Berlin/Bonn, 15 October 2026. Who will be “Student of the Year 2027”? For the twelfth time, the German University Association (DHV) and the German National Association for Student Affairs (DSW) are seeking nominations for a student or student team of the year. With this award, the DSW and DHV recognise outstanding student engagement. The €5,000 prize is donated by the Stifterverband. It honours students or teams who, beyond their academic achievements, demonstrate exceptional, innovative and ideally unique commitment—whatever form it takes. The award ceremony will take place on 22 March 2027 at the “Gala of German Science” in Berlin.
“Encouragingly, many of Germany’s approximately 2.9 million students are involved in voluntary work beyond their studies—in public life, politics and associations—and make an exemplary contribution to our society,” say DSW President Professor Dr Beate A. Schücking and DHV President Professor Dr Dr h.c. Lambert T. Koch. “With the ‘Student of the Year’ award, the DHV and DSW want to bring this commitment into the spotlight by giving public recognition to an especially inspiring example of student engagement.”
The two organisations invite nominations for the award by 31 December 2026.
Further information is available in the call for nominations: https://www.hochschulverband.de/student-des-jahres.pdf
Previous award recipients:
- Christoph Lüdemann, a medical student at Witten/Herdecke University, who helped build the association “L’appel Deutschland” to support self-help initiatives in Rwanda and Sierra Leone (2016).
- The Spinelli Barracks Mannheim project, led by 16 architecture students from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. Together with refugees, they designed, planned and built a wooden pavilion on a former US military barracks site. It now serves residents of the initial reception centre as a place to meet and take refuge (2017).
- Philipp Humbsch, a medical student at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin from Frankfurt (Oder). He founded and drives the initiative “Jeder kann ein Held sein” (“Anyone Can Be a Hero”), which has provided free first-aid training to primary school pupils—particularly in structurally disadvantaged areas of Brandenburg—since 2016. The initiative also encourages them to get involved in voluntary civil protection organisations (2018).
- Wiebke Gehm, a medical student at the University of Rostock and a leading member of the student initiative “TNA – Tommy nicht allein” (“Tommy Is Not Alone”). Since 2015, students in the initiative have volunteered their free time to support patients in need at Rostock Children’s Hospital (2019).
- Sagithjan Surendra, a medical student at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg and the founder and driving force behind the “Aelius Förderwerk”. Since 2017, the organisation has supported children and young people from non-academic families, many with a migration background, through a broad programme of educational support (2020).
- TechAcademy, a 20-member group of students at Goethe University Frankfurt, which promotes the digital skills of fellow students across all subjects and disciplines through free seminars (2021).
- Fifteen students from the Social Work faculty at the Aachen campus of the Catholic University of Applied Sciences of North Rhine-Westphalia (katho), who provided selfless support to many people affected by the once-in-a-century floods in Stolberg (2022).
- Seven students from a range of disciplines in Hanover, Berlin and Hamburg, recognised for founding “Hanover Helps e.V.” and their outstanding work with the group. Soon after Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine, they began organising aid deliveries and collecting donations. They also set up children’s play areas in the reception halls at the Hanover Exhibition Centre and distributed hundreds of packed school backpacks to students in need in the Hanover region (2023).
- Contimi Kenfack Mouafo, an electrical engineering student at RWTH Aachen University originally from Cameroon, recognised for founding the association “3 E’s 4 Africa”. Since 2020, it has supported African students and doctoral researchers at universities across Africa. Its goal is to promote research into the energy transition, climate change mitigation and climate adaptation through education, empowerment and environmental responsibility (2024).
- Noah Dejanovic, a student teacher at Leipzig University who experienced physical, psychological and sexual abuse as a child. Among other initiatives, he works through the project “Kinderschutz im Studium” (“Child Protection in Higher Education”) to inform and raise awareness among students and teaching staff about child welfare risks and abuse (2025).
- Marian Grau, a computer science student at the University of Konstanz, who is deeply committed to supporting families in situations similar to his own after his severely disabled brother died at a young age. As an author and ambassador for the German Children’s Hospice Association, he raises awareness of these families’ circumstances. As a mentor with the association Philip Julius e.V., he also launched “Von Geschwistern für Geschwister” (“From Siblings, for Siblings”), a project supporting young people in similar situations (2026).
The German University Association is the nationwide professional association representing academics in Germany, with approximately 34,000 members. www.hochschulverband.de
The German National Association for Student Affairs represents the interests of Germany’s 57 student services organisations and advocates for students’ social and political concerns. www.studierendenwerke.de