DAAD Prize 2021
This year's DAAD Prize goes to Najibullah Kakar. The politically and socially very engaged master student (Remote Sensing, geoInformation and Visualization) was awarded the prize for his outstanding achievements and scientific commitment.
Najibullah first met with researchers and teachers from Potsdam in 2014 when he presented data and analyses from Afghanistan at a conference of the German Research Centre for Geosciences. The contact to Potsdam was established.
After completing his bachelor's degree in civil engineering at Kardan University in Kabul, Najibullah Kakar decided to pursue a master's degree in "Remote Sensing, geoInformation and Visualization" at the University of Potsdam. As for now, Najibullah is preparing his Master's thesis on the topic of "Slope Instability Detection in Northeast Afghanistan". Since December 2015, is also part of the research and geographic information systems specialist team of the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC), where he was also managing the research projects funded by international research institutions (e.g. GFZ, UP, University of Montana etc.)
In the long term, he plans to set up a centre for research and higher education in his home country. This will act as an exchange and implementation platform for students, teachers and local and international scientists. He is convinced of his goal to improve the quality of life in his war-torn country and to protect the citizens of Afghanistan from the dangers of natural disasters.
