“A role model for internationality”

1/9/2025
Reading time 2 min.

The DAAD Prize is awarded annually to international students who not only achieve outstanding academic results but also show a high level of voluntary commitment. The awardee of 2024 is Maria Elisa Magnoni. The Brazilian is passionate about sustainability and environmental protection. That’s why she came to Germany four years ago to study environmental engineering at TUM. And that has something to do with Angela Merkel.

Standing from left Prof. Juliane Winkelmann (TUM), DAAD prizewinner Maria Elisa Magnoni, showing the award certificate, and Dr. Stephan Geifes (DAAD). — Professor Juliane Winkelmann (TUM) and Dr. Stephan Geifes (DAAD) award Maria Elisa Magnoni the DAAD Prize for International Students.

For more than two decades, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has been recognizing international students who have distinguished themselves through outstanding achievements and special commitment at German universities. The aim of the prize, endowed with 1,000 euros, is to make visible the stories and faces of the many students from all over the world who have come to Germany to make a difference here.

São Paulo, Munich, Freising

One of these faces is Maria Elisa Magnoni’s. Born in São Paulo, she came to TUM in 2020 for a Bachelor’s in Environmental Engineering. She is now enrolled in the Master’s degree program in Ecological Engineering at the Freising campus. Her decision to pursue these subjects and to study in Germany is not least thanks to former Chancellor Merkel, says Maria: “When I was ten years old, I saw Angela Merkel passionately campaigning for environmental protection and nature conservation on television. That was when I realized that I wanted to get the best education to do the same. And that Germany is the right place for that.”

This conviction still drives Maria today. And so it is not surprising that she is not only committed to her studies but also to the university community and society as a whole in many different roles, be it in the student council, in the Brazilian student group BRASA Munique, in the student initiative Plant a Seed, in the Environmental Department of TUM’s Student Representation, or as a delegated student representative in TUM’s Sustainable Campus Development Taskforce.

Inspire and be inspired

Interested, committed, and polyglot – not by chance, jury member Juliane Winkelmann, Senior Vice President for International Alliances & Alumni, praised Maria Elisa Magnoni as a “role model for internationality” at TUM and beyond during the award ceremony.

Right now, Maria is spending an exchange semester at the DTU in Copenhagen. “I’m already excited to see what new ideas I’ll be inspired to come up with there, which I can then bring back to TUM,” she smiles.

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