Currently, the Bertha von Suttner-Studienwerk (BvS) supports more than 20 scholarship holders; from October onwards there will only be ten. The reason for this is a "double blow" from public authorities, as the BvS board explains. "Unfortunately, we cannot accept any new scholarship holders in the current year. But of course we will not give up the support of humanistic students! The next call for applications for the Suttner Scholarship will take place in May 2026."

The "Suttner-Stipendium" [Suttner Scholarship], limited to two years, has been announced annually since 2021, so that from 2022 onwards two generations of scholarship holders were always supported simultaneously. The scholarships were financed with the founding organizations' own funds, which are making advance payments with their financial commitment until the worldview-neutral state takes over the support of humanistic students to the same extent as it has long been doing for Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim students.

The Bertha von Suttner-Studienwerk has been able to prove very well in its four years of existence that there is a great demand for humanistic scholarships. For the last call for applications in 2024 alone, more than 230 applications were received from often highly gifted humanistic students, of whom, unfortunately, only a small percentage could receive the scholarship. All the more astonishing, therefore, was the rejection of state funding for the BvS by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research last year.

  
Humanism irrelevant in Germany?

"That was the first blow that befell us," the BvS board states. "The ministry's claim that humanism is not a socially relevant and thus support-worthy worldview contradicts all empirical study results. For it is evident that in the population and especially in the group of highly gifted students, which is particularly relevant for foundations, significantly more people hold a religion-free, humanistic worldview than, for example, the Catholic faith."

Currently, the foundation is suing in court against the ministerial rejection notice, which is currently tying up even more funds from non-profit organizations that could have actually flowed into student funding. The foundation could have handled that alone well, but after the first blow in 2024, the second followed immediately in early 2025, when broad cuts were made to public funding in the education and social sectors, which also affected member organizations of the BvS.

  
Next call for applications not until May 2026

Due to the reduced funds, the BvS board has decided not to accept any further scholarship holders into the support program in 2025. The next application round for the Suttner Scholarship will therefore not take place until May 2026. For the Suttner scholarship holders themselves, nothing changes as a result of the BvS board's decision. Their two-year financial and non-material support remains at the same level – the only difference is that in the future fewer students will benefit from this offer.

There will also be no savings at the twice-yearly Suttner scholarship holders' meetings. The scholarship holders were able to experience this just a few days ago when they met in the "Haus Weitblick", the headquarters of the Giordano Bruno Foundation above the Rhine, and were "spoiled both intellectually and culinarily," as one of the scholarship holders put it in the closing session.

  
On interstellar travel, secular ethics and Political Islam

At the scholarship holders' meeting from May 23 to 25 in Oberwesel, there was once again – as at previous events – lively discussion on a broad spectrum of topics. For example, on Friday evening, aerospace engineer Prof. Dr. Andreas Hein (member of the "Space Systems Engineering Research Group" at the University of Luxembourg and head of the international project "Hyperion") asked the exciting question, "Could humanity travel to the stars with generation ships?" – which may sound utopian at first, but has a tangible, earthly connection when one realizes that our home planet itself is a kind of "generation ship," orbiting the sun at a speed of around 100,000 kilometers per hour.

On Saturday evening, the philosopher Prof. Dr. Dr. Dieter Birnbacher (among other things former chairman of the ethics committee of the German Medical Association) outlined the "Principles of a Secular (Bio-) Ethics," which can also provide orientation in controversial areas such as euthanasia or reproductive medicine without having to resort to questionable "ultimate justifications." The serious effects that a rigorous adherence to such "ultimate justifications" can have was shown on Sunday morning by the lecture by Zeinab Herz (Deputy Chairwoman of the "Central Council of Ex-Muslims"): She reported on her experiences with the "illiberalism of Political Islam," which she experienced firsthand on her journey from a devout Muslim to a liberal ex-Muslim.

In addition to these lectures, the scholarship holders benefited from inspiring workshops, for example practical exercises on the method of "Street Epistemology" with the help of which you can engage in conversation with people whose convictions differ significantly from your own positions. In addition, there was (very much in the spirit of Nietzsche, who thought that a philosopher should always remain "in motion") a "Deep Talk Walk" to the nearby "Schönburg" Castle, which delighted the participants of the meeting just as much as the good food and the many exciting conversations late into the night. The next BvS scholarship holders' meeting will take place in October/November in Berlin, in the "Haus des Humanismus" [House of Humanism] of the HVD.