The Ukrainian luliia Latysheva has been awarded this year's Prize of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD Prize) for international students.

luliia Latysheva was born in Kiev, where she studied in the Bachelor programme Financial Analysis and subsequently in the Master programme Work Organisation in Companies.

The Ukrainian has been living in Germany since 2013. After a language course in Aachen, she enrolled as a guest auditor at the University of Leipzig in mathematics and computer science as well as chemistry. "I find an engineering profession much more interesting and creative than economics. I wanted to try out which natural science subject I liked best," explains the student.

Since 2017 Latysheva is studying Civil Engineering at the HTW Dresden. She belongs to the five best students of her year. She is also involved in various activities alongside her studies. Since the fourth semester she has been supporting her fellow students as a tutor. "Here I could develop my own new ideas. For example, at the end of the semester I wrote a test exam with the students and evaluated it together. In the summer semester, we conducted the tutorial online.

As a member of the study commission of the Bachelor's programme in Infrastructure Management, she actively participated in the conceptual development of this new study programme. "It was interesting for me to take part. It allowed me to contribute my experience as an international student and suggest some adjustments for future international students". Besides all these tasks, luliia Latysheva has been working as a working student in an engineering office since July.

She chose the HTW Dresden after extensive research because she found the programme of the Faculty of Civil Engineering well structured and very interesting. Above all, the practical relevance was important to her. She is particularly fascinated by the variety of projects in the programme: "There's always something new to learn and it never gets boring. And the best thing about it is that it will also remain so in later professional life".

The Ukrainian feels at home in Saxony: "I have no particular favourite city. I simply like all of Saxony - the people, the history, the architecture and the beautiful nature.”

"luliia Latysheva is characterised by determination, diligence, a willingness to help and courtesy. Due to her academic achievements, her great commitment in supporting her fellow students and her willingness to take on additional commitments, she has very much deserved the award," the jury justified its decision.

About the DAAD Prize

The DAAD Prize, which is valued at 1,000 euros, honors international students who complete their studies in Germany and who demonstrate outstanding academic achievements and remarkable social commitment and build bridges between countries.