Review

The Opening of the Academic Year 2021/2022

The University of Bonn started the Academic Year 2021/22 on October 18, 2021 with the traditional academic celebration of its Founder's Day. The opening ceremony took place for the second time as a "hybrid" event: In addition to an in-person event in the auditorium, it was simultaneously broadcast on the Internet.

The themes of excellence in science and climate research were the focus of this year's event. Personal video messages from the strategic partner universities testified to the fact that, despite limited travel opportunities, academic exchange and university life continue to be cultivated.

After the Rector of the University, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c.. Michael Hoch introduced the event with his words, a short speech followed with greetings from the Mayor of the Federal City of Bonn, Katja Dörner. With his keynote address entitled "Roaring 20s in science? The German science system in times of global revolution", the President of the Max Planck Society, Prof. Dr. Martin Stratmann, presented the developments in German science. In the subsequent panel, the rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Hoch, Prof. Dr. Martin Stratmann, Prof. Dr. Catharina Stroppel and Prof. Dr. Peter Scholze, both from the Cluster of Excellence Hausdorff Center for Mathematics talked about the topic of "Excellence in Science."

In another panel, Gerd Friedsam, President of the German Agency for Technical Relief, Prof. Dr. Xiaomeng Shen, Vice Rector of the United Nations University Europe, and Prof. Dr. Annette Scheersoi, Vice Rector for Sustainability at the University of Bonn, answered questions on the topic of "Climate Research and Disaster Risk Reduction."
The event was moderated by Maike Krebber and Florian Barnikel.

The winners of the State Prize and the DAAD Prize 2021 were also honored. The award winners were introduced in a short video and interviewed about their outstanding work.

The chairman of the General Student Committee (AStA), Jonathan Andraczek, spoke about the events of the academic year from a student perspective.

Finally, insights into current developments and prospects were provided by Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Hoch.

Here you can find the recording of our livestream of the opening of the Academic Year 2021/2022 on October 18 this year. You can also access individual videos of the various proramming points separately here. The videos from previous years can be found here.