Julio Enrique Martinez Robledo is from Mexico and knows that, despite good language skills, getting started as an international student in a foreign country can be challenging.
Nevertheless, the 26-year-old has taken the plunge twice and come through it with flying colours. Today, he is studying on the inter-university Master’s programme in ‘Digital Technologies’ run by Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences in partnership with Clausthal University of Technology, and helps other international students overcome the initial hurdles after arriving in Germany. Alongside his studies, Julio is involved with the ESN (European Student Network), which is based at the Technical University of Braunschweig and welcomes international students at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences into the student community through numerous events and meetings.
Award for academic and social commitment
He has now been honoured with the DAAD Prize 2026 for this commitment. The prize, worth 1,000 euros, is funded annually by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) using funds from the Federal Foreign Office and is awarded by the universities. The award recognises outstanding academic and social achievements by international students in Germany.
In 2021, Julio’s academic journey took him to Germany for the first time. As part of the DAAD-KOSPIE programme, he spent an exchange year at Ruhr University Bochum. He recalls today that, despite his very good command of German, the start was a bit of a bumpy ride. The food was also quite unfamiliar at first. But the support of the student body helped him to really settle in. Today, Radler and currywurst are among his favourite dishes, he says.
An internship at Audi in Ingolstadt gave him an insight into an internationally renowned German company, as well as into the German working world and the collegial atmosphere amongst colleagues. In 2023, he initially returned to Mexico to complete his bachelor’s degree in robotics at his home university (Universidad de Monterrey, Nuevo León).
However, he soon realised that he wanted to complete his subsequent Master’s degree in Germany. Whilst researching his options, he came across the Digital Technologies Master’s programme. He returned to Germany in the summer semester of 2025 and has since been committed to helping other students settle in here.
