Campus-News

What an enthralling overture! After just a few beats, the violin solo rises on soft, clear strokes above the airy soundscape of the strings, winds its way ever more vigorously and dancelike to the highest heights, then, at the very end, alights, evanesces. Soundless. The Lark Ascending, a romance by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, performed by 16-year-old Pilar Policano. A bravura piece. And the prelude to a captivating end-of-semester concert by the University of Bremen's orchestra and choir in the packed Glocke, conducted by Mariano Chiacchiarini, the university’s Director of Music since September 2022.

The University of Bremen submitted three draft proposals for the establishment of new Excellence Clusters as part of the federal and state governments' Excellence Strategy. One research team has now been invited by the German Research Foundation (DFG) to submit a full proposal by the end of August 2024. The final decision on the approval of the clusters will be made in May 2025. A total of 143 outlines were submitted nationwide.

“So much change was rare in Bremen,” writes Bremen historian Cornelius Torp at the beginning of his recently published monograph Aufbruchstimmung: Die Universität Bremen und das Projekt Hochschulreform. The collection of essays sheds light on the state of tension in which Uni Bremen, likely the most-profiled German reform university of the 1970s, found itself: between a downright boisterous, adventuresome and often bright pioneering spirit at one pole and the “sinister image of a left-wing cadre training ground” at the other. The book, which is well worth reading, was launched at a well-attended panel discussion event. And with that, proof that at least one characteristic has remained constant since the university’s founding years: critical reflection paired with rollicking good fun.

On 7 December, the German government hosted a sustainability conference at Uni Bremen, one of several regional dialogue events in advance of the planned 2024 revision of the German Sustainability Strategy (DNS). Good timing and a good choice of location, too, as just two days earlier the University of Bremen had been recognised as the top “Most Sustainable University” in Germany and tenth in the world (out of well over 1,000 universities) in the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking. "We give equal weight to social and ecological considerations in our new university mission statement," said Rector Jutta Günther at the conference opening in the “biscuit tin" auditorium building. "However, we must all become more courageous in implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and learn to share." And with that, the theme of the conference was made plain.

There is still time to register for one of the approximately 500 sports and exercise courses at Uni Bremen. The winter semester’s attractive offerings kick off on 16 October. The programme includes various swimming courses and aquacycling, dance classes, and a wide range of fitness courses as well as improvisational theatre and meditation. Most of the courses are beginner-oriented or offer the opportunity to sample something new or unfamiliar. The special thing about Bremen’s Hochschulsport: all courses are also open to external participants, because sports here are meant to be a bridge between the university and the general public. The full programme listing with dates and prices is available on the Hochschulsport website where courses be booked directly.

Much about artificial intelligence (AI) reminds us of the time when computers first came onto the market: There was a lot of scepticism, there was a lot of amazement and very few people anticipated how much the technology would change their everyday lives. That this will also be the case with AI was vividly demonstrated to around 150 participants at a conference in Schuppen 2 in Bremen's Überseestadt at the end of September, in an area that concerns everyone: health. The annual AI in Health conference is primarily organised by the U Bremen Research Alliance, a cooperation between the University of Bremen and German non-university research institutes. For good reason: Bremen is at the forefront of research and development in this field, and not just in northern Germany.

The best feedback came from the kids. No sooner had the summer project at meerMINT ended than the eager question arose: can we do it again during the autumn break? meerMINT wants to inspire children and teenagers to experiment and tinker in subjects that don't necessarily have a reputation among kids for being particularly exciting: mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and technology – MINT for short. Organised by the University of Bremen, meerMINT has been running since 2021. So that the project can continue to be successful, the organisers are looking for volunteers who want to pass on their experience to kids. Fun and praise guaranteed, see above. 

Research data – that sounds like dry subject matter, at best a playground for science nerds. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Need an example? At the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020, there was no research data on the effect of wearing masks. The result: politicians and health institutions meandered through the first months of the pandemic with contradictory opinions on wearing masks. For a broader public to better understand the importance of research data and how it’s handled, the U Bremen Research Alliance organised its first Research Data Day at the beginning of June – an excellent premiere.

After extensive discussions, the Academic Senate of the University of Bremen has adopted a new mission statement. The focus is on sustainability, climate justice and climate neutrality. In an interview with with the online magazine "up2date", President Jutta Günther explains how the University of Bremen has set out on the path to becoming a climate-friendly university and what expectations she has.

