The coronavirus pandemic has caused many students to lose their part-time jobs which puts them in a difficult financial position. Since the beginning of April, the University of Mannheim Foundation has been collecting donations for a Corona-Fonds to support these students. Aitana Schwarz Lloret, one of the students to receive the funding, is relieved: “It is really great that the University of Mannheim reacted so quickly to the students’ financial difficulties. The support I received from the Corona-Fonds makes me feel appreciated as a student.”
The Corona-Fonds also provides funding for extending digital teaching. Compared to many other universities, the University of Mannheim has been in a very good position for switching to online teaching, but further investments in technical equipment are needed in order to be able to offer an unprecedented number of high-quality online courses.
Alumni, sponsors and Mannheim citizens have donated around 160,000 euros in total. Sabrina Scherbarth, Managing Director of the University of Mannheim Foundation, is very pleased with the result: “People are showing great support for our project. We are very grateful for the many donations we have received.”