Award Amirana scholarship holder Kuralay Aman receives DAAD Prize 2024
Amirana scholarship holder Kuralay Aman has been awarded the DAAD Prize for Foreign Students, endowed with 1,000 euros, for her remarkable social commitment and outstanding academic achievements. We congratulate the medical student from Kazakhstan on this well-deserved award! According to the German Academic Exchange Service, which awards the prize annually, the prizewinner is an “exceptionally talented medical student” who is also committed to the topic of human rights in a variety of ways.
Kuralay Aman has been studying human medicine at the Heidelberg Medical Faculty since the winter semester 2019/2020, supplemented by a stay abroad at the University of Zurich (Switzerland). Since October 2023, Kuralay Aman has been working on her doctoral thesis in the Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumor Immunology, a bridging unit between the Medical Faculty Mannheim of Heidelberg University and the German Cancer Research Center. The head of this cooperation unit, Prof. Dr. Michael Platten, was impressed by the academic achievements of his doctoral student. He particularly praised the fact that she had acquired remarkable scientific expertise in a very short space of time as part of her doctoral project.
Prof. Dr. Marc-Philippe Weller, Vice-Rector for International Affairs and Diversity at Ruperto Carola, highlighted Kuralay Aman's commitment to social issues during the award ceremony. As Federal Coordinator of the Medicine and Human Rights Working Group, which is part of the Federal Representation of Medical Students in Germany, the prizewinner has organized numerous events. She has also been trained by the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations as a trainer on human rights issues. In addition to her active role in Heidelberg University's Buddy Program to support international students, she has been involved in initiatives such as “Impfdich” and the sex education project “Mit Sicherheit verliebt”.
“I am delighted to receive this award and would like to thank all the people who have supported me along the way. Studying medicine abroad in a foreign language is no easy task and requires everyone to be adaptable and open-minded,” emphasized Kuralay Aman. Her studies in Germany were made possible in part by an Amirana scholarship, which is aimed at medical students from the Global South and is financed 100 percent by donations from alumnae and alumni. It was set up by Dr. Mahomed T. Amirana and Dr. Annelene J. Amirana, who both studied medicine in Heidelberg in the 1950s and have lived in the USA for decades.
After Binh Duong Thai, who received the DAAD prize last year, Kuralay Aman is the second Amirana scholarship holder to receive this award. We would like to thank all donors for supporting Kuralay Aman and other students on their way to a successful graduation and career start!
