First-Semester-Students' Welcome 2024
Information about the First-Semester-Students' Welcome 2024
When you start your studies at the University of Bonn, you are embarking on a new chapter in your life. We warmly welcome you and invite all first-year students to the First-Semester-Students' Welcome on September 30, 2024!
At the official welcome in the auditorium and the many information and hands-on activities afterwards, you can find out everything you need to know about studying and living in Bonn. There will also be space to make your first contacts at the "Ersti" Party in the evening.
Admission is free of charge. Registration is currently not required. Please bring your student ID or other proof of your status as a student at the University of Bonn. You will find the program overview here shortly.
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 67th 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. I very much look forward to getting to know you personally whenever the opportunity arises, and fervently hope that such chances can come sooner rather than later.
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.
We will most likely be offering an information market again this year. You will find an overview of the participating organizations here shortly before the event. A list of the organizations participating in 2023 can be found below.
In addition, you can find out about the advice and services offered by various contact points at the University of Bonn on the "Studying" web portal.
- Alumni Network
- Amnesty International Students Group Bonn
- Bonn University and State Library
- bonnFM
- Career Service
- Central Study Advisory and Counseling Service (ZSB)
- City of Bonn
- Connexxion, christian university student group
- General Student’s Comittee AStA
- Healthy Campus Bonn
- IAESTE International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience
- Infopoint
- International Office
- Kulturticket
- Language Learning Center – SLZ (Department IX, IKM)
- litterarium & atelier
- Music forum of the University of Bonn
- NatFak-Festival e.V.
- Protestant congregation for students
- Queer Department of the General Students‘ Committee AStA
- Roman Catholic University Congregation
- Student Service Organisation Bonn
- Sustainability at the University of Bonn
- Transfer Center enaCom
- Universitätsgesellschaft Bonn – Alumni, Friends and Supporters e.V.
- University of Bonn Foundation
- University IT and Data Center (HRZ)
- University Sports
- Vice Rectorate for Equal Opportunity and Diversity
- Vice Rectorate for International Affairs
- 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 held its second International Staff Week in May. The focus this time around: “New Approaches to Services for Students and Staff at Universities.” This included an investigation into the various new approaches universities are using to provide services to different target audiences and the challenges confronting administrative staff in an increasingly complex and digitalized environment.
The region with the greatest marine biodiversity on our planet is known as the Coral Triangle or Indo-Australian Archipelago. However, the detailed evolutionary history of this biodiversity hotspot is poorly understood. An international research team has reconstructed how biodiversity has developed over the past 40 million years. The University of Bonn is involved in the study, which has now been published in the journal Nature.
With 1,896 participating graduates of the 2023/2024 academic year, the University of Excellence Bonn will once again bid farewell to a record number of Bachelor's and Master's graduates on Saturday, July 6, 2024, with a large celebration in the Hofgarten. Over 70 nations will be represented, with families and friends expected in large numbers to celebrate the handing out of certificates. This makes it probably the largest central graduation ceremony at a university in Germany.
Leaving some weeds between crops can help to combat pests on agricultural land, according to a new study carried out by the University of Bonn. This step has particularly positive effects in combination with other measures: the cultivation of different types of crops and planting strips of wildflowers. The results have now been published in the Journal of Pest Science.