MINT "excellence" scholarship to a USI student

Clara Ehrenzeller, a student at USI's Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, has been awarded a Werner Siemens scholarship for the year 2024/2025. Awarded by the Swiss Students Foundation in cooperation with the Werner Siemens Foundation, these scholarships reward "outstanding" female students in the so-called MINT disciplines, namely mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and technology.

Born in St. Gallen, 24-year-old Clara Ehrenzeller chose the USI Master of Medicine programme because of its practical nature and the opportunity to learn another national language. She is currently writing her master's thesis in ophthalmology at Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, studying patients with Leventine Disease, a rare genetic disorder. The work sparked her interest in research, which she hopes to continue pursuing once she finishes her studies to become an ophthalmologist. She is also a committee member of the Swiss Medical Student Association (swimsa), where she is dedicated to the future of medical studies and her interest in health policy. She is also a curriculum development assistant at ETH Zurich. The Werner Siemens Scholarship will enable her to intensify these commitments further.

A total of eleven students were awarded a Werner Siemens Scholarship this year.

These scholarships are intended for male and female students who boast excellent academic performance and are committed to promoting and disseminating MINT subjects in society. In addition to financial support of 19,800 Swiss francs, they will give awardees the opportunity to participate in networking events organised as part of the Werner Siemens programme.