OREANDA-NEWS. OMV, the international oil and gas company, is once again awarding scholarships to young women who are interested in technology and engineering. An assessment center was used to select the 15 scholarship recipients from a pool of over 150 applicants. The technical scholarship program was launched in 2012 and aims to increase the percentage of women in technical careers.

“We are awarding technical scholarships to encourage more young women to opt for vocations in technology and engineering. This should help to boost the number of women studying technical subjects, which currently stands at around 20%”, commented OMV CEO Gerhard Roiss when awarding the certificates to the students. “We have received more than twice as many applications as last year; this shows that we're on the right track.” 15 scholarship recipients were chosen from more than 150 applicants, with the use of an assessment center.

The scholarships have been in place since autumn 2012 and support 15 students per year in their technology-based studies for the duration of their bachelor degrees; both financial and academic support is provided. The 15 successful applicants receive a monthly grant of EUR 350. At the same time OMV offers recipients the opportunity to gain work experience, as well as assisting with their dissertations. All of the scholars from 2012 have successfully completed their first year of higher education. Nearly every scholar has made the most of the opportunity to take up a work experience placement at OMV. “It was exactly during my internship that I got a huge boost in motivation”, said Barbara Schnopf on her first work experience at OMV. “I can really apply what I've learnt and influence what' s actually going on - this certainly inspires me in my studies”. Barbara Schnopf is studying Petroleum Engineering and has already completed her fourth semester.

The Technical Scholarship

Launched in 2012, the “Technical Scholarship” initiative allows OMV to make a targeted contribution to increasing the percentage of women in the fields of technology and engineering, as well as boosting the number of female graduates in technical disciplines. With OMV's sustainability concept, “Resourcefulness”, OMV supports an array of initiatives aimed at increasing the appeal of technology among young people, especially women, thereby countering the shortfall of skilled and specialized workers long-term. In particular, this scholarship strives to support young women from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition to a passion for technology, applicants must have successfully completed their secondary education (school-leaving certificate) and plan to start a degree course in autumn 2013 in subjects such as mechanical engineering or process engineering; students in their first year of higher education are also eligible. Scholarship students must study at one of the five eligible universities (University of Leoben, Vienna University of Technology, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Graz University of Technology, University of Vienna) and provide confirmation of enrolment along with an annual confirmation of achievement.