Welcome to the Senate of the University of Bonn
The Senate is one of the central bodies of the University. In accordance with the Constitution of the University of Bonn, it consists of 23 voting members. The members of the Rectorate, the deans of the seven faculties, the University Gender Equality Commissioner, the chairpersons of the two staff councils, a representative from the Office of Disability Resources, the Representative for Students with Disabilities or Chronic Illnesses and the president of the General Students’ Committee also sit on the Senate in an advisory capacity without holding voting rights. The Senate elects a voting member from among the group of university professors to chair the Senate. The chairperson does not have voting rights. A replacement fills their place on the Senate. The chairperson of the Senate prepares its meetings and conducts its business. A deputy chairperson is selected from the group of university professors to perform the chairperson's functions in their absence.
The Tasks of the Senate
The tasks of the Senate are established in the Higher Education Act and the Constitution of the University of Bonn. In accordance with § 22 paragraph 1 of the Higher Education Act of North Rhine-Westphalia (Hochschulgesetz - HG) the Senate is responsible for the following issues:
- Participating in the University electoral assembly through the presence of its members in this body for the purpose of electing and deselecting members of the Rectorate
- Issuing a statement on the annual report from the Rectorate.
- Issuing and altering the University Constitution, framework regulations and regulations for the University unless this law specifies otherwise.
- Providing approval for planning principles as defined by § 16 paragraph 1a sentence 1.
- Issuing recommendations and statements relating to the draft of the University Development Plan in accordance with § 16 paragraph 1a and the University Agreement in accordance with § 6 paragraph 3, relating to the evaluation reports in accordance with § 7 paragraphs 2 and 3, and relating to the budget plan, the principles for awarding posts and funding to the departments, central research units, central operating units and the medical units.
- Issuing recommendations and statements in matters relating to research, art, teaching and studying, which apply to the entire University or central units or which are of fundamental importance.
The Senate sets out its working procedures in its Rules of Procedure, the First Amendment to the Rules of Procedure, the Second Amendment to the Rules of Procedure and the Third Amendment to the Rules of Procedure.
The Senate Chairperson
Chairperson: Prof. Dr. Cornelia Richter
Deputy Chairperson: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Durner
Downloads
Further information about the University of Bonn Senate.
Please address any questions to the Senate office.
Senate office
You can contact the Senate office through Section 1.1 Academic Affairs in the Central Administration:
Addresse
Regina-Pacis-Weg 3
53113 Bonn
Meetings of the Senate: Dates and Minutes
Meetings of the Senate in summer semester 2025
- May 08, 2025
- June 05, 2025
- July 17, 2025
Meetings in winter semester 2025/2026
- November 09, 2025
- December 18, 2025
- February 05, 2026
Minutes of the Public Session of the Senate
The rule of procedure of the Senate of the University of Bonn from March 18, 2016 state that approved minutes of the public session of the Senate will be made available to all University members. They are published on the University of Bonn’s internal Service Portal. This provision does not apply to sections of the protocol covering the closed session of the Senate (discussions of Human Resources issues or other confidential matters).