This year's Friedrich Gennheimer Prize was awarded at a ceremony on October 23, 2025. Samantha Schäfer, Nina Elva Laut and Noah Laufer were honored for their outstanding bachelor theses in the fields of marketing, viticulture, oenology and wine marketing, which dealt with questions of social responsibility and sustainability of entrepreneurial activity. With prize money totaling 6,000 euros, the Friedrich Gennheimer Prize is the highest endowed award presented at the university.
On Thursday, October 23, 2025, the Friedrich Gennheimer Prize for Marketing and Viticulture, Oenology and Wine Marketing was awarded for the third time at a ceremony. Samantha Schäfer, Nina Elva Laut and Noah Laufer were each awarded € 2,000 in prize money for their outstanding bachelor theses in the context of social responsibility and entrepreneurial action: Samantha Schäfer, a graduate of the dual bachelor's degree program in Viticulture & Oenology at the Neustadt Wine Campus, impressed the external experts with her bachelor thesis "Sustainability transformation: end consumer analysis of wine in returnable bottles in food retail" and received the Friedrich-Gennheimer-Prize for Viticulture, Oenology and Wine Marketing.Nina Elva Laut, a graduate of the International Business Management East Asia degree programs, and Noah Laufer, a graduate of the Bachelor's degree program in International Business Administration with a focus on Management, were awarded the Friedrich Gennheimer Prize for Marketing: Laut with her thesis on "Sustainability in development cooperation: a comparison of development projects of Japan and the PR China in Cambodia", Laufer with his thesis "Stock market dynamics and political information" on the influence of politics on capital markets.
After the welcoming address by University President Prof. Dr. Gunther Piller, former State Secretary Prof. Dr. Siegfried Englert, co-founder of the university's East Asia Institute and Gennheimer's companion, outlined the significance of Friedrich-Gennheimer for the university and the origins of the award, which this year took place for the third time in close cooperation with the Haniel Foundation.
In the subsequent keynote speech on "More than growth, economic success and innovation: How China and India have shaped today's Germany and all of us", Dr. Clas Neumann, OAI alumnus and Senior Vice President of SAP SE and Head of Global SAP Labs Network at SAP China Co., Ltd., gave an entertaining review of the beginnings of the East Asia Institute and the geopolitical and economic transformation of China and India over the last 30 years. His conclusion, also with a view to his own biography, which led him from Ludwigshafen to India and then to Shanghai: "German values and approaches are not the measure of all things, we can learn a lot from each other". He gave the award winners and the numerous students in the audience the following advice: "The world is becoming increasingly dynamic, AI is turning everything upside down. This can lead to uncertainty. But: AI can only simulate emotional intelligence at best, is not ethical and also not creative in the sense of innovative. So don't be afraid of the future! How we approach things is crucial," says Dr. Clas Neumann.
In a panel discussion moderated by Prof. Dr. Laura Ehm from the Weincampus Neustadt, the award winners Noah Laufer, Nina Elva Laut (live from her semester abroad in Mexico) and Samantha Schäfer as well as the supervising lecturers Prof. Dr. Nikolas Wölfing (Faculty I) Prof. Dr. Barbara Darimont (FB II/OAI) and Prof. Dr. Marc Dreßler (Weincamps Neustadt) then had their say. Together, they discussed what unites what at first glance appears to be very different work, the key messages of their studies and the messages that can be derived from them - for the individual, society, the economy and politics.
"We are still not doing enough: environmental and climate protection is being put second to economic and social interests. Yet it is the basis for long-term economic and social development," sums up Nina Elva Laut, emphasizing the need to create stable and effective long-term structures through political guidelines. "Convenience and a focus on short-term profits are human and cannot be overcome by voluntary declarations of intent," she says, clearly calling on politicians to take action. "Consumers are keen on reusable packaging, even for wine," concludes Samantha Schäfer, who conducted around 600 surveys with producers, retailers and consumers for her bachelor's thesis. "We need short, medium and long-term solutions and close cooperation between the wineries, glassworks and politicians, and we need to think locally. Reusable bottles could also give German wine a further economic boost," says Schäfer. Noah Laufer, who analyzed Trump's influence on listed companies in the run-up to the US election in his thesis, clearly pointed out the direct link between politics, business and sustainability: "The companies that have lost out with Trump are those that focus on sustainability." This makes it all the more important for him to get involved and make informed choices: "We can have a say in politics and thus also in the path that is taken".
The event was hosted by Prof. Dr. Laura Ehm, Professor of Marketing at the Neustadt Wine Campus. The ceremony was accompanied by music from Jose Rodriguez on the piano.
Background:
In memory of Friedrich Gennheimer, Dean of the Ludwigshafen Department (1979-87) and long-time professor at the predecessor institution of today's Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society and the associated East Asia Institute, the Haniel Foundation, together with the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society and the Neustadt Wine Campus, has been awarding the Friedrich Gennheimer Prize for Marketing and the Friedrich Gennheimer Prize for Viticulture, Oenology and Wine Marketing annually since 2023. The prize is endowed with a total of € 6,000 per year, € 2,000 for Bachelor's theses and € 3,000 for Master's theses.
For more information on the prize donor, the prize winners and a link to all the above-mentioned Bachelor's theses, visit www.weincampus-neustadt.de/weincampus/preise-und-stipendien/friedrich-gennheimer-preis
