The prize was awarded at the "Deutsche Tropentag" 2006 in Bonn on October 11 2006. He received the prize of 5,000 € for his PhD thesis on "Reservoir siltation in the drylands of northern Ethiopia: causes, source area and management options". His study was financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) , the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

Dr. Lulseged Tamene Desta from Ethiopia and previous PhD student at ZEF wins the prestigious Josef. G. Knoll Prize.

On September 9th, the ZEF project in Uzbekistan was paid a visit by his excellency Mr. Koichiro Matsuura (Director General of UNESCO). His visit schedule made it possible to be become familiar with the various project activities of UNESCO in Uzbekistan including the jointly executed ZEF/UNESCO project in Khorezm province entitled “Economic and Ecological Restructuring of land and water use in the Khorezm Region of Uzbekistan: A pilot project in Development Research”.

Mit einer Steigerung um fast 500 Millionen Euro auf 8,5 Milliarden Euro setzt der Haushaltsentwurf 2007 für den Etat des BMBF ein deutliches Zeichen für die Priorität von Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung in Deutschland. Bei der ersten Lesung des Haushalts im Bundestag betonte Bildungs- und Forschungsministerin Annette Schavan: "Fokussierung auf Spitzentechnologie, Vernetzung von Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft sowie Förderung qualifizierter Fachkräfte und besonders begabter junger Menschen sind die Schwerpunkte der Politik der kommenden Jahre."

have joined the International Doctoral Studies Program in August 2006. Before the start of doctoral courses at ZEF in October, the DAAD scholars participate in a 2-months German language course organized by the Foreign Office of the University of Bonn.