For the tenth time the “Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development” culminated in a festive award ceremony at which the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research honoured the newest 25 awardees for their innovative green ideas from various fields of research and promoted an international exchange.
This year, a high-ranking jury of experts selected 25 up-and-coming researchers from among the 736 applicants from more than 100 countries. For the first time ever, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Ecuador, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, and Zambia are among the winners’ countries of origin. The prize comprises one of the treasured tickets to the “Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development.”
The Green Talents programme conferred under the patronage of the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Anja karliczek. The award has been honouring talented researchers since 2009 and provides young scientists with a platform for sharing their views on green concepts to make our world a better place. Pheladi Venda Tlhatlha, 24 from Westenburg, Limpopo conducted her MSc in Environmental Management at the University of Pretoria where her research focused on Renewable Energy Strategies for Energy Poverty Alleviation.
Green Talents visited hotspots of green science in eastern Germany and meeting with sustainability research elite and some of the most Technology, the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, the HEINZ-GLAS GmbH & Co. KGaA, the Energieavantgarde Anhalt, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research as well as the Institute for Social-Ecological Research in Frankfurt/Main.
By establishing contacts with the science community and exchanging ideas with its key innovators the awardees will be able to lay the foundations for future cooperation. These efforts are supported by the invitation to return to Germany in 2019 for a fully funded research stay at an institution of their choice.
The 25 Green Talents were honoured during a festive award ceremony attended by representatives of the participating institutions, jury members, embassy representatives and other distinguished guests.