Background to the Bronnbach Scholarship

Contemporary art is often an indicator of social developments, values and change. A willingness to take responsibility and a trained socio-cultural understanding are indispensable for future high achievers in research and science and for future managers.

Under the motto "Cultural competence for future managers", the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft and its Arbeitskreis Kulturelle Bildung (AKB) therefore launched the "Bronnbacher Stipendium" in 2004.

In cooperation with the KIT and the University of Mannheim, selected students and doctoral candidates are given the opportunity to spend a year in dialog with renowned personalities from the art and culture scene under professional guidance and to get to know their working methods. more about the content The KIT has been a cooperation partner of the Bronnbach Scholarship since 2016 and was coordinated by the ZAK until March 2022. From April 2022, the program will be coordinated by the Career Service & Alumni department. The funding program is advertised annually in autumn by KIT together with the University of Mannheim.

Further information on the Bronnbach Scholarship, the former cohorts and much more can be found on the official website of the Bronnbach Scholarship of the Arbeitskreis Kulturelle Bildung.

Art and culture are among the basic needs of a society in freedom and responsibility. Art and culture as well as business and science are based on the same prerequisites: Creativity, the courage to set out and the urge for renewal. Based on this conviction, the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft launched the Bronnbach Scholarship in 2004, which is offered primarily to Master's students and doctoral candidates in cooperation with the KIT and the University of Mannheim.

The aim is to arouse enthusiasm for art and culture among the scholarship holders and to support them in developing an understanding of artistic processes. Artists react sensitively to change in their environment, deal with it in their art and develop visions - contemporary art is often an indicator of social developments.

The direct exchange with artists and cultural professionals from various fields thus holds the potential to learn about new approaches and creative solutions. In today's economic and scientific world, skills such as inspiration, creativity and intuition are increasingly necessary for responsible and successful action and for pursuing innovative paths. These skills can be experienced and learned in particular through contact with the world of art and culture. Participants from both universities complete the curriculum together under the guidance of curator Konstantin Adamopoulos, who works as an exhibition organizer, project manager and art journalist.

The scholarship is intended to inspire enthusiasm for art and culture and motivate participants to take on social responsibility both privately and professionally. Even after the one-year program, the scholarship lives on: the network of now more than 250 alumni and alumnae ensures cross-year contact during and after the studies or doctorate.

The two-semester interactive cultural curriculum, specially developed by the Kulturkreis, comprises around ten thematic blocks, most of which are organized as weekend events and take place during the scholarship year from March to February of the following year. Each weekend block is dedicated to a specific artistic genre, from which an artist works with the scholarship holders on the weekends. Topics include: Clay, painting, opera, theater, dance, music / new music, architecture, literature, film.

During the weekends, the scholarship holders not only receive an overview of the respective art form, but also gain intensive insights into the creative processes and productions through talks and discussions with the artists. One focus of the Bronnbach scholarship is that the scholarship holders also become active themselves and try out the respective art form through guidance and input from the artists in order to better understand and experience the artistic processes themselves. There is also a special focus on the interplay of culture with business, science and society.

Through the themed weekends with their workshops, seminars and excursions, the scholarship holders are introduced to the broad spectrum of contemporary art and culture during their studies or doctorate.

The curriculum is compiled anew for each year by the curator of the Bronnbach Scholarship, Konstantin Adamopoulos. It usually begins in March with a weekend at Bronnbach Monastery, where the focus is on getting to know each other and growing together as a new Bronnbach scholarship cohort.

The other weekends are spread out over the year so that there is usually one Bronnbach weekend per month. The locations can vary: In addition to Bronnbach Monastery, there is usually one weekend in Mannheim and one in Karlsruhe. In addition, the weekends are organized at various cultural institutions and locations throughout Germany, depending on where the participating artists live and work.

In the scholarship years since 2017, Bronnbach weekends have taken place in Berlin, Frankfurt, Girsterklaus (Luxembourg), Hamburg, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Cologne, Mannheim, Mühlheim an der Ruhr, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, etc. The scholarship year ends with a festive closing evening, which is also the opening evening of an alumni:ae weekendorganized by the respective scholarship year. The newly selected scholarship holders of the new year can already attend the opening evening - the selection interviews usually take place the day before. The themed weekends form the core of the Bronnbach Scholarship, which is why participation is mandatory.

