FOR COUNTRY PROFILE : Germany -- OCT 1

FOR COUNTRY PROFILE : Germany -- OCT 1

Industry Scholarship Program 2002/2003 launched

The German Industry Scholarship Program (GIS), started under the auspices of the German Ambassador in 2001, has proven to be a great success.

It has so far financially supported more than 30 high- achieving undergraduates from select Indonesian universities in their third and fourth years of study. The scholarship includes a German language course and covers in some cases tuition fees and monthly allowances.

One other very attractive feature of the scholarship package is an internship at a German company in Indonesia.

GIS owes its success to concerted efforts on the German side. 22 sponsoring companies from German industry have been enrolled in the GIS Promotion Society and have made initial funds of 91,000 euros available. This sum was doubled by public money from part of the German Investment and Development Company (DEG).

Administration of the program lies in the hands of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which also receives the applications.

This successful cooperation has been formalized by means of a treaty between the three parties, which will allow for these scholarships to be offered to Indonesian students on a regular basis in the years to come.

At a ceremony held on Sept. 19 at his residence, German Ambassador Gerhard Fulda launched GIS program 2002/2003, which will provide additional funds for 35 Indonesian students.

He also honored the first scholarship holders who had successfully completed their studies with the support of GIS during the occasion.