MCI Graduates Honored with DFK & CAA Awards 2025

Recognition for academic excellence and future potential | Four talents from MCI awarded for research and innovation

Once again in 2025, the outstanding quality and diversity of students at MCI | The Entrepreneurial School^® is impressively demonstrated: At the annual meeting of the Deutscher Freundeskreis der Universitäten in Innsbruck e.V. (DFK), three MCI graduates were awarded the prestigious DFK Award. In addition, one MCI graduate received the Clemens-August-Andreae Prize (CAA Award) for an outstanding economics-focused master’s thesis in the field of renewable energy.

DFK Award Recipients

The DFK Award 2025, each endowed with €1,500, was presented to three MCI students based on academic performance, personal achievements, and future potential:

• Amelie Sigge | Master International Health & Social Management
  In her master’s thesis, Amelie Sigge explores awareness and preventive behavior in Tyrol's population regarding mosquito-borne diseases. The DFK Award will support her PhD studies in Munich, where she is conducting research on prevention and resilience in relation to vector-borne diseases.

• Clemens Hagleitner | Bachelor Entrepreneurship, Tourism & Leisure Business
  Clemens Hagleitner analyzed strategies to reduce food waste in the Tyrolean retail sector and developed practical recommendations to enhance sustainability. He intends to invest the DFK Award in founding his own business offering premium gift boxes filled with regional delicacies.

• Gabriel Ellemund | Master Environmental, Process & Energy Engineering
  In his thesis, Gabriel Ellemund demonstrated how integrating devices such as heat pumps into the electricity market can optimize the use of renewable energy, reduce costs, and ease pressure on the power grid. After graduating in April 2025, he will continue his research as a scientific associate at ETH Zurich.

At the University of Innsbruck, Jasmin Matti, Amélie Meyer, and Luzie Marie Seelig were honored, while awardees at the Medical University of Innsbruck included Luisa Lang, Katharina Prechtl, and Michael Schlögl.

Clemens-August-Andreae Award 2025

In memory of the renowned economist Clemens-August Andreae, the DFK awards this biennial prize together with the Institute of Public Finance at the University of Innsbruck for outstanding academic work of high economic and socio-political relevance.

Lukas Knapp, graduate of the Corporate Governance & Finance program at MCI, received the CAA Prize for his master’s thesis on promoting solar subsidies. At the University of Innsbruck, Elian Tenschert was honored for his master’s thesis, while Thomas Rittmannsberger and Sophia Seelos (both from the University of Innsbruck) were awarded for their exceptional dissertations.

About the DFK

The “Deutscher Freundeskreis” is an association of distinguished personalities from business, science, society, and politics. The DFK aims to provide non-material and material support for the universities in Innsbruck, including the MCI, and their students, to promote cooperation in partnership between these universities, to connect their graduates with the business community and to foster friendly relations between its members.