Sports scholarships 2024/25

The sports scholarships will be awarded for the eighth time in the 2025/26 academic year. Eight scholarship holders are looking forward to the support.

Some of the scholarship holders are taking part once again: in addition to Selina Stamer (karate), these are Sina Stöckmann (volleyball), Jannik Dutschke (handball), Marek Pompe (orienteering) and Vanessa Huth (handball).
Georg-Richard Kupke (basketball), Hannes Degenkolb (cycling) and Vivienne Morgenstern (athletics) receive the scholarship for the first time.

Congratulations to all scholarship holders!

Name: Hannes Degenkolb
Study: Hydrosciences
Sport: Cycling (cyclocross, mountain bike cross country)

After the 10th grade, I transferred to the sports high school in Altenberg and began to pursue sports even more intensively than before.
Sport taught me to be flexible. Achieving your goals can take longer than you think. You shouldn't let that discourage you so quickly, without being stubborn.
In the coming year, I want to win another national championship title and be one of the best cyclocross riders in the world.
My coolest competition experience was becoming German champion in Munich's Olympic Park. The atmosphere on the track was great.
The scholarship is an important financial support for me, which helps me to focus better on my athletic and academic career.

Name: Jannik Dutschke
Study: Master Chemistry
Sport: Handball

What I love about my sport is the mixture of athleticism and tactics combined with team spirit that lead to success.
Handball has taught me discipline and time management, which is also helpful in my studies.
With the help of a well-structured plan and the support of my girlfriend and those around me, as well as organizational help from the club and the university, it's possible to juggle professional sport and university. It is often helpful to live by the motto "never change a running system".
The scholarship helps me to focus my full attention on professional sport and to have financial freedom in terms of nutrition and regeneration.
It also enables recognition and acceptance on the part of the faculties so that overlaps between university and handball can be managed well.
My biggest goal is to achieve our club goal of promotion to the Bundesliga.

Name: Vanessa Huth
Study: Psychology
Sport: Handball

What fascinates me most about handball is the mixture of speed, team spirit and individuality. It's a sport in which everyone can and must develop - both as an individual and as a team.
My parents took me to my uncle's handball games in the hall when I was a small child. Since then, I have thrown balls and developed all the way up to the 2nd Bundesliga.

Handball has taught me important qualities such as discipline, motivation, ambition and teamwork. Sport has also taught me not to be discouraged by setbacks, but to learn from them and carry on stronger.
Thanks to the sports scholarship, I can concentrate fully on my two priorities: my sport and my studies.
My big dream: promotion to the women's 1st Handball Bundesliga.

Name: Georg Kupke
Study: Secondary school teaching degree in mathematics and history
Sport: Basketball

I love the dynamics of my sport - situations are constantly changing and all the players try to react as quickly as possible. I also like the fact that tactics and team unity decide the outcome of the game.
Tackling everyday challenges in a structured, persistent and ambitious way helps in sport and at university.
Even in stressful phases, I try to avoid letting one suffer as a result of the other. Instead, I prioritize the most urgent tasks in each area and complete them first.
The sports scholarship will enable me to combine sport and studying in the best possible way in the coming season. A balanced diet, more effective training and better regeneration are possible thanks to the scholarship.

Name: Vivienne Morgenstern
Study: Business Administration and Economics
Sport: Athletics, 400m hurdlesI started competitive gymnastics at the age of 6 and switched to athletics at the age of 10.
to athletics at the age of 10. What I love about hurdling is that you always have a new goal, after all there are 10 hurdles to overcome.
Perseverance and ambition play a big role for me, but I have also learned in sport how important self-discipline and good time management are. To combine studying and training, I plan my weeks very precisely and set priorities. I plan my time in a very structured way and build up the semesters accordingly.
Two of my greatest sporting successes were 3rd place at the U23 European Championships and 1st place with the 4x400m relay team at the World University Games.
I use the sports scholarship to finance training camps and for nutritional supplements to stay healthy and support my body in the best possible way.

Name: Marek Pompe
Study: Medicine
Sport: Orienteering

What I love about orienteering is that you have to keep your mind fresh enough to find the fastest way to the finish line while running at high intensity.
In sports and studying, it helps that you usually reach your destination faster, but definitely more efficiently, if you develop a "plan" beforehand.
Next year, I want to take part in the World Championships in Italy and become German champion.
My coolest competition experience was defending the German club championship title this year with my home club.
It was a very exciting 5-person relay race.
I use the sports scholarship to finance training camps and training and competition equipment such as running shoes.

Name: Selina Stamer
Study: Medicine
Sport: Karate

Sport karate is a very diverse sport that brings together a wide variety of components. Both physical fitness and coordination skills are required to a high degree in order to execute a technique with lightning speed and accuracy at exactly the right moment and at exactly the right distance from the partner.
Competitive sport has taught me perseverance, discipline and the belief that I can cope with my own tasks, even if they are overwhelming at first.

My greatest sporting successes are two 3rd places and one 5th place at world ranking tournaments, as well as being accepted into the national squad. I am also very proud to have achieved a goal I had set myself for a long time at the beginning of the year: To get into the top 10 in the world ranking.
My coolest competition experience was the European Wado Cup three years ago, where we won the title by one point after a nerve-wracking fight.

Without the sports scholarship, I wouldn't be able to afford important competitions and trips to training camps. Thanks to the support from the TU, I am able to attend both training and world ranking tournaments.

Name: Sina Stöckmann
Study: Master's degree program in Spatial Development and Natural Resource Management
Sport: Volleyball

I love the feel for the ball and the teamwork. I think the coolest thing is the hard attacks, where the setter passes very quickly so that you can hit the ball with all your strength before the block closes.
Self-organization and the desire to see things through are very important both in competitive sport and at university. I notice this especially when I'm doing homework.
My biggest challenge is being away from the university during my
season in the winter semester. It's important to think ahead in terms of organization and
to be committed. I manage many lectures and assignments independently with the
with the help of the teaching materials and at the same time I have a lot of exams and
attendance events in the summer semester.
The support of the sports support system has helped me to juggle my studies and sport.