By Jillian Holden
May 7, 2021 

The Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards (OURMA), housed in the Honors College, advocates diverse mentored research and fellowship opportunities to promote hands-on learning experiences across the globe. And, once again, students have surpassed previous records of acceptance into an intense research exchange program located in Germany.  

Eight University of Houston students from the College of Engineering and two from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM) were recently awarded the coveted German Academic Exchange Service’s (DAAD) Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) scholarship, and for the second time in University history, a NSM graduate student was awarded a RISE Professional scholarship.

Highly-competitive, the DAAD RISE program places undergraduate and graduate students pursuing fields of science and engineering in research and work internships with companies, universities and non-university research institutions aligned with doctoral students and researchers who will serve as their mentors.

“The DAAD Rise is a great option for undergraduate students,” Stuart Long, associate dean of undergraduate research and the Honors College said. “It gives them the opportunity for an industrial internship, an academic research project, and a study abroad experience, all in one program.”

A publicly funded independent organization, DAAD was established in 2005 and open specifically to applicants located in the United States and Canada. Ever-expanding, it has branched out to include the United Kingdom and Ireland, striving to offer an opportunity for students excelling in educational pursuit the opportunity to work at top German universities and institutions in the summer.

In 2006, DAAD expanded to create the RISE Professional scholarship for North American students as a sister program of RISE Germany. Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, it offers RISE alumni the chance to return to Germany and do research in a work environment. Participation from Great Britain and Ireland has been welcomed since 2018.

Driven to attract exchange students pursuing studies in areas of natural science, engineering and life sciences, RISE and RISE Professional internships strive to motivate students to learn more about Germany’s research and learning opportunities. Interns will be awarded a monthly stipend for everyday living as well.