For the fifth time, VERBUND awards VERBUND women’s scholarship to students of Vienna University of Technology

Within the setting of Vienna University of Technology’s job fair "TUday13", the VERBUND women’s scholarship was yesterday awarded to three outstanding students of Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna). The winners can look forward to a tailor-made support for their careers throughout an entire academic year.

"The percentage of women in technical careers is still low. By awarding the VERBUND women’s scholarship, with which we are supporting three all-round committed students over the course of an academic year, we wish to make a targeted contribution and promote talented women in their technical training. It is our goal to attract more qualified women to our company, especially engineers, since we are convinced that women are extremely valuable for a company," said Georg Westphal, divisional head of strategic personnel management, explaining VERBUND’s commitment.

"A lack of engineers and women in engineering are issues that still concern the Austrian economy and continue to be very topical. Thus our goal is, and continues to be, to increase the appeal of technical training and vocational fields and to enthuse more young people for technical careers – not just women, but indeed greater numbers of women. It is precisely for this reason that the VERBUND women’s scholarship makes an important contribution. By receiving the award and being individually sponsored through the scholarship, three talented students of TU Vienna will live out their fascination for engineering and therewith act as a role model for many women faced with choosing their area of study or career. Measures of this kind are an important economic signal and, in our capacity as the Career Center of TU Vienna, we are delighted that this year sees us joining VERBUND in celebrating what is already the 5th anniversary of this initiative," said Helene Czanba, managing director of the TU Career Center, visibly thrilled about VERBUND’s commitment in the promotion of women.

The VERBUND scholarship awardees
The three winners have distinguished themselves through outstanding academic performances, practical and overseas experience, as well as through a high degree of social skills. First-year student Beatrix Walzl, master’s student Magdalena Riepl and PhD student Sabina Begluk are the proud winners of the VERBUND women’s scholarship.

Beatrix Walz from the Mostviertel region in Austria studies industrial engineering/ mechanical engineering and finds it important to take advantage of the opportunity to educate oneself personally and professionally away from the daily university routine. "This is partly very expensive. The VERBUND women's scholarship gives me the opportunity to use such further training offers."

Magdalena Riepl from Freistadt, a master student of industrial engineering/ mechanical engineering, was somewhat taken aback at the onset of her studies to find that there were so few women in her field of study. "However, I feel that the percentage of women is changing from year to year. If you look around, you'll find that there are more women in first semester lectures nowadays than in my day," Magdalena Riepl recalls and adds: "I think that women are just as good in technical professions as men; you just have to be enthusiastic about your job."

Sabina Begluk is a PhD student of electrical and energy engineering with the research emphasis on storage technologies and their incorporation in our energy system. What particularly fascinates her about her field of study is that engineers have the ability to change and co-shape the world. "Especially the area of energy supply is currently undergoing a paradigm change and is faced with the challenge of the massive integration of regenerative energy generation. The numerous questions raised by this with the different solution approaches fascinate me. That's why I knew that this field would be a great technical challenge for me and that my future area of work would, in all certainty, never be monotonous or boring," Begluk explains.

Comprehensive multilevel selection process
42 highly qualified TU students applied for the VERBUND women’s scholarship. All candidates initially completed a telephone interview, and several participants were subsequently invited to attend a hearing. It was here that the three winners had to convince a high-ranking jury comprising HR experts and top managers from VERBUND, as well as experts from the TU Career Center, among others, within the framework of presentations and team exercises.

Tailor-made career planning
The HR exerts from VERBUND and the TU Career Center will now develop a tailor-made sponsorship package in consultation with the three women’s scholarship awardees. These will contain select expert conferences and self-development seminars. In addition, the students will be reimbursed for material expenses such as reference books or travel expenses, as well as the semester ticket for public transport.

Photo material is available under: www.verbund.com/mediathek