For the eleventh time, VERBUND awards the VERBUND Scholarship for Women to female students at the Vienna University of Technology

The proportion of women in technical professions is still low. With the award of the VERBUND Scholarship for Women, which supports three versatile female students for one academic year, VERBUND is making a targeted contribution to promoting talented women in their technical training and offering them the opportunity of additional personal and professional further training as a supplement to everyday university life.

“We see diversity as making a valuable contribution to the long-term success of the company and would like to attract more qualified female technicians to VERBUND,” says Michael Strugl, Vice Chairman of the VERBUND Board. “For this reason, we have been awarding the VERBUND Scholarship for Women for eleven years, which promotes talented women and supports them in their technical training.” 

“The Vienna University of Technology is celebrating 100 years of women’s studies in 2019. Much has improved for women over these 100 years, women have left their mark on technology and a third of our students are women. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to do. Vienna University of Technology continues to create positive and career-promoting conditions for women. Young women should also be motivated to use technical studies as a career opportunity. Role models, mentoring programmes and scholarships are good tools for supporting these goals. We would therefore like to thank VERBUND for the many years of support provided by the Scholarship for Women and look forward to working together to promote positive development in the coming years,” remarks Anna Steiger, Vice Rector Human Resources and Gender at Vienna University of Technology.

The winners
The three holders of the VERBUND Scholarship for Women impressed with excellent academic achievements, practical experience and high social competence: Bachelor student Yi Wang, doctoral student Tanja Zigart, and Bachelor student Sonja Kracanovic are the winners of the VERBUND Scholarship for Women 2019 and can look forward to tailored support for their careers for one academic year. 

The VERBUND Scholarship for Women for female computer scientists is awarded to Yi Wang, a Bachelor student in business informatics: “My studies enable me to understand two different worlds and to link them together. I find it very exciting that the issue of business management can be solved much more easily with the help of suitable IT support.” Her recommendation to younger women who are just about to choose their training: “In addition to excellent career opportunities, a technical course of study can also be fun. When I started studying, I had hardly any previous knowledge. The degree opened up exciting new perspectives for me. Have courage! No matter which nationality, which gender, whether you have a lot of previous knowledge or not: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

“Women in technology are still not the norm,” confirms Tanja Zigart, winner of the VERBUND Scholarship for Women for female students of electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. “I notice this in many areas from the surprised looks I get when I talk about my field of study. Zigart is studying industrial engineering and mechanical engineering: “I am fascinated by how technical subjects such as mechanics or machine elements combine with economic topics. I enjoy taking a systematic and structured approach to problems and solving complex tasks in this way!

Bachelor student Sonja Kracanovic receives the VERBUND Scholarship for Women for civil engineering and infrastructure management. “We civil engineers are helping to shape our environment and future. Everything you see around you – from the wall to the road and the bridge – would not have been possible without us. We connect people with structures and that inspires me every day anew.” What motivated her to apply for the VERBUND Scholarship for Women? “The technical training at Vienna University of Technology is very well-founded, but professional life needs more than that. I saw the VERBUND Scholarship for Women as an opportunity to develop my soft skills and thus to assert myself even better in the male-dominated construction industry.”

Comprehensive multi-stage selection process
Forty highly qualified students from the University of Technology applied for the VERBUND Scholarship for Women. The applicants first had to undergo a video interview. The best-qualified participants were invited to the hearing. During this selection process, the three winners had convinced a top-class panel of HR experts and top executives from VERBUND as well as experts from the TU Career Centre, among other things in the form of presentations and team exercises.

Tailored career planning
VERBUND and the TU Career Centre will now develop a tailored support package with the three winners of the scholarship for women. This includes selected specialist conferences and seminars on personality development. In addition, the students are reimbursed for material expenses such as textbooks or travel expenses.