Marcella Eierdanz, Annika Zimmer and Julia Flöser received the €3,000 "Wagner Family Sponsorship Award 2024" from Heike Wagner and Christine Geldbach, the daughters of the founder and Honorary Senator and long-standing Chairman of the University Council Dr. Dieter Wagner, who passed away in 2023, at a ceremony yesterday.
On Wednesday, February 5, 2025, three graduates of the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society (HWG LU) were awarded the "Wagner Family Sponsorship Award 2024" for their outstanding theses. First place went to Marcella Eierdanz, a graduate of the "Healthcare Management - HCM" Master's degree program. Eierdanz received the €1,500 prize for her Master's thesis on the highly practical topic of "Future-oriented recruitment of nursing staff from third countries to secure and further develop long-term care: stocktaking and recommendations for action using the example of Philippine nursing staff". Prof. Dr. Elke Raum gave the laudatory speech: "You can't approach this topic without talking about the nursing shortage. Ms. Eierdanz has done this in a professionally outstanding way, focusing on people in two ways: in relation to the current situation and the urgent need for well-trained staff to provide dignified care for the elderly and in relation to the particular challenges faced by nursing staff from third countries," said Raum. Marcella Eierdanz had been thinking about the topic since her internship in a nursing home for the elderly. "The focus on Filipino nurses is due to the fact that the Philippines is the most important country for recruiting from third countries and the nursing degree program there has a very good reputation," Eierdanz revealed. In addition to receiving the Wagner family's sponsorship award for her thesis, she was particularly pleased that the first practice facilities have now started recruiting Filipino nursing staff as a result of her work.
Heike Wagner and Christine Geldbach, together with their sons, presented the second prize of €1,000 to Annika Zimmer. In her final thesis, the graduate of the bachelor's degree course in social work took a comprehensive look at the topic of "Loss and grief in childhood - grief counseling in the context of social work". "Ms Zimmer did an excellent job of dealing with a difficult and often avoided topic," said Prof. Dr. Andreas Rein when praising the thesis. She has developed it from children's ideas about death, through the spectrum of experiences of loss and death, to current grief research. Signs, causes and consequences of complicated or unlived grief are also addressed, and the heart of the work is ultimately the accompaniment of loss and grief in children by social work staff," said Rein. For the future, Annika Zimmer, who works in general social services at the youth welfare office in Germersheim after successfully completing her degree, would like to see legal regulation for bereavement counseling for children and young people and for the topics of death, dying and grief to be anchored in the curricula for social work studies.
Finally, Julia Flöser, a graduate of the Business Administration (B.A.) integrated degree course, was awarded third prize and €500 in prize money for her Bachelor's thesis on "Unconscious resistance to socio-cultural minorities - a tentative analysis of the implications for companies". Julia Flöser, who works full-time in HR development at BASF, dealt with the current and difficult topic of "diversity" and its implications for companies. In her laudatory speech, delivered by jury member Vilja Berner, her assessor Prof. Dr. Kühnapfel said that she had succeeded in dealing with the subject matter in the best business management manner and without pointing a finger. "Diversity and inclusion are not an end in themselves, but contribute to sustainable corporate success," said Flöser on the day of the award ceremony.
"Today we are awarding a prize that honors ethical and social values. The phrase 'The focus is on people' has shaped us from an early age and it was a matter close to our hearts to continue the Wagner family's sponsorship award, which was founded by our parents," said Christine Geldbach and Heike Wagner at the award ceremony.
The "Wagner Family Sponsorship Award", which is endowed with 3,000 euros annually, places people at the center of social, economic and societal thinking and action. The prize was established in 2014 by Dr. Dieter Wagner, Honorary Senator of the university and long-standing Chairman of the University Council. After his death in 2023, the daughters decided to continue the competition and award ceremony. University President Prof. Dr. Gunther Piller and Dean Prof. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Dallmann thanked the Wagner family for initiating and continuing the prize: "Today we are celebrating the prizewinners and the memory of their parents," said the President.
The "Wagner Family Prize" is awarded for outstanding scientific work from all disciplines represented at the HWG LU. This year's jury consisted of: Dr. Günter Geisthardt, Prof. Dr. Claudia Kohl, Dieter Ott, Prof. Dr. Elke Raum, Prof. Dr. Andreas Rein and the students Vilja Berner and Florian Shkreli.
This year's award ceremony was organized by the Department of Social and Health Care. The HWG LU university choir provided the musical accompaniment.
Further information on the content of the award-winning theses can be found here.
