Simela Efthymiadou considers her stay in Germany a wonderful academic and cultural journey

        Firstly I would like to express my deepest gratitude and thanks to DAAD-Stiftung and above all to Dr.Maria Trumpf-Lyritzaki, the donor of my scholarship. I had the pleasure to meet her at the DAAD orientation seminar in Bonn in October 2016, where she offered me her hospitality along with a very pleasant conversation and guidance. Her experience in German academic life, in archaeology and also in German culture in general proved very helpful for me as I had no previous experience in academic life afar from my home country. Since then, we keep regular communication and I enjoy very much our conversations.

I would also like to thank DAAD-Stiftung and the DAAD for not only providing the financial requirements to stay in Heidelberg but also the opportunity through seminars and other events to meet other scholarship holders from different countries and research areas. During the orientation seminar I received a very well organised set of information for important aspects of living in Germany. I benefited from the orientation seminar a lot, because when I returned in Heidelberg I was confident that I could work undistractedly and enjoy the research life. That was a very important factor in the progress of my research.

My research focuses on aspects of the palatial involvement in the industrial production during the Mycenaean period. I study the organisation of palatial production by combining the archaeological and the linear B evidence, a methodological approach that requires an extent use of a specialised library. The opportunity to work in Heidelberg was highly valuable. The university of Heidelberg is an institution with long tradition in classical studies and archaeology and more specifically a well-known centre in Aegean Bronze Age studies.

During the first six months of my scholarship I had access to the abundance of specialised library resources crucial to my studies and the pleasure to attend many lectures and to discuss and exchange valuable ideas with other scholars who specialise in areas related to my study. This daily interaction and exchange of ideas had a crucial impact on the quality and progress of my work. My main objective during my stay in Heidelberg is the collection and organisation of a huge amount of data in two separate databases (one for the archaeological and one for the epigraphical). For that purpose, I made an extensive use of the online resources of the libraries. I managed to complete the data collection the first five months and to proceed with the most important part of my research, the analysis of the data related to matters of industrial palatial involvement in the economy. So far I have benefited from the conversation with my supervisor in the institute of classical studied, professor Diamantis Panagiotopoulos who generously gave me important advice and guidance which shaped and my perspectives on the subject of state organised economies of the Mediterranean and Near Eastern ancient world.

Furthermore, I had the chance to make friends and enjoy my free time exploring the town. Heidelberg is truly an ideal place for academic research. It combines a long and well respected academic tradition located in a fairy tale town with lots of places to enjoy walking and be inspired by. I also took some German courses to learn to communicate with the locals in their native language and it gave me great pleasure when I realised I could manage to communicate in the everyday activities like ordering bread in a bakery in German.

I also had the chance through the international scholar group of the university to meet with other scholars from other research group areas and to take part with them in various activities in order to learn more about the tradition and the culture of the area. So far I have visited three towns next to Heidelberg. I was embraced by the landscape of the surroundings, I met and talk with locals from different cities and learnt a lot about their everyday life, I also tasted some traditional recipes and local specialties.

For me the DAAD-Stiftung’s scholarship is a once in a lifetime experience and it worth s every second of it. It gave me the opportunity to visit and get to know a country with high quality in education, the politest and smiling people I have seen so far. Contrary to the stereotypes for German people being distant and difficult to socialise with I was surprised by how communicative and friendly they are. My experience so far gave me a strong motive to further pursue research in the academic environment of the German educational institution. Unfortunately, I was unable so far to find a source of income or grant to extent my visit here.

The thought that I would have to leave makes me sad but I plan to come back to Germany in the future. For me it is an experience which when I return back to my home country I will cherish and remember with nostalgia and I would speak with great enthusiasm to people who are thinking for applying for a scholarship just as a friend of mine and older DAAD scholar did and he urged me to apply without second thoughts.