It was with great sadness that we heard the sad news that Mrs Ursula Schneider passed away on 15 March 2017 at the age of 74. With her passing, TU Bergakademie Freiberg has lost a great benefactor.

In 2007, Mrs Ursula Schneider and her husband, Prof Dr Wolf-Dieter Schneider, established the "Ursula and Prof Dr Wolf-Dieter Schneider" endowment fund as part of the "Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg" foundation. The primary aim is to promote research and teaching in the field of engineering and economics at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. At the same time, the training of foundry students at the Bergakademie is to be promoted in particular. The donors are also keen to support the international exchange of students. Ms Schneider was particularly keen to promote intercultural understanding among our students.

Thanks to her extraordinary personal commitment, it has been possible to realise numerous projects in both teaching and research. We were also able to support many of our students by awarding German scholarships.

We will honour her memory.

The Rectorate of TU Bergakademie Freiberg and the Foundation Board