Dr Norbert Schmidt Prize for outstanding doctoral degrees
Every year, the university awards the Dr Norbert Schmidt Prize for outstanding doctoral degrees. The prize is endowed with € 10,000. It is awarded for the best doctoral degree completed in the previous calendar year. In exceptional cases, the research prize can be split between up to three doctoral degrees.
The award winners are chosen on the basis of the applications submitted. The selection committee assesses these applications and identifies the best doctoral degree. The decision on this proposal is the responsibility of the Dr Norbert Schmidt Prize Board of Trustees.
The prize was donated by Dr Norbert Schmidt, radiologist from Fulda.
The 2025 award winner
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The selection committee reviews the applications submitted, including the dissertations. It chooses the best doctoral degree of the year. In exceptional cases, up to three doctoral degrees can be honoured. Chaired by the Vice President, the selection committee is made up of Prof Dr Stamatia Devetzi, Prof Dr Steven Lambeck and Prof Dr Markus Schäfers.
First or second supervisors of doctoral degrees completed in the relevant period can apply on behalf of the supervised doctoral candidates.
The doctoral degree should fulfil the following criteria:
- The dissertation is graded good or very good (at least magna cum laude).
- The doctoral candidate* has a reliable connection to Fulda University of Applied Sciences.
- The rules of good academic practice were observed in the preparation of the thesis.
The application form can be downloaded. Please submit it together with a copy of the doctoral degree in PDF format by 31 January 2026 by email.
The award ceremony with presentation of the certificate in the presence of the donor will take place in the summer semester 2026.
All professors at Fulda University of Applied Sciences who have supervised a doctoral degree in the current calendar year are invited to submit their application towards the end of the year. The committee examines the submitted theses according to defined assessment criteria. The results are summarised in a committee meeting and a winner is then proposed to the Executive Board.
The award winner and supervisor are informed by telephone, all other applicants receive a written rejection.
The award ceremony with presentation of the certificate in the presence of the founder will take place in the summer semester of 2025.
| Year | |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Dr Christoph Hardegen "Improving Network Management Tasks Using Machine Learning-Assisted Traffic Engineering in Programmable Network Architectures" Dr David Alejandro Muñiz Hernández "The Road to the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation - A Policy Reconstruction through the Multiple Streams Framework" |
| 2023 | Dr Jasmin Brück - "Young, queer and in transition from school to training and professional training. A subject-orientated perspective on the situation of young queer people in the school vocational system and the transition system" Dr Tobias Wagner - "A framework for current signal based bearing fault detection of permanent magnet synchronous motors" |
| 2022 | Dr Jens Vogler - "Labour relations in the field of migration Dr Stefano De Blasi - "Machine Learning for Industrial Process Optimisation" |
| 2021 | Dr Vivianne Schachler - "Participation through workshop councils" |
Contact
Nicola Diedrich
Advisor to the Presidential Board, Focus on Research and Transfer