502 Scholarships for Frankfurt School Students

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management is awarding a total of 502 scholarships to its students this year. Of these, 117 have been made possible through the generous support of Frankfurt School donors. At the traditional Scholarship Award Ceremony on 5 November 2026 in the Audimax, students, donors and alumni came together to celebrate the achievements of the scholarship recipients. The evening was hosted by Angelika Werner, Vice President Strategic Relations at Frankfurt School.

The ceremony opened with the presentation of the President’s Scholarship by Professor Dr Nils Stieglitz, President and CEO of Frankfurt School. In his opening remarks, he emphasised the importance of academic excellence, commitment and social mobility. Scholarships enable talented and dedicated young people to fulfil their potential, regardless of their financial circumstances.

Diverse Support for Young Talent

In a series of short interviews, Angelika Werner introduced several donors and explored their motivations for supporting students. Mathias Kiep, CFO of TUI Group and a Frankfurt School alumnus, reflected on his career and his continued connection to his alma mater. Christoph Rabenseifner, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Deutsche Bank, explained his company's commitment to supporting female students in the Master in Financial Technology and Master in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science programmes.

Other highlights included the presentation of the Klaus-Peter Müller Scholarships, which support outstanding students who also demonstrate a strong commitment to society, and the Woman in M&A Scholarships funded by Beyond Capital Partners. Christoph D. Kauter, Managing Partner at Beyond Capital Partners and a Frankfurt School alumnus, spoke about his motivation for specifically supporting female students in the Master of Mergers & Acquisitions programme. Dr Carsten Lehr, Managing Director of the Frankfurt Institute for Risk Management and Regulation (FIRM), presented scholarship certificates to the eight FIRM scholarship recipients studying for a Master of Finance with a concentration in Risk Management.

Another key part of the ceremony was the presentation of 73 Deutschlandstipendium scholarships (Germany Scholarships). Frankfurt School welcomed two new corporate donors to the programme this year: Krieger + Schramm and CONET. Joana Rosenkranz, Director of International Development, then presented the DAAD scholarships to international students.

Under the heading "Three Alumni – Three Stories", Gloria Pfaue (Deutsche Börse Group), Gunther Tillmann (EY) and Lena Fessler (LBBW) shared insights from their careers, encouraging students to forge their own paths and build professional networks. The scholarship presentations concluded with the ARDIAN Scholarship, which places particular emphasis on promoting social mobility, and the Frankfurt School Scholarships, introduced by Vera Hübner, Chief Marketing & Sales Officer.

Scholarships Open Up Opportunities

In her speech, Diana Kovtun, a student on the Bachelor in Business Administration programme, illustrated just how much this support means to students. She described how a scholarship had enabled her to study at Frankfurt School after arriving in Germany from Ukraine. Speaking on behalf of the scholarship recipients, she expressed her gratitude to all those who had supported them:

“You open doors. You reward our talent and determination. And you enable us to show what we are capable of achieving.”

To conclude the official part of the ceremony, Angelika Werner thanked the donors for their financial and personal commitment and encouraged students to make the most of the opportunities available to them and maintain contact with their supporters. The reception that followed provided an immediate opportunity to continue these conversations in a relaxed atmosphere.