13 ASU students selected for DAAD RISE award

The Lorraine W. Frank Office of National Scholarships Advisement (ONSA) at Arizona State University has announced that a record-high 13 students have been selected for the prestigious DAAD RISE award in 2022.

Sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service, the RISE program offers summer research internships in Germany for undergraduate students from North America, Great Britain and Ireland. In their internships, students assist doctoral students and researchers on projects that match their skills and interests. Interns receive a monthly stipend to cover everyday costs. About 300 scholarships are available each year. The previous record for ASU recipients was eight.

The 2022 ASU awardees represent a wide range of STEM majors, including computer science, biomedical science, engineering, chemistry, biochemistry and biology.

“It’s inspiring to see our STEM students push themselves to apply to competitive international grants,” said Catherine “Katie” Salgado, program manager for ONSA. “Thirteen awardees is no accident. This result is a testament to the tremendous support our students receive, from faculty letters of recommendation, ASU DAAD alumni providing mentorship, and ONSA’s writing support. We celebrate all applicants who pressed ‘submit’ this year, and look forward to growing our cohort of STEM ambassadors.”

From start to finish, ONSA provides significant guidance and support for ASU applicants. As the program manager for summer STEM fellowships, Salgado provides feedback on application essays, as well as general guidance on how to select a research project and placement.

“The application process was a little stressful,” said recipient Olivia Wyatt, a chemical engineering major. “The application time frame is very small (I think six weeks), so I was rushing to get everything done on time. ONSA, and especially Katie Salgado, was a huge help. She answered all of my questions and was willing to read over anything I wrote so that it told a story about me.”

The 2022 DAAD RISE winners from Arizona State University, their majors and where in Germany they’ll study are:

• Isabelle Abbas, chemical engineering, Freising.
• Tianna Chemello, environmental engineering, Freiberg.
• Jasmin Falconer, electrical engineering, Ulm.
• Shrey Garg, computer science, Darmstadt.
• Julia Greteman, materials science and engineering, Duisburg.
• Piper Heiligenstein, biology, Kiel.
• Rylee James, chemistry, Marburg.
• Chloe Leff, biochemistry and molecular biosciences, Giessen.
• Mariah Mcnally, biomedical engineering, Karlsruhe.
• Cameron Morgan, environmental engineering, Freiburg.
• Samihan Muppirala, computer science, Cottbus.
• Eliana Watson, biomedical science, Marburg.
• Olivia Wyatt, chemical engineering, Braunschweig.

“We also work with previous recipients to help our current winners prepare for their time in Germany,” Salgado added. “It’s another example of the extraordinary network of support that ASU provides.”

In celebration of this outcome, ONSA hosted a luncheon at Engrained in the ASU Memorial Union with the 13 winners and several program alumni.

“It was uplifting to see the awardees grow in their excitement as they asked alumni for tips for a successful grant experience,” Salgado said. “The energy was refreshing after two years of largely virtual events. Plus, the alumni advice was the kind of personalized advice you could only get from having lunch with a friend, not an info session.”

Now, the only thing left for the applicants to do is prepare for travel to Germany.

“I haven't had the chance to go abroad because of COVID and some of the requirements of my major,” said Wyatt, who will be living and working in Braunschweig. “I am excited to go to another country and experience a new culture. I have never been to Germany, so I am excited to explore their museums and monuments.”

The program also will provide significant professional development opportunities to the recipients, who are all rising third- and fourth-year students who are beginning to make plays for graduate study.

“DAAD RISE is giving me the chance to explore more about chemical engineering and what I could potentially do after graduation,” Wyatt said. “This is a unique experience that is giving undergraduates a chance to look at what graduate programs abroad might look like and what travelling abroad looks like, and what fields of study are open to us.”

The German Academic Exchange Service, or DAAD, is the world's largest funding organization for the international exchange of students and researchers. RISE Germany internships were first offered in 2005 to applicants from the United States and Canada, with the program extended to the United Kingdom in 2009 and Ireland in 2018. The program is open to second- and third-year undergraduates in STEM fields. Students who wish to apply should contact ONSA at onsa@asu.edu.

Story submitted by the Office of National Scholarships Advisement