First-Semester-Students' Welcome 2024
On September the 30th about 2,500 new students attended the First-Semester-Students’ Welcome put on by the University of Bonn. The event's emphasis was on providing advice and information and enabling people to get to know one another. Whether it was at the official welcome in the main auditorium (Aula), the info fair in the Arkadenhof or the party in the evening, the First-Semester-Students’ Welcome provided ample opportunity for new students to find out more about their University, get to know their student councils and meet fellow students.
Photos and video of the First-Semester-Students’ Welcome 2024
Erstsemester Welcome 2024
Bild © Universität Bonn/Marc John
Welcome to the University of Bonn!
Dear First-Semester-Students,
It is my distinct pleasure as rector to welcome you to the University of Bonn — a University of Excellence with over 200 years of proud history. You are now one of roughly 40,000 students here at our university. Welcome!
You are beginning your studies at the University of Bonn in (at least) one of our seven faculties, each offering a broad palette of degree programs. Many of our departments have earned a stellar reputation in comparisons with both national and international competition. In part this reflects our Excellence Strategy, which has successfully secured six Clusters of Excellence for our institution, more than any other German university. This is just one of the reasons why the current edition of the renowned Shanghai Rankings scored us 61st on its list of roughly 1,000 universities around the world, placing us among the most prestigious institutions anywhere on the globe.
Yet it is not just the strength of our sciences that makes Bonn so special. This place, this haven for academia is extraordinary in its own right: Bonn is a city of great history and promising present and future…
For all its famous scientists and philosophers, Bonn is also known as the birthplace of one of the grandest musicians of all time: Ludwig van Beethoven. It was here in Bonn, at the heart of Europe, that Germany’s Basic Law was signed 71 years ago—even today the finest constitution ever produced on German soil. This is why we at the university see ourselves as bearing a special responsibility to foster the values of democracy, freedom and enlightenment and to actively promote the fundamental values of equal opportunity and diversity. Beyond this, Bonn has a very distinctively international orientation, serving as the German base for the United Nations, including the headquarters for the UN’s World Climate Secretary and many globally active organizations and companies. Let us now offer a special welcome to all of those students among you who come to us from all corners of the world! I'm confident that you will come not just to live here in Bonn on the Rhine, but to love it as well. At your feet lie a great variety of cultural and leisure opportunities, both within the university community and outside it!
And now it’s time to wish you all a fine and successful start to your academic pursuits at the University of Bonn.
Professor Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael Hoch
University of Bonn Rector
Info-Tip:
The "Starting Your Studies"-Portal
The Central Student Advisory and Counseling Service's (ZSB) "Starting Your Studies"-portal provides all info you might need for a successful start to your studies. The ZSB is your first point of contact for all questions about studying.
Here you can get consultation, a checklist for starting your studies and the Study Compass!
The Student Registry's Service-Hotline
Do you have questions about current application, enrollment and/or admission procedures for your studies and would like to clarify them quickly by phone? The Student Registry's Service Hotline is there for you!
The service hotline is available Monday through Friday, from 10 am to 12 pm and from 3 pm to 5 pm, at +49-(0)228/73-4464 and -4491.
The University Bonn Information Center
You have questions about the university in general? You are looking for a contact point for a specific problem? You would like to buy university apparel or accessories? Just contact our Information Center in the main building! There you will also find the university store. University apparel and accessories are also available at our online store.
Welcome Days for international students
With the Welcome Days we would like to welcome all new students and doctoral students from abroad to Bonn and facilitate a successful start of their studies. You will find all important information on the International Office's Welcome Days-page.
Student Representative Bodies participating in the First-Semester-Students' Welcome
Meet the General Students’ Committee AStA
Get to know the Student Councils
Find out more about Campusradio bonn.fm
Information Fair for First-Semester-Students
As a part of the First-Semester-Students' Welcome Event, the University of Bonn offers an information fair. There you can meet representives of central university institutions and members of student organizations.
