DAAD Prize Winners at the University of Potsdam

The DAAD prize

To highlight the benefits that international students bring to our universities and society, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has been awarding the DAAD Prize for outstanding achievements of international students since 1996. Every year, almost 200 German universities award this prize to their best foreign students. The DAAD prize honours students who have produced outstanding academic achievements and who have demonstrated public and intercultural commitment.
Information on the nomination of DAAD award winners at the University of Potsdam

DAAD Prize 2026

In 2026, the University of Potsdam will present the DAAD Award for Outstanding Achievements by International Students for the thirty-second time. Endowed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), this award is the most prestigious honor bestowed upon international students at the University of Potsdam. It recognizes students who have demonstrated exceptional academic achievement and remarkable social - particularly intercultural - engagement. For the recipients, this award represents special recognition of their academic achievements by Germany’s most prestigious funding organization. At the same time, it highlights to a wider public the enrichment that international students bring to the university community. The annual award is endowed with 1,000 euros.

This year’s DAAD Award for Outstanding Achievements by International Students goes to Nadia Maestro. Ms. Maestro impressed the selection committee with her outstanding academic achievements (a 1.1 GPA) and her social and volunteer engagement, which set her apart from the other nominees. She looks after the children of her former host family and helps migrants and refugees with their homework at the KuZe Potsdam.

She also actively promotes study abroad opportunities by sharing her own experiences with interested students. She is actively committed to further developing the partnership with SUNY Cortland. In addition, she teaches at the Helen Doron School of English for children, focusing on helping them catch up on learning losses caused by measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is the teacher education student who will receive a DAAD award at the University of Potsdam. She is pursuing a doctorate and is already developing teaching and learning materials that have impressed her reviewers.

2025