100 Years of DAAD Alumni: Marcos Zentilli

Which DAAD program did you receive support through?

After graduating from the Bachelor’s program in Geology at the Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile in 1963, I received a One-Year DAAD Scholarship to support graduate studies at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in München.

What comes to mind when you think of your DAAD experience in Germany?

My DAAD scholarship changed my life.

How? What was the impact it had on your life? Your career?

First it taught me the German language, and second during my time there, I specialized in the mineralogy of ores, a development which directed much of my academic and professional career.

Is there anything you wish you had known before you went to Germany?

It would have been good to have a better idea of the social history of Germany.

What advice would you give a young scholar thinking of applying to a DAAD program?

Absorb the accuracy and discipline of German science.