg University is, once again, one of the top three universities in Germany: the 2024/2025 Times Higher Education World University Rankings place Ruperto Carola third after the two universities in München (LMU and TUM). Ranking 47th internationally as in the previous year, it is among the world’s “Top 50” – one of only three German universities to earn that distinction. Read more here.

New Master Program in 2024: Molecular Systems Sciences and Engineering

The Master Program in “Molecular Systems Science and Engineering” (MSSE) aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to explore the complexities of molecular systems through the lenses of Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science and the Molecular Life Sciences. Read more here.

Newsroom

Stay up to date via the Heidelberg University Newsroom

Upcoming Events

Invitations will be sent out separately

December 9, 17 Uhr | HAUS Chapter Heidelberg Weihnachtsmarkt

December 19, 5:30-8pm | Holiday Gathering in the German House in New York City

January 23, 6-8pm | New Year's Reception in San Francisco at SAP Labs

February 12, 8pm ET | Virtual Kaffeeklatsch | Heidelberg City Tour (repeat from the National Meeting)

February 20, 6-8pm | Alumni and Friends Meeting with Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Marc-Philippe Weller and the Vis Moot Participants (Law Students) from Heidelberg in New York City

February 21, 6-8pm | Alumni and Partner Reception with DAAD President Prof. Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee at the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC

News from HAUS

HAUS Scholarships

We are proud to work together with alumni and the US-German community to support study and learning at Heidelberg University for students and teachers. Thank you to everyone who helps to make the HAUS Scholarships possible!

The HAUS Scholarships are supported entirely by the HAUS community and demonstrate our continued commitment to providing the opportunity to experience Ruperto Carola. We are happy to report that the scholarship amounts were raised this year for the first time. Undergraduate students are awarded $4,500 for one semester, master’s degree candidates receive $7,000 for one semester.

HAUS Summer School Scholarship

This summer, our HAUS Summer School Scholarship for German Language and Culture was awarded to Andie Fitzgerald and to Anastasia Hockaday.

The International Summer School for German Language and Culture at Heidelberg University also offers a continuing education course for teachers of German who are not native speakers. In August, Arpit Samuel and Michelle Hinkle enjoyed the course in Heidelberg. We are pleased to continue our cooperation with the German-American Scholarship Association and the American Association of Teachers of German to support scholarships for teachers.

The Amirana Scholarships provides financial aid to international students from low- and middle-income countries of the Global South. Thanks to your donations we can support several students per year.

Read more about our scholarship programs.

HAUS National Meetings

HAUS 16th National Meeting

The HAUS 16^th National Meeting took place this October 24-29. We were thrilled to welcome HAUS and HACA members. Because of the transition in the New York office, this year’s meeting was mostly virtual, including two in-person watch parties with the New York and Washington, DC chapters when Rektorin Frauke Melchior addressed us with updates from Heidelberg. She also acknowledged the important role alumni play for the university. During our five-day gathering, we offered something for everyone: a Heidelberg quiz with Martin Kley from the American Junior Year in Heidelberg, a city tour with Kristian Wellenbacher from Studierendenwerk, a swimming for science documentary with alumni Andreas Fath and Martin Knoll, and a coaching session about changing your perspective with alumna Sonja Kirschner.

15th Anniversary of HAUS

Last year, over 40 alumni from across the U.S. and Germany gathered in Washington, D.C. in September 2023 for the annual HAUS National Meeting. 2023 was a special year because it marked the 15th anniversary of HAUS. The Science and Technology Section of the German Embassy hosted and co-organized the keynote, panel discussion, and networking reception on the topic “The Role of Academic Alumni in Science Diplomacy.” The Jahreshauptversammlung was held at the Goethe-Institute, and Sarah Rice organized a tour to the Washington Monument. We met aboard the Odyssey for a dinner cruise on the Potomac River to close out the weekend. The American Junior Year (AJY) Program generously sponsored a round of welcome drinks for everyone.

Our 17^th National Meeting will be held in Chicago in early fall of 2025.

More info to follow.

HAUS Chapter Activities

The New York and Washington, DC chapters were very active this year. A special highlight was a collaborative gathering of the two chapters organized by Sarah Rice. Alumni were invited on a private tour of the frigate FGS Baden-Württemberg (F-222) from Germany which docked in New York during Fleet Week. Also, this summer in New York, Chapter Chair Nina Brandt opened her home and invited alumni for a brunch.