For students at the University of Bremen, climate protection has long been a major concern. Students are involved in environmental policy groups such as Students for Future and the AStA (student representation) also has its own department for sustainability.  There, we asked what students think about the university's new mission statement. 

When the summer semester begins in April, students from Faculty 7 – Economics can also get credit points for lectures and seminars if they take part in events organised by the alumni association. From now on, these points will be collected in a module called Career Development and Employability (CDE for short) offered by Maren Hartstock, research assistant and head of the Office for Practice and Transfer at Faculty 7. As an alumna herself, she knows what a difference it makes for students if they can establish professional contacts early on. This new cooperation between the alumni association and the faculty could develop into a classic win-win situation for everyone involved.

What are the career paths in the media industry? What problems and hurdles do you have to overcome in your professional life? How important are internships for starting a career? These and many other questions were answered by our alumni Christoph Sodemann, a journalist and PR expert for many years, and Benedikt Westphal, a junior account manager at a Bremen PR agency, at a talk with around 25 media studies students on 7 March. A very lively round, ably moderated by Fabio Schmidt, a media student who works part-time at Radio Bremen 4. Media Practice Week is organised by students at Faculty 9 - Cultural Studies as part of a practical seminar.

On 23-24 June 2023, the popular Open Campus event at the University of Bremen will be back again after the corona break. As always, the motto of the day is “Open Worlds – Share Knowledge!”. The alumni association will be there on Saturday, 24 June with its own pagoda – a good opportunity to talk to board members and office employees. And if you like, you can also make an original photo souvenir in our photo box, yours to keep. We are looking forward to seeing you!

With the support of the Alumni Association, the University of Bremen has now awarded the prize for outstanding doctoral supervision for the third time. Former doctoral students may nominate their supervisors for the award. The prize is also intended to make good supervision standards more visible and to promote a university-wide debate on what excellent doctoral supervision should look like. It is endowed with a total of 4000 euros and is provided exclusively for projects to support doctoral researchers. The 2023 announcement is open from 23.02.23 and can be found with all details here:

The polar ice is melting. Where glaciers on the Nordic archipelago of Spitsbergen ended in the sea ten years ago, bare rocks are now visible for kilometres. There could hardly be more striking images of global warming. Images that shock. Can the Arctic still be saved? For more than two years, the EU research project FACE-IT, led by marine biologists from the University of Bremen, has been exploring this question. What exactly are the researchers investigating? And what solutions are they arriving at? In the winter semester, around 20 media students from Bremen were able to find out directly from the source and develop a comprehensive FACE-IT media package from interviews, photos and research videos.

A good nine months after the start of Putin's war against Ukraine, we spoke again with historian Professor Wolfgang Eichwede about the course of the war, domestic tensions in Russia and prospects for peace. "The changing of borders by force by a major European power is an absolute catastrophe," says the founder of the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen in a 30-minute conversation with Christoph Sodemann. Putin's authoritarian system is more brutal and impenetrable than the power apparatus of Soviet times. As a result, there is little reliable information about potential dissent within the current Russian regime. Eichwede's conclusion: "At the moment, I don't see any immediate chance for peace."

You can watch the full interview (in German) on our YouTube channel.

It’s decided: the University of Bremen is to come into the city centre with a second campus. In its session on 22 November 2022, the Bremen Senate gave its official approval. The plan, as developed by the Senate Chancellery with the City Centre Project Office, envisages at least one faculty moving into the former premises of the Bremer Landesbank, now NordLB, at Domshof. Newly built in 2016, the building is structurally and technologically up to date and complies with the latest energy standards, according to the Senate press release. For its part, the university has welcomed the possibilities of a partial move. Under initial consideration is the law faculty with its 1,300 students. The building at Domshof offers a standard that the university has not enjoyed before, said Chancellor Frauke Meyer. Nevertheless, the university wants to make sure that the planned move will not negatively impact the science budget or take money away from the construction projects on the main campus.