All scholarship holders are expected to play an active role in the organization of the weekends: participate in discussions, question things, read up and prepare in advance depending on the main topic. Furthermore, all scholarship holders are involved in the organization of the themed weekends.

This primarily involves organizing arrival and departure, selecting and booking accommodation, restaurants, special locations for certain art formats or organizing special equipment and materials for the weekends.

This is done in consultation with Konstantin Adamopoulos, who as curator is responsible for the conception of the weekends and the content arrangements with the participating artists, and with Mareike Poppinga, the contact person at the office of the Kulturkreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft.

Two project teams are formed within each year group for longer-term tasks: One is the design of an internal yearbook and the other is the organization of the Alumni:ae weekend at the end of the scholarship year. The various themed weekends are assigned to individual scholarship holders, who prepare a short report on the respective weekend afterwards. These texts are not intended for the general public, but serve as a memento for the scholarship holders and as contributions to the yearbook. All financial expenses (including costs for accommodation, travel to and from the event) are covered by the scholarship.

Target group The program at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is mainly aimed at committed and outstanding Master's students, doctoral students at KIT and KIT alumni who graduated no more than three years ago.

Bachelor students with outstanding qualifications may also be admitted. The focus is on applicants in the STEM subjects (STEM = mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, technology).

However, all disciplines are welcome to apply and the exchange between disciplines is expressly encouraged. Ideally, applicants should be characterized by special achievements in professional and personal terms and show a willingness to take on social responsibility as future decision-makers.

An open personality that is willing to engage in artistic processes is also important. The aim of the scholarship is not to shape the participants into "artists", but to enable them to develop new innovative approaches for their future core business by exploring cultural processes and techniques and to further develop teamwork and leadership skills.

Admission to the scholarship is based on a two-stage selection process. The first stage involves a written application with a letter of motivation, CV, certificates, etc.

After successful pre-selection based on the submitted documents (important: letter of motivation!), up to 15 applicants from KIT are invited to a personal interview in small groups consisting of applicants from Mannheim and Karlsruhe.

The selection interviews are conducted by a committee made up of the following: representatives of the office of the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft, representatives of the universities, representatives of the Cultural Education Working Group of the Kulturkreis, sponsors and supporters of the program, the curator and a Bronnbach alumna or alumnus.

A maximum of 18 scholarship places are awarded per year.

You have time to apply for the Bronnbach Scholarship from October until mid-January.

Participation in all events is obligatory and a prerequisite for admission to the Bronnbach Scholarship.

Therefore, please check before you apply whether you can make the date for the selection interview as well as the kick-off weekend at Bronnbach Monastery. As the curriculum is held in German, a very good knowledge of German is required.

March 2024 to February 2025

The Bronnbach Scholarship was established in 2004 and offered for the first time at the University of Mannheim. The name of the scholarship goes back to the Bronnbach Monastery (town of Wertheim, Baden-Württemberg).

Prof. Dr. Hans-Wolfgang Arndt, then Rector of the University of Mannheim, and Dr. Jürgen Zech, then CEO of the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft, were instrumental in founding the conceptual funding program. KIT has been a cooperation partner since 2016, so that the 14th year (scholarship year 2017/18) of the Bronnbach Scholarship was made up of scholarship holders from both universities for the first time.

There are now over 300 alumni and alumnae of the Bronnbach Scholarship, who meet several times a year for joint events, are independently committed to the promotion and mediation of contemporary art and thus form a supra-regional and interdisciplinary network.

Over time, regional groups have been formed at various locations to organize joint activities, and there are higher-level project teams in which the alumni specifically promote joint projects. The annual alumni meeting "Bronnbacher & Friends", which is organized by the active scholarship year, traditionally takes place on the last weekend in February.

Since 2019, the Alumni:ae have had their own website, where all activities are bundled. Graduates of the Bronnbach Scholarship can contact each other via an internal area. In 2020, the Alumni und Freunde des Bronnbacher Stipendiums e. V. was founded, which now brings together all activities. Further information on the Bronnbach Alumni:ae can be found at: www.bronnbacher-alumni.de