Avicenna Studienwerk

Avicenna Studienwerk is the youngest of the 13 scholarship foundations for gifted students recognized by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It supports talented and socially engaged Muslim students and doctoral candidates from all fields of tertiary education by awarding scholarships. Avicenna is on a mission to provide comprehensive support to high-achieving and socially committed Muslim students.

The inception of Avicenna Studienwerk originated from a joint initiative by Beschir Hussain and Matthias Meyer. Both had received scholarships from the most prestigious foundations during their studies. Recognizing the need to support talented Muslim students and doctoral candidates, they developed the idea of establishing a scholarship foundation specifically for this group. Together with Prof. Dr. Bülent Uçar, they shaped the profile and structures of what would later become the scholarship-granting institution, named Avicenna by Beschir Hussain. In March 2012, the Avicenna Studienwerk was established as an association in Osnabrück by 13 founding members. Since then, numerous academics and organizations have been actively involved in the association’s committees.

The Federal Ministry of Education provided around 8 million EUR for scholarships up to 2018. The federal government supports merit-based scholarships because they represent an important investment in the future of the country. The upcoming challenges can only be met if young people from all sectors of society are empowered to develop their talents and skills. The Mercator Foundation, which supported the Avicenna Studienwerk during its early development phase with an additional one million EUR, also expressed satisfaction with the results of the first application phase: "The strong response confirms our commitment. We are convinced that the structural equal treatment of Muslims, is an important milestone toward promoting equal educational opportunities in Germany," said Managing Director Dr. Wolfgang Rohe (Translated)