Meeting of the Fellows at the Meier shipyard
Since 1996, more than 1,000 university graduates from 19 countries in Central and Eastern Europe have been sponsored and are now working in various fields, such as science, business or politics.

Alumni associations of the individual countries

  • Provision of information on the CEE Fellowship Programme
  • Organization and participation in the selection interviews
  • Organization of the annual alumni meetings and other events/workshops/colloquia
  • Cross-national cooperation through participation in the annual exchange during the international alumni workshop.
  • Regular exchange with the DBU
  • Professional networking – Europe-wide network
  • Project partner
  • Capacity Building

There are alumni associations with direct contacts in the following countries

Poland (since 2001), organized as an association
Karol Mrozik (sds@sds.org.pl)

Hungary (since 2008)
Borbala Galos (galos.borbala@uni-sopron.hu)

Czech Republic (since 2008)
Miroslav Bauer (miroslav.bauer@gmail.com)
Kristyna Rybova (k.rybova@gmail.com)

Romania (since 2009)
Dan Vodnar (dan.vodnar@usamvcluj.ro)

Bulgaria (since 2009)
Vanya Ratarova-Georgieva (vratarova@yahoo.co.uk)
Desislava Parvanova (terra_junior@yahoo.com)

Latvia (since 2009)
Aiga Spāģe (aigaspage@gmail.com)

Lithuania (since 2010)
Tadas Kancevicius (tadas.kancevicius@gmail.com)
Reda Cimmperman (Reda.Cimmperman@gmail.com)

Estonia (since 2010)
Toenis Kattel (tonis.kattel@gmail.com)

Slovakia (since 2012)
Martin Labuda (labuda.martin@gmail.com)
Tatiana Harcinikova (tatiana.harcinikova@gmail.com)

Serbia (since 2012)
Ana M. Petrovic (borisavljevic.ana@gmail.com)
Ivana Mihajlovic (ivanamihajlovic@uns.ac.rs)

Kaliningrad (since 2015)
Vladimir Volkov (vladimir.volkov@klgtu.ru)
Andrei Levchenkov (levchenkov5@gmail.com)

Ukraine (since 2020)
Ivan Tymofeiev (ivantymofeiev@gmail.com)

Western Balkans: Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro
(since 2023)
Desjana Grymshi (desjanagrymshi@gmail.com)
Djego Abedinaj (diego.ab@outlook.com)

Joint activities

Current CEE Fellows as well as alumni are invited once a year to the Fellow and Alumni Meetings in the run-up to the awarding of the German Environmental Award and the DBU Summer Academy. In addition, a meeting of all alumni living in Germany will take place on this last weekend in October. Every four years, all current Fellows as well as alumni are invited to Berlin for the Week of the Environment.

In addition, an International Alumni Workshop is held annually (alternating between a CEE country and Germany). It serves as an exchange between the DBU alumni networks in the CEE countries, the DBU doctoral scholarship programme in Germany and the DBU office. Furthermore, there is the possibility that alumni organize a colloquium.

Alumni Fellowships

The DBU has been awarding five Fellowships per year to former Fellows of the CEE Fellowship Programme since 01.01.2016. The fellowship can be used for further scientific training in the course of a PhD/postdoc position or for practical further qualification between cooperating institutions/organizations/companies.

Applications are due once a year by 31.03. possible by e-mail. The selection is made on the basis of the submitted documents and through a peer review. There will be no selection interviews.

Application Requirements:

  1. Alumni of the DBU CEE Fellowship Programme
  2. Positively completed fellowship (final report available, positive feedback from supervisor in Germany)
  3. Current environmental issues both in the home country and in Germany
  4. Permanent employment/employment in home country
  5. Permanent residence in home country
  6. Permanent cooperation partner in Germany
  7. German language skills
  8. No direct follow-up funding to an ongoing fellowship
    Duration of funding: max. 3 months
  9. The following documents must be submitted to the DBU:
    Resume
    Project description (max. 10 pages)
    Work plan
    Opinion of a superior
    Confirmation of the supervising institution in Germany

    For further questions, please contact Dr. Nicole Freyer-Wille (n.freyer@dbu.de).

Small Grants

The Board of Trustees of the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (German Federal Foundation for the Environment) approved the new foundation at its 115th meeting. Meeting on 11.03.2020 a conceptual addition to the CEE Fellowship Programme.

Small Grants” are intended to provide Fellows with an additional incentive to return to their home country after the Fellowship and to apply the skills they have acquired in Germany in the field of environmental protection and nature conservation. Funding is granted for a maximum period of six months. Small Grants are to be awarded primarily to those Fellows who have demonstrated exceptional performance during the course of the Fellowship.

The small projects serve the in-depth qualification of excellent Fellows with regard to the conception and implementation of research and development as well as development and testing projects with sustainability, environmental and/or nature conservation relevance. In the Small Grants, the Fellows potentially qualify as future project partners of the DBU. The Small Grants are generally to be carried out in the Fellows’ countries of origin and are to be oriented towards the DBU’s funding topics. In particular, they may include three types of projects:

  • Field of action analyses on selected environmental challenges, development of feasibility concepts for potential projects, implementation of model practical projects.

The projects should focus on topics that focus on particular sustainability challenges.

Further information on application requirements and content requirements can be found in the funding guidelines for Small Grants. For further questions, please contact Dr. Alexander Bittner (a.bittner@dbu.de).

Travel Fellowships

The DBU has been awarding five travel fellowships per year to former fellows of the MOE Fellowship Programme since 01.01.2016. Travel fellowships are for participation in a conference/meeting/workshop/seminar/training with a current environmental theme in Germany.

Applications are due by 31.01. and as of 30.06. possible by e-mail. The selection is made on the basis of the submitted documents.

Application Requirements:

The fellowship includes a one-time payment of a maximum of €2,000 for travel expenses and participation fees.

The following documents must be submitted by e-mail:

For further questions, please contact Dr. Nicole Freyer-Wille (n.freyer@dbu.de).

News from the DBU programmes for young scientists

Contact person for the Fellowship Programme

Dr. Nicole Freyer-Wille
DBU: Umweltkommunikation und Kulturgüterschutz, Internationale Förderung: MOE Fellowship Programm
+49 541 9633-460
Sonja Beiderwellen
DBU: Umweltkommunikation und Kulturgüterschutz, Internationale Förderung: MOE Fellowship Programm
+49 541 9633-461