High-Level Athletes

Most elite athletes are active at a time in their lives when they are also laying the foundations for their professional career. Balancing an academic education with a career in high-level sport is thus particularly challenging. As a “partner university for high-performance sport,” the University of Bonn has set itself the mission of improving the balance between studying and elite sport so that you as a high-level athlete can fulfill your dream of studying here with us in Bonn.

Mieke Kroeger, Tokyo Olympic champion and nutrition and food sciences student, races through the arcade courtyard on her bike © Volker Lannert

Support and funding options

Specifically, the University of Bonn offers the following support and funding options to elite athletes in the Olympic and Paralympic squads:

Personalized study advice and counseling, including in the event of a conflict
More flexible curricula based on students’ sporting schedules if the Study and Examination Regulations permit it
Granting students semesters on leave to allow them to prepare for important championships and for sporting reasons
Free use of University Sports grounds and facilities
Funding opportunities, e.g. within the framework of the NRW-Sportstiftungs-Stipendium and the Deutschlandstipendium.

Our partnerships

The University of Bonn enjoys strong partnerships for supporting elite sport with the Rhineland Olympic Training Center (Cologne) and the German University Sports Federation (adh). As a "partner university for high-performance sport, "it supports the dual careers of elite athletes in cooperation with the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).

Healthy Campus Bonn

At “Healthy Campus Bonn,” we encourage a health-focused lifestyle based on a lot of exercise and healthy eating. We want to make the study environment attractive and varied for the long term by offering a diverse range of services centered around diet, exercise and health. As an elite athlete, you can also benefit from the initiatives including special promotions in the canteen, workshops and seminars.

University Sports

Spread across three large sports grounds, University Sports makes use of all manner of different halls and rooms, outdoor facilities such as soccer pitches and tennis courts and an extensive outdoor fitness trail as well as running its own gym (halle 5). The University Sports facilities are available for our elite athlete students to use free of charge, giving you the ideal environment to train in your sport while you study.

Special quota in local admission limits (numerus clausus)

As part of the selection process for degree programs with restricted admission in certain locations, the University of Bonn has introduced a special quota that makes it easier for current squad members of DOSB associations (elite associations) to access very popular degree programs. Up to 3 percent of available places (rounded to the nearest whole number in each case) are reserved in the selection process for these applicants.

The following squads are eligible:

Olympic squad (“Olympiakader” – OK)
Future squad (“Perspektivkader” – PK)
Reserve squad (“Ergänzungskader” – EK)
Youth squad 1 (“Nachwuchskader 1” – NK 1)
Youth squad 2 (“Nachwuchskader 2” – NK 2)
Team squad (“Teamkader” – TK) for team sports

Membership in a federal state squad (“Landeskader” – LK) is not taken into account.

Application

Applications for places to study subjects with restricted admission in certain locations must be submitted online, either to the University of Bonn directly or via the University Admissions Foundation’s Dialogue-Oriented Service Procedure (DoSV). The standard application deadlines apply.

Whether you will be admitted or not will depend on the number of applicants. If there are more applications than available places, priority will be given to those who are supported and looked after at the Rhineland Olympic Training Center. After that, selection proceeds based on level of qualifications (ranking) and by lot.

Application portal

Application documents

If you would like to apply for a place as part of the special quota, you can ask to be considered as an elite athlete during the online application process (“Spitzensportlerantrag”) and upload the following documents:

Up-to-date confirmation of your squad membership from the DOSB association responsible for you (officially certified copy)
Officially certified copy of your university entrance qualification (e.g. Abitur certificate)
If relevant, confirmation that you are being looked after by the Rhineland Olympic Training Center (Cologne)

Important

There are no special elite athlete quotas for places on degree programs that are allocated on a Germany-wide basis. At the University of Bonn, these are Human Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy. If you can demonstrate membership of a squad during your time at high school, however, you can make a justified request for compensation for disadvantages when applying via hochschulstart.de.