The Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences can once again look forward to welcoming committed young talent this year: Jennifer Seidel and Leonard Krapf, two students on the Master's degree course in Railway System Engineering, have been awarded scholarships from DB InfraGO. As part of the sponsorship, the Master's students not only receive financial support, but also gain an early insight into practical work and the opportunity to make valuable contacts in the industry.

Fascination for a complex system

Leonard Krapf has been intensively involved with model trains since childhood and developed a technical understanding of their controls at an early age. In addition to his bachelor's degree in physics at the University of Bayreuth, he designs detailed replicas of real railroad lines in the train simulator and is involved in voluntary work, for example with the Amberg Kaolin Railway and the Oberpfälzer Industrial and Local Railway Museum. In an interview, he describes his fascination from today's perspective: "I'm fascinated by the networking in the system and how much is behind it that you don't even see as a passenger at first."

Jennifer Seidel shares this enthusiasm for the complexity of the rail system: "I'm fascinated by the fact that transport services simply exist; that I can go to a train station without thinking about it and a means of transport will come and take me to my destination. I find everything that has to happen in the background to make this work particularly exciting," says Jennifer Seidel, describing the motivation behind her choice of study. She previously completed a Bachelor's degree program in Management with a focus on Transportation Economics at the Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau.

Support for successful studies

The scholarship not only means financial relief for both of them, but also important recognition of their achievements to date.

Jennifer Seidel has already been able to gain professional experience in the past. For example, she has completed internships at Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe, Deutsche Bahn and City-Bahn Chemnitz. She emphasizes: "For me, the scholarship is both recognition and support. It gives me the opportunity to concentrate fully on my studies without having to constantly worry about financial aspects."

Leonard Krapf particularly emphasizes the practical relevance as an advantage of the scholarship: "I get an insight into the company and can make contacts early on. At the same time, the financial support helps me to focus more on my studies."

Clear goals for the future of the rail system

With a view to their professional future, both scholarship holders already have concrete ideas for improving the rail system. Jennifer Seidel sees herself primarily in the operational area of rail operations: "I would like to work in operational planning and also in execution - so not just at the PC, but close to the operations. I would like to play an active role in shaping the processes. Many people only see the delays, but not the complex background. More transparency would help to better understand the system."

Leonard Krapf is particularly interested in infrastructure planning and the further development of the system. His many years of dealing with real routes, operational processes and technical details also shape his perspective on current challenges in the rail sector: "There are many small and large measures that can be taken to make the system more stable and create additional capacity to bring more traffic onto the rails."