2024

Dr Christoph Maisch and Cäcilia Wosnitzka were honoured for their work this year as part of the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland's Academic Sponsorship Award. They had conducted research at Viadrina on critical theorists in Poland on the one hand and homosexual activism in the Eastern Bloc on the other. The Ambassador presented the awards in July 2024 at the Polish Embassy in Grunewald. In this interview, the prizewinners explain what exactly they researched and how their careers progressed.

On 11 December 2024, Ukrainian lawyer Anna Jürgens received the DAAD Prize, endowed with 1,000 euros, for her outstanding academic achievements and her voluntary work, including for refugees. Anna Jürgens studied "German Law for Foreign Lawyers" at Viadrina and is currently comparing Ukrainian and European private law for her dissertation.

In 2020, Oona Malmi began studying the bilingual bachelor's degree programme Cultural and Social Studies in the first year. During the months of the pandemic, she became increasingly interested in feminist TikTok activists. She has now written her final thesis on one of them, making her the very first graduate of the study course. She successfully defended her thesis at the end of November 2024.

The shop in the pedestrian zone of Große Scharrnstraße in Frankfurt (Oder) is a gallery, bar, meeting place and co-working space all in one and functions as a shop window into the diverse art and cultural landscape of the twin city. The founder of KUKURYKU and Viadrina graduate Philip Murawski was honoured with the 2024 Courage Award by the Oderland-Spree start-up partners' working group.

In an educational film from the Institute for Film and Image in Science and Education (FWU), Kuwi graduate Mateusz Weis-Banaszczyk and Prof. Dr Werner Benecke explore historical sites in Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice and explain what shaped the relationship between the two countries. The film "Germany and Poland until 1945: Struggling for the nation state" traces the political history of both countries in order to give pupils an understanding of German-Polish relations.

Prof Dr Jan Musekamp has presented his new book "Shifting Lines, Entangled Boderlands. Mobilities and Migration along the Prussian Eastern Railroad" at the Ulrich von Hutten bookshop in Frankfurt. In it, the former Viadrina student and researcher takes a look at the historical background of the former Eastern Railway and highlights the cross-border aspects in particular. The book presentation offered many interested people the opportunity to meet Jan Musekamp again in his long-time home town on his way from the USA to Warsaw.

Learning two foreign languages at university level, obtaining two bachelor's degrees, living, studying and working in two countries far from home - Mariia Sokolova has achieved all of this in the past four years. The 22-year-old is the first student ever to complete the Polish Studies study course at the Collegium Polonicum at both Adam Mickiewicz University and Viadrina. She successfully defended her final thesis on 17 June 2024.