NEWS

Amanda Rosenbaum, ‘26
Computer Engineering
DAAD RISE Scholarship, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lower Saxony, Germany

RISE Germany offers undergraduate students from North American, British and Irish universities the opportunity to complete a paid 10-week summer research internship at top German universities and research institutions. Rosenbaum applied for this highly competitive opportunity with the support of the Lehigh’s Office of Fellowship Advising. We caught up with her about four weeks into her 10-week project in Technical University of Clausthal, in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lower Saxony, Germany, where Rosenbaum is assisting a PhD student in his research thesis about structural integrity testing of steel beams with custom sensor systems and digital signal processing using a microcontroller. 

What has been the most exciting thing about your experience so far?
I have really enjoyed my research experience so far. My coworkers are so friendly and my supervisor has been very supportive and never gets tired of answering my questions! The project is very related to the courses I took this past spring and it has been so interesting connecting different concepts and applying them. I’m learning so much and I feel like I’m making a real impact on this project!

Tell us about some of the sites you’ve seen/places you have visited?
On my first weekend after I got to Germany, I was able to meet up with some Lehigh students in the EMIG program during their weekend trip in Berlin. I also visited Frankfurt and went to Kleinmarkthalle for some amazing food. I am heading to Heidelberg in July for the DAAD RISE conference, and have plans to visit Cologne’s pride parade and a few nearby cities during the rest of my time here.

Have you tried any of the local cuisine? What’s been your favorite? 
I really enjoyed döner kebab, and have been in awe of all the bakeries here. Even the grocery stores have freshly baked pastries every day. There is a farmer’s market every Thursday in my town and I have been trying food from a new food truck each week.

What’s one thing you know now that you wish you knew before you left?
When looking for projects to apply to, it's worth considering the location of the university in addition to the topic you will be researching. Your interest in the topic should come first, but you also have the amazing opportunity of traveling around Germany, and Europe in general. If you’re close to some bigger train stations, it’ll be a lot easier to travel around more.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone about to apply for a DAAD RISE scholarship, what would it be? 
The Office of Fellowship Advising was such a big help to me in the application process for the DAAD RISE program. They helped me understand what my motivation letters should talk about, and how to best express my ideas. My advice is to not waste that valuable resource! They even helped me practice for my internship interview, which made me so much more confident ahead of time.