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Elisabeth-Norgall-Award-Winner 2020

Dr. Ingrid Gräfin zu Solms-Wildenfels

Dr. Ingrid Gräfin zu Solms-Wildenfels studied medicine and worked as an internist and psychotherapist. She was also a doctor in the Augustinum residential home.

As early as 1994 she founded the "Ingrid zu Solms Foundation", which promotes young female scientists under the motto:

"We support women who are on their way to becoming spiritual elites, so that they do not give up and return to the hearth. Power women also need support. When people are rewarded for outstanding achievements, the whole society is carried upwards."

Two prizes are awarded regularly every two years: one to a scientist working in the field of basic research in clinical medicine or medical psychotherapy. The second is awarded to a young, outstanding scientist who conducts research in the field of MINT subjects. The prizes will be awarded to a woman up to the age of 40, who must come from a German-speaking country.

Furthermore, since 2003, the "Ingrid zu Solms Foundation" also initiated a cultural prize, which is given to women in cultural fields every 2-5 years in which women are underrepresented: e.g. composers, conductors, architects. A jury selects the prize winner, who has devotion to art and the will to perfection.

In addition to these prize categories, Dr. Gräfin zu Solms-Wildenfels started a Human Rights Prize, which is awarded to a person or organization that has made a clear, lasting and promising commitment to human rights and/or international understanding.

Since 2004, the foundation also awards an annual two-year scholarship to a student of the Schloss Hansenberg boarding school in Geisenheim. The aim of this school for high achievers is to train students to become holistic personalities who are prepared to take on responsibility in society.

Like Elisabeth Norgall, Dr. Ingrid Gräfin zu Solms-Wildenfels supports the German-American Friendship. She was president of the Steuben-Schurz Society since 2005 and was appointed honorary president for life in 2019.

She is also committed to Jewish and Muslim activities: since 2002 she has been on the board of the German Friends and Supporters' Association of the Sarah Herzog Memorial Hospital in Jerusalem and a member of the board of the Holz'schen Foundation, which provides financial support for the hospital and funds for people in need.

At the same time, she is also the chairwoman of the association "Frauen im Gespräch" (Women in conversation), which introduces Muslim women to the Western way of life.

The aim of Dr. Ingrid Gräfin zu Solms-Wildenfels and her foundation - in addition to awarding prizes and recognizing special achievements - is to help creative young women worthy of support in particular, to support them in realizing their thoughts and thus to use their opportunities with courage, achievement and assertiveness to pursue a successful, unprejudiced career with the aim of making our world a little better before they leave it.

Chairperson Norgall-Award-Committee 2019/2020: 1. Vice President Sabine Schmitt

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