The DAAD supports academic exchange opportunities for students and researchers around the world through its wide range of scholarships and funding programmes. What is the next step for early career academics after a period of funding comes to an end and how do they benefit from their time in Germany? Three former scholarship holders from Colombia report.

“Solving social problems through entrepreneurialism” – Katerin Carrillo, industrial engineer 

While studying industrial engineering in her Colombian hometown of Cali in 2009, Katerin Carrillo wanted an opportunity to study in another country. “Back then, the DAAD was the only way to study abroad,” she recalls. She applied to the Combined Study and Practice Stays for Engineers from Developing Countries (KOSPIE) programme and took English and German language courses in Mannheim. After that, she attended the prestigious Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). A work placement in Munich rounded off her exchange year. Carrillo sums up her experience as life-changing: “I still benefit from excellent links with several institutions in Germany,” she adds.

Back in Cali, Carrillo came up with a plan. “I was already interested in the idea of solving social problems through entrepreneurialism,” she says, adding that her study of industrial engineering had taught her how to optimise processes in large companies. “I wanted to combine those two things: the social side and the business side.” Along with two other DAAD alumni who she had met during her stay in Germany, Carrillo took her first steps into the world of social startups. She initiated a project to improve working conditions for mechanics. Inspired by her experiences, in 2018 she founded AVAPA, the German-Colombian alumni network.

After completing a master’s degree in social innovation and entrepreneurship at the London School of Economics  (LSE), Katerin Carrillo returned to Germany. This time she moved to Wiesbaden, through her collaboration with the Yunus Environment Hub, a social business network. In Wiesbaden, she worked on a business plan: “Colombia has a lot of natural resources, but it sends them to other countries which use them to manufacture products which we then buy. I think we could generate that value in Colombia as well.” In 2022 she founded the successful startup "Natalupa” (“Natural Plastic”) which develops starch-based alternatives to plastic. The naturally biodegradable substance reduces pollution from packaging materials while supporting Colombia’s local agriculture and starch industry.

“I can contribute a lot thanks to my background” – Aura Ortiz, environmental engineer

Aura Ortiz first became interested in Germany through a conversation with a German teacher while she was still in the early stages of her degree in sanitation and environmental engineering in Cali. Without further ado, she applied for the DAAD’s IAESTE scholarship programme (International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience) and completed a three-month work placement at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern in 2017. “My studies focused on water pollution. In Kaiserslautern I worked on foundation construction and soil mechanics, which was very important for me,” she explains.

Ortiz loved the experience and wanted to return to Germany as soon as possible. Thanks to the DAAD’s KOSPIE programme, she returned for just under two more years. She took a language course in Cologne and completed a work placement in Munich, where she studied at the Technical University for a year. “It was so enriching, both academically and personally,” she says. “I learned so much about international water policy and how Germany deals with microbiological water pollution. My time in Germany also taught me how to be resourceful and dare to undertake new things. I discovered and developed many skills.”
Nowadays, Ortiz is living in Cali again. She has run the AVAPA alumni network since 2021 and organises events on topics such as bioeconomics and environmental protection. In her work, she is currently developing models of microbiological pollution from medication in the River Cauca. “I do want to get back into working on water policy,” Ortiz adds. In Germany she got to see how water pollution can be regulated and remedied. Now, she says, she can put that knowledge to use. “The regulations in Colombia aren’t that advanced yet. I can contribute a lot thanks to my background.”

“My ideas were incorporated into the government plan” – Nadia C. Combariza, mechanical engineer 

As part of her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Cali, Nadia Combariza spent a year in Germany in 2011 through the DAAD’s Young Engineers Scholarship programme, the predecessor to KOSPIE. She attended courses in energy technology at Hamburg University of Technology and undertook a work placement in thermodynamics near Stuttgart. She completed a dual master’s degree, also with DAAD funding, in environment and resource management at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí and TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences. With a wealth of knowledge under her belt, she then worked for various institutions in the energy sector, for example in Chile and the Dominican Republic.

Although she loved her work, Combariza felt drawn back to academic life. She applied to CAPAZ, a DAAD-funded German-Colombian peace institute, where she completed a PhD on the topic of “Just Transition” in Colombia, studying how the country transitions to a climate-friendly economy. During a period of research in Germany, she collaborated with the Transnational Centre for Just Transitions in Energy, Climate & Sustainability“ (TRAJECTS), which has also received DAAD funding since 2021 through the DAAD’s Global Centres for Climate and Environment programme. Combariza says, “They are really focusing on energy and the environmental transition; CAPAZ is more focused on peace studies. It was the perfect combination, as I combine both those themes in my research.” Combariza developed her area of expertise and even went on to advise the Colombian government on its transition strategy. “I presented some of my proposals for what should be done, and almost all these ideas were actually later included in the government’s plan. It was incredible,” she says.

In 2022 Combariza decided to return to Colombia and continue her PhD studies there. In the same year, she set up the “POLEN Transiciones Justas” energy policy think tank as a spin-off from CAPAZ and TRAJECTS. “POLEN was primarily set up by DAAD scholarship holders,” she explains. Seven people were involved when POLEN was first set up, but it now numbers 20 members. One of the group’s current projects is focussing on expanding e-mobility. “We observed that all political activities to promote e-mobility are targeted at urban areas, but Colombia has huge rural areas.” Through their “E-Rurality” project, they are working on those gaps, such as by helping local people convert existing motorbikes into e-bikes.

Luca Rehse-Knauf (21 November 2024)