Start of the semester
New impetus for the winter semester
A full Uni-Halle at the start of the semester: Almost 2500 first-year students were officially welcomed to the University of Wuppertal in the Uni-Halle on the Grifflenberg campus // Photos Friederike von Heyden
"A university thrives on fresh ideas and people who are willing to ask questions. I am looking forward to all the new students who are starting with us today and enriching science, the city and society together with us," says Birgitta Wolff.
Figures above previous year's level
2,476 first-year students will start their studies at the University of Wuppertal in the winter semester 2025/26. This means that their current number (2,298 at this point in 2024) is above the previous year's level. With additional entrants who have changed subjects within the university or from other universities to Wuppertal, the total number of all "first-year students" in Wuppertal is 4,022 (3,526 at this time last year). However, as prospective students can continue to enrol in degree programmes with open admissions and succession procedures are ongoing, only the cut-off date for the official statistics at the beginning of December will provide final clarity.
In total, over 20,000 people will then enrol on one of the more than 110 degree programmes at the University of Wuppertal. Teacher training programmes, especially primary school teaching, are particularly popular with new students this winter semester. The degree programmes in economics, education, civil engineering and computer science are also in high demand. The two Bachelor's degree programmes "Sustainable Chemistry" and "Smart and Sustainable Systems", which were launched last winter semester, are gaining in popularity.
Festive and exciting welcome
A varied programme awaited the new students in the morning: exciting interviews, short films, valuable information on the wide range of advisory, cultural and leisure activities offered by the university and the city, as well as musical contributions from the university choir and orchestra. Food chemist Prof Dr Julia Bornhorst also set a special accent with her keynote speech on the importance of her subject for consumer protection and what makes the BUW a place of encounter, support and change. The event was hosted by Dennis Fink, head of the university sports centre, and student Luca Biesenbender.
The introductory event traditionally marks the start of the "Welcome Week", during which further familiarisation, information and orientation offers for first-semester students follow. Important information about starting your studies can be found at www.startdenker.uni-wuppertal.de.
In addition to the traditional formats, the start of the semester will also be characterised by a number of special innovations and projects this year.
Office licences for BUW students
The University of Wuppertal is providing its students with licences for Microsoft Office 365 including 3 GB of cloud storage space in OneDrive for use during their studies via the university information and media centre (ZIM). The licences currently cover the use of the Office apps Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook and OneNote on all devices (laptop, tablet, smartphone, via browser) and with OneDrive from anywhere: at university, in the café, on the train.
Better accessibility: Gaußstraße passable again, parking
The start of the semester also brings relief in terms of infrastructure. Following repair work on the scaffolding of Building G, which was necessary due to a collision with a bus, Gaußstraße, the central traffic axis to the main Grifflenberg campus, is once again passable. This means a noticeable relief for students, employees and guests, who can now reach the campus more quickly and conveniently.
Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb NRW has developed a refurbishment concept for the renovation of the car parks on the Grifflenberg campus, which are in need of repair. In order to keep the restrictions as low as possible, the work will be carried out in stages until 2030. The first construction phase has already been completed in the PB multi-storey car park. Car park PC, which was also severely damaged by a fire, is currently being refurbished. During the construction period and now at the start of the semester, two of the three multi-storey car parks are still available. There are also additional parking spaces on campus to compensate for the loss of individual car parks.
Impetus for sustainability: Future Cleantech Architects
In terms of content, the university will be setting innovative accents in the coming semester with the Future Cleantech Architects series of events, among other things. The series addresses issues relating to climate-friendly technologies, sustainable energy and future innovations and brings science, business and society into dialogue with each other. Specifically, the focus is on solutions for forward-looking clean industries. Sectors that are difficult to decarbonise, such as cement, steel, aviation and shipping, are responsible for a significant proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, technological, economic and political solutions for decarbonising these sectors are still being developed. How these innovation gaps can be closed will be discussed in the "Future Clean Industries" lecture series. It is aimed at students from all faculties, but the events are also open to the general public.
New premises: moving into the Federal Railway Directorate
The University of Wuppertal is also continuing to grow into the city: with the Institute for Educational Research and parts of the central student guidance and counselling services moving into the former Federal Railway Directorate on Döppersberg, the BUW is not only gaining urgently needed space for research and teaching, but is also strengthening its presence in the heart of Wuppertal. The historic building will in future be a place for dialogue and academic work. Find out more in our press release from 6 October.
Start for BUW teaching in Aachen: Cooperation in teacher training
Another important step is the intensified cooperation in teacher training. As of this winter semester, the University of Wuppertal and RWTH Aachen University are jointly offering 80 places per year for primary school teachers at the Aachen location. The joint degree programme consists of four sub-programmes. Wuppertal is responsible for educational science and basic language education, while RWTH Aachen University is responsible for basic maths and subject teaching. "Through the cooperation with RWTH Aachen University, both universities can pool their expertise and utilise synergies for research and teaching in teacher training. This reaffirms our commitment to excellent teacher training - research-oriented and practice-oriented, networked and with a view to the future," says Prof Dr Susanne Buch, Vice-Rector for Teaching and Learning. The new programme immediately aroused great interest: Almost 700 people applied for the 80 places on the programme.
Commitment against funding cuts continues
Parallel to numerous future-oriented activities of the University of Wuppertal at state level, the defence discourse on the cuts demanded by the state continues. The University of Wuppertal is involved in this together with the State Rectors' Conference and other bodies in order to minimise painful cuts to the university budget.
