There are two competitions running one for the best master thesis and one for the best doctoral thesis. Within the two competitions there are four regions which are split between the Polish consulates in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg and Munich. Prizes for the doctoral thesis are of 2000 euros and for the master thesis 1000 euros. The deadline for applications is September 14th 2015 and applications will be welcomed from students from universities in Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt und Thüringen.

The competition was first held in 2012 with the aim of encouraginge students at institutions of higher education in Germany to engage with Polish culture and history and in doing so promote Polish-German dialogue among the younger generation. The winning entries will be selected by an international jury. The chairman of the jury, Professor Robert Traba, is also the director of the foreign scientific and research centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Last year he praised the diversity of the themes and methodology and the high standard of the entries. This year prizes will be presented by the ambassador at a prizing giving ceremony in December. Last year the winners of the master thesis prize were Kinga Lenga with her thesis entitled: Spacial concepts. Katarzyna Kobros sculptures in an avant-garde context (Das Raumdenken. Katarzyna Kobros Skulpturen im Kontext der Avantgarde), and Sophie Schwarzmaier with her thesis entitled border crossers. Leon Chwistek and the polish academic culture during the interwar period. (Grenzgänger. Leon Chwistek und die polnische Wissenschaftskultur der Zwischenkriegszeit).

• Links: http://www.cbh.pan.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=196&Itemid=184&lang=en
• Links: http://berlin.msz.gov.pl/de/nachrichten/wissenschaftspreis_des_botschafters_der_republik_polen_in_berlin
• Links: http://www.cbh.pan.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=374&Itemid=230&lang=de

News from Berlin
Marina Holden, Berlin Global