A list of the participating institutions of the 2023's Information Fair for First-Semester-Students can be found below.
Additionally, all information about various counseling and service offers provided by central university institutions can be found on the Central Study Advisory and Counseling Service's webpage.
- Alumni NetworkAStA of the University Bonn
- Amnesty International Students Group Bonn
- AStA-Kulturticket / Department of Culture and Student Initiatives
- Campusradio bonnFM
- Career Service
- Catholic university parish Bonn
- Central Study Advisory and Counseling Service
- City of Bonn - Office of Economic Development
- Connexxion, christian student group
- European Commission / Europa-Punkt
- Forum of Music of the University of Bonn
- Gender Equality Office
- Healthy Campus Bonn
- Infopoint
- International Office
- Language Center
- litterarium & atelier
- Protestant Student Parish
- Queer-Department of the General Students Committee
- RCDS Bonn ring Christian democratic students
- Studierendenwerk
- Sustainability at the University of Bonn
- Transfer Center enaCom
- University and State Library Bonn (USL)
- University IT and Data Center
- University of Bonn Foundation
- University Sports
- Universitätsgesellschaft
- Vice Rectorate and Staff Unit for Equal Opportunity and Diversity
- various student councils and representatives of the faculties
Review First-Semester-Students' Welcome 2023
Picture gallery 2023
Click to see pictures of last year's First-Semester-Students' Welcome.
First-Semester-Students' Welcome 2023
Video-podcast First-Semester-Students' Welcome 2023
Impressions of last year's First-Semester-Students' Welcome.
Follow the University of Bonn on Social Media:
Contact person for the First-Semester-Students' Welcome
Lena Hufschmidt
Dechenstraße 3-11
53115 Bonn
Friederike Demant
Dechenstraße 3-11
53115 Bonn
The University of Bonn has been successful twice in the funding line for the Synergy Grants from the European Research Council (ERC) with other partners. The GravNet project is building a global detector network to search for high-frequency gravitational waves. The CeLEARN project coordinated by the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior – CAESAR aims to decode how single cells learn from their environment. The ERC uses Synergy Grants to support research groups in which different skills, knowledge, and resources are brought together in order to tackle ambitious research questions. The projects will receive several million euros of support in the next six years.
Since the beginning of human history, we have surrounded ourselves with textiles. In its multimedia exhibition “Enmeshed and Entwined: Textures of Dependency”, the Cluster of Excellence Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) at the University of Bonn shows the social interdependencies and asymmetrical dependency relations inherent in one of our oldest cultural assets. At the centre of the exhibition is a large quilt that provides the ‘narrative’ framework for the multi-dimensional story of the ‘textures of dependency’ in a series of “story patches” from different periods and regions. The exhibition can be seen until 20 December at the University and State Library Bonn (ULB) of the University of Bonn and also via a digital exhibition portal.
Whether lying on their back, all-fours position, sitting upright or squatting - women adopt different birthing positions during childbirth. What has not yet been researched is how the respective final birthing position affects the satisfaction of the woman giving birth. Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn and the University of Cologne have now investigated precisely this. In particular, they also took into account whether the choice of birthing position was voluntary. The results showed that it was precisely when this was chosen voluntarily that women were more satisfied. Around three quarters of those surveyed were lying during the birth and were particularly dissatisfied if they felt that they had not made this choice themselves. However, if the expectant mothers had chosen the supine or lateral supine position themselves, the position actually tended to make them more satisfied. The study has now been published in the journal "Archives of Gynecology".
At the University of Bonn’s International Days 2024 from October 15 to 18, everything was about tackling global challenges together, strengthening international cooperation and honoring excellence in research. In addition to the traditional ceremony for the state awards and the DAAD Prize, the Vice Rectorate for International Affairs invited the public to attend a host of info events, talks and workshops. The keynote speech by Harvard professor Homi K. Bhabha, who is a key figure in post-colonial theory, was a particular highlight.