Ahmad Iqbal receives the DAAD Prize for international students Outstanding achievements and commitment recognised
Ahmad Iqbal has been honoured with the 2025 DAAD Prize as the best international student at TU Braunschweig, in recognition of his outstanding academic achievements and his exceptional dedication to the university’s student community.
Ahmad Iqbal (centre) at the award ceremony with TU President Angela Ittel (right) and Prof. Frederik Möller (left). Picture credits: Silja Klemenz/TU Braunschweig
Iqbal, who comes from Malaysia and came to TU Braunschweig in 2018 to study for his bachelor’s degree, was nominated for the award by Professor Frederik Möller, head of the Data-Driven Enterprise department at the Institute of Business Information Systems at TU Braunschweig. In his nomination, Möller writes: “He [Ahmad Iqbal] stood out for his above-average interest in the integration of international students, his academic curiosity and his eagerness to engage actively in university life. His excellent performance in my modules and his bachelor’s thesis (final grade 1.0), which was accepted as a conference paper at GI2025, as well as his team’s first-place finish at the Young Software Developers’ Day, underscore his excellence.”
Among other things, Iqbal founded the Malaysian Braunschweig Association in 2025, a Malaysian student association that is also open to students from other countries and celebrates Malaysian and Indian holidays together, for example. Iqbal is also involved in numerous student committees at TU Braunschweig, such as the General Student Committee (AStA), always with the aim of making life easier for other international students.
The award ceremony took place together with the handing over of the Germany Scholarships in the presence of TU President Angela Ittel. The DAAD Prize is endowed with 1,000 euros. The award means a lot to Ahmad Iqbal: “The first few years in Germany were a big challenge for me. To be awarded the DAAD Prize today feels almost unreal. But this award belongs to the people who believed in me and supported me: my professors, fellow students, friends, everyone at TU Braunschweig who stood by me, and my family, who always encouraged me from 10,000 kilometres away. They helped me to settle in here and not give up. Now I want to give other (international) students the same support.”