BRAIN nominated for German Citizen Award 2015
Nominees were announced for the German Citizen Award 2015, which were selected by a professional jury.
The theme for 2015 is “Cultural life - Expanding Horizons”. The focus is on people and projects that engage with cultural values and unite people under the guiding light of culture. The 8 nominees reflect the full range of applications. The initiative „für mich. für uns. für alle.“ is a Germany-wide agreement to encourage civic involvement in the goal of supporting committed volunteers and strengthening their presence in society.
The initiative was launched in 2003 under the patronage of the President of the German Bundestag, Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert. The German Citizen Award has five different categories. “U21” acknolwedges dedicated individuals under the age of 21, while “Everyday Heroes” is aimed at exemplary individuals and projects. The “Lifetime Achievement” category honours a minimum of 25 years dedicated civic commitment. A fifth category includes the widely acclaimed “Audience Award”. Business leaders who take personal responsibility for the community are nominated in the category “Committed Business”. BRAIN AG, along with its founder Dr. Holger Zinke, was selected by the jury due to its unusal and diverse commitments and its particular corporate culture. The jury’s reasoning was as follows: “Along with his employees, the founder and longtime CEO of BRAIN AG supports young artists. He works with them, displays their work within the company premises, and even offers guided tours. As well as the artists, employees also benefit because this engagement creates an identity and gets everybody involved.” Dr. Holger Zinke is delighted with this appreciation of BRAIN’s cultural commitments. “To be nominated for the highly regarded German Citizen Award is a great honour for the company as a whole, as well as for each individual employee. Engaging with cultural projects outside of our scientific bubble is part of the very DNA of our company. The collaboration with artists, which goes far beyond mere ‘sponsorship’, is fun and broadens the horizons of all those involved. Plus it adds value. We’re delighted about this prominent recognition of our commitment to art and culture, which one could say is unusual for a biotechnology company. The nomination is an incentive for us to work even more closely with creative people on unusual projects, and to showcase these together.“
The award ceremony will take place on 2nd December 2015 at the ZDF Zollernhof in Berlin. For more detailed information about the award itself, as well as descriptions of the nominees, please see www.deutscher-bürgerpreis.de. The German Citizen Award is supported by the Federal Association of Volunteer Agencies (bagfa), the Bürgermut Foundation weltbeweger.de Network, and the youth newspaper YAEZ.