Schweighofer Scholarships: A year to remember

After completing their exams, the Schweighofer Scholarship recipients from forestry and wood engineering faculties of the universities in Suceava, Braşov and Cluj-Napoca meet once again for a final workshop, presenting research they have undertaken 10 months ago. For an entire day, the halls of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca will host interesting discussions about wood products, market developments, sustainability requirements and industry regulations.

What is left behind? Financial support for ten months, materials for tests and experiments, networking opportunities with students, teachers, industry specialists and wood enthusiasts from all corners of the country. The 2017-2018 Schweighofer Scholarships have been an unforgettable experience for all involved.

Close competition for the scholarships

In October 2017, 112 students simultaneously entered the examination rooms of four faculties across the country to test their knowledge and innovation skills via a range theoretical and practical trials. Filled with emotions and excitement, the 24 scholars selected by committees made up of university professors and company specialists then chose their research topics. But the experience has proven useful for all the candidates, and most said that they will run again in the future. “It was a great opportunity to motivate students to study with more responsibility. The disciplines to which they have been tested are the foundation of the professional culture of any forester and we hope that in the future our graduates, Schweighofer scholars or not, will show more professionalism, which can only be acquired through practice,” said assoc. prof. Marian Drăgoi, PhD, Faculty of Forestry at the University of Suceava.

Student workshops throughout March

Between the two semesters, the students met to discuss research methods and intermediate results in a series of workshops where they could meet colleagues from the other university centers and receive feedback from professors and specialists from the industry invited by the company. “The scholarship program is an opportunity and a challenge for students to get out of the comfort zone, to get in touch with the operators on the market and to better understand the realities on the ground, offering a different perspective than the one in the classrooms. The research projects we are doing are steps in our evolution as specialists,” said Maria Iorga, a student at the Faculty of Forestry in Brasov.

Visits to Holzindustrie Schweighofer factories

In addition to financial support and the materials needed to carry out the experiments, the company has made available to scholars an enormous amount of know-how on the latest woodworking technologies. During visits to sawmill and board factories operated by Holzindustrie Schweighofer in Romania the students were able to observe the technological processes and to openly discuss the trade with our employees, probably the best in the wood industry. The experiments were stimulating and provocative, as Dan Baraboi, M.Sc. student of the Wood Engineering Faculty of Brasov, admitted: “I am a great wood enthusiast, I love this warm and beautiful material, and I am glad I could meet people just as passionate as I am. Talks with production specialists help me better understand what can be done from this noble and valuable material and stimulate me, I come up with all sorts of ideas.”

About the Schweighofer Scholarships

As a leader of the European wood industry, Holzindustrie Schweighofer believes that the passion for wood must be cultivated among the younger generations in order to develop the sector towards performance and a more sustainable management of the only renewable resource, the forest. Scholarship programs respond to this vision and offer formative experiences – not only academic – to students who want to deepen their knowledge of a vital industry in the 21st century.

In the academic year 2017-2018, 24 scholarships worth 800 lei a month (175 euros) were offered, equally distributed to undergraduate and graduate students from four prestigious faculties in the country:

• Faculty of Forestry, “Ştefan cel Mare” University of Suceava
• Faculty of Wood Engineering, “Transilvania” University of Brasov
• Faculty of Forestry, “Transilvania” University of Brasov
• Faculty of Horticulture, Forestry Department, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine from Cluj Napoca.

In addition to the scholarship program addressed to university students, Holzindustrie Schweighofer’s involvement in education includes the vocational education program from the “Gr. Cobalcescu” Technical High-school in Moinesti (study scholarships for 28 students and practical training in the company’s mills), endowment of university laboratories as well as the renovation and modernization of schools, kindergartens and other educational institutions in the areas where it operates production units.