The Heidelberg HAUS Chapter welcomed students and visiting scholars from the United States at an informal lunch in the Marstall Mensa. We are excited to welcome new young members to HAUS!

Thank you, our current HAUS leadership team and chapter chairs!

Some Chapter Chair positions are currently open, and we are looking for your support in Boston, and in Southern and Northern California. Please let us know if you are interested in volunteering as a chair!

Our Virtual Kaffeeklatsch 8.0, Networking and Selfcare with double human founder Sonja Kirschner took place in March – Sonja guided us towards finding some new ideas, perspectives, and answers when we are challenged with high expectations, difficult decisions, and doubt.

Alumni News: Congratulations to Professor Henry Zvi Lothane for the publication of the “Untold Story of Sabine Spielrein: Healed and Haunted by Love, Unpublished Russian Diary and Letters” with the collaboration of Vladimir Shpilrain. The new translation provides insights into a key patient—and analyst—in the history of psychoanalysis. Read more here.

Congratulations to Diane Guido on her new position as Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Success at Sonoma State University.

Congratulations to Bendix Hempel (Boston), Liv van Bon (Boston) und Elisabeth Maria Maichel (New York City) for receiving the prestigious MD Fellowship of the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds to pursue an ambitious, experimental project in basic biomedical research.

Do you have something to share? Tell us! We know that our alumni are doing a lot of interesting things in the world. Please let us know if you have had a recent achievement, visit to Heidelberg, or other event that could be of interest to the HAUS community, and we may choose to share your story on social media or in the next issue of HAUS Blatt.

Contact information updates The New York office staff is always updating alumni contact information. If you move, change your email address, or your phone number, please contact us at info@heidelberguniversity.org.

Heidelberg Alumni International

HAI offers alumni and their partners the opportunity to participate in German courses in cooperation with the International Study Center. The courses take place online and are offered for different language levels. You can refresh and improve your language skills together with other alumni and students from all over the world. Read more here

This offer and many other interesting news about the alumni work of Heidelberg University, the members of the HAI network and the university can be found here.

News from the New York Office

Personnel Change in the New York Office and Fall Activities

Once again, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and best wishes to Amanda Rohm Daquila, who served as our Executive Director for the past five years. We were pleased to welcome Dr. Katja Simons as the new Executive Director of Heidelberg University Association, who started on September 3.

In October, we traveled to Heidelberg and had a whole range of meetings at Heidelberg University, and enjoyed the opening of the winter semester and the Jahresfeier.

In mid-November, we participated in the German American Conference at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, MA, connected with some Boston alumni.

Recently we also traveled to New Haven to visit Yale University. There, we had meetings with the Office of International Affairs and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. We also met with students from Heidelberg who spend a semester at Yale and met up with some alumni.

Model UN Team and GAIN Conference

The Heidelberg Law Model UN team (HMUN) visited New York in March for their annual competition at the UN. The students enjoyed a professional development gathering, including a panel discussion on law careers at the American Council on Germany (ACG) with alumni Dr. Peter Mayer, Dr. Christiane Rosenbaum, Dr. Steven Sokol. We were also joined by alumni from the law industry in New York, as well as colleagues from the German Consulate New York and the German American Chamber of Commerce.

This year’s GAIN Conference – a research career conference – was held in August in San Francisco. Heidelberg University and the Health + Life Science Alliance Heidelberg Mannheim took part in the Talent Fair advising postdocs and doctoral students about continuing their research career path in Heidelberg.

Max Kade Visting Professorship at Universität Heidelberg

We are grateful to the Max Kade Foundation for supporting a visiting professorship in Heidelberg for many years. This winter 2024/25 Prof. David Gutman, Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor and Director of the Washington University Neurofibromatosis Center at Washington University in Saint Louis, MO will spend several weeks at Heidelberg University’s Medical Faculty.

Recent visiting professors were: Prof. Wenwen Li, Professor of the Department of Geographic Information Science and Director of the Cyberinfrastructure and Computational Intelligence Lab at Arizona State University (2023) and Prof. David Canning from the Department of Global Health and Population at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University (2022).

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