The Swiss Ambassador's Prize for Outstanding Initiative was presented to nine students by His Excellency, the Ambassador of Switzerland, Dr Vogelsanger on 28 October.

The Swiss Ambassador's Prize for Outstanding Initiative was presented to nine students by His Excellency, the Ambassador of Switzerland, Dr Vogelsanger at Victoria University of Wellington on 28 October.

All students had been selected to take part in the German Student Ambassadors Programme for 2015, on the basis of their academic performance and leadership.

The newly-established programme is coordinated by Victoria's Programme Director of German, Dr Monica Tempian, and supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in New Zealand.

Dr Tempian says the programme was established last year to promote the study of German at Victoria as well as academic exchanges between German-speaking countries and New Zealand.

"The student ambassadors take part in visits to secondary schools, help with the German Programme's yearly information session at Study at Victoria Open Day and take part in the VUW German Student Club's sessions for secondary school students.

"The student ambassadors talk about the highlights of their student experience at Victoria, the advantages of learning a language and the benefits of gaining international experience through academic exchanges in German-speaking countries."

At the awards ceremony, Dr Vogelsanger gave insights into Switzerland's multicultural heritage. He emphasised the continuing strength arising from linguistic and cultural diversity in a country that has four official languages – German, French, Italian and Romansh – and four different historical cultures.

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