Graduation ceremony in May 2023
On 5 May, 95 graduates together with their families and friends experienced a moving afternoon with numerous speeches and honours, which were enriched by musical performances by Prof. Dr. Thomas Pitz and the student Farhan Sirajudeen on the piano. In his speech, Dean Prof. Dr. Ralf Klapdor thanked the participating alumni, saying: "We are particularly proud of our international graduates, as they first had to acclimatise to a society and culture that was foreign to them. But our national graduates also benefit from the unique, international atmosphere and we hope that after graduation both groups will take these positive impulses and experiences with them on their further paths in life." Representing the Presidential Board, Prof. Dr. Jörg Petri, Vice President for Studies, Teaching and Continuing Training, gave the welcoming speech. Imke Hans, on behalf of Lisa Waberg (coordinator of the Alumni Network of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences), congratulated all graduates on their academic degrees. She encouraged everyone to take part in a small alumni quiz and thus playfully informed them about the tasks and offers of the alumni network.
The Katjes Prize, worth 1,000 euros, was also awarded this year. All theses from the Faculty of Society and Economics from the previous year that have been evaluated very well can be nominated for this award. The selection is made by representatives of the university and the company according to criteria such as the practical relevance of the topic, the innovativeness of the solution, the practicability of the results and the scientific standard. Mariia Kormilitsina, a graduate of the International Taxation and Law Bachelor's programme, received the prize in recognition of her outstanding work on the topic "Comparison and analysis of the interaction of the CFC Rules and the global anti-base erosion minimum taxation model rules".
Konstanze Döring from the Gender and Diversity programme, B.A., was recognised as the best Bachelor's graduate, and Louis van den Bosch from the Sustainable Development Management programme, M.A., was honoured as the best Master's graduate.
After the honours, the graduation certificates were awarded. Afterwards, the fresh graduates had time to exchange ideas with their families and the professors at the festive champagne reception.