"It's crazy," says Julia Holz. "Before we shake hands with our international guests for the first time, we know so much about them because we’ve already been engaged with them for months." Ms Holz works as a coordinator at the U Bremen Research Alliance Welcome Center at the University of Bremen, which has just celebrated its tenth anniversary. She has been there almost from the beginning, together with Janna Wilbers, who is currently on parental leave. Thousands of international researchers also had reason to celebrate and congratulate – every year, the Welcome Team looks after up to 500 new arrivals in Bremen and Bremerhaven.

It’s a sweeping change. The University of Bremen is changing its mission statement, which is now more than 20 years old: the topics of climate and sustainability are to be given particular significance. This was decided by the Academic Senate in April 2022. Previously, a strong signal was sent with the establishment of a commission for sustainability, climate justice, and climate neutrality. These topics are to play a major role in all areas in the future. And a new English-language Bachelor's degree course is even to be established that is not subject-oriented but topic-oriented: "Natural Science for Sustainable Future".

The "CAMPUS PRIZE: Research for a Sustainable Future", which is also sponsored by the Alumni Association, fits very well with the focus of the University of Bremen in terms of content. This year again, final theses on questions of sustainable use of resources, protection of the environment, climate, oceans or other topics in the context of sustainability can be proposed for this prize until November 25. One doctoral thesis and one master's thesis will be selected from the nominations by the jury and awarded a total of 3,000 euros.

A long drawn out, “Well…” and then, "That was good. It's always nice when you win." So dry, so North German and so likeably modest is Dr Tim Laue's answer to the question of how it feels to be the new world champion in robot football. This is the ninth time that the University of Bremen’s Team B-Human, which is also supported by the alumni association, has been world champion. And this time they won all their games, 48 to 0! Here is artificial intelligence made in Bremen, robot football from another planet. After their magnificent success at RoboCup 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand, the programmers from Bremen made a remarkable promise.

With an inauguration ceremony including Bremen's mayor, Bremen’s science senator, the university chancellor and many guests on 6 September in the Mensa, the university’s new rector, Professor Jutta Günther, kicked embarked on her term of office with her new team of vice rectors. She was appointed Professor of Economics at the University of Bremen in 2014. The board of the alumni association congratulates the new rectorate and looks forward to a good working relationship.

Professor Gerd Glaeske has passed away. The health researcher died at the age of 77 on May 27, 2022, after a long period of illness. Glaeske was a pharmacist and worked for many decades in drug utilization research.

On 1st September 2022, the current president of the University of Bremen, Professor Bernd Scholz-Reiter, is taking his well-deserved retirement. His ten years in office were commemorated on 23rd June at a celebration in Campus Park with many guests of honor. The Academic Senate had on 15th June already confirmed the new vice-presidents, who will in future guide the fortunes of the University of Bremen together with the new president Professor Jutta Günther and Chancellor Frauke Meyer, who was elected in March. As of 1st September 2022, Professor Michal Kucera will be Vice-President for Research and Transfer, Professor Maren Petersen will be Vice-President for Teaching and Studies starting 1st October 2022, and Mandy Boehnke will be Vice-President for Internationalization, Academic Qualification and Diversity as of 1st September 2022. This will be the first time that the central academic structure will be represented in the rectorate.

Only a few days after the 80th birthday of Bremen historian Wolfgang Eichwede, the Bremen Senate honored him with the Senate Medal for Arts and Sciences on 15 June. At the ceremony in the Upper Town Hall, Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte paid tribute to the former University of Bremen professor for his work, which made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of German relations with Eastern Europe and to Bremen as a center of science. In a round of talks with four people who have accompanied Prof Eichwede on various stages of his life journey, the conversation shined a light on episodes and stops along the way.

Friendly, bright, functional. That is the impression given off by the newly built Horner Bad, which has enriched Bremen's swimming pool landscape since the beginning of June. Since the Unibad was closed to the public due to its condition and the pandemic, there is now once again an indoor pool in Bremen near the university – with 50-metre lanes. This marks the end of a long period of forced abstinence for those ambitious swimmers who do not practice their sport in a club. We tested the pool, which is already being hailed by the press as a "new flagship with supraregional appeal”.

"Architecturally, the University of Bremen and its campus are..." The university’s many students and employees over the past 51 years would certainly end this sentence in quite different ways. One with his own entirely individual answer is Hans-Joachim Orlok. For more than 25 years, he has been the head of building management at the university, putting heart and soul into the job. He is responsible for everything that has been built and is being built, both above and below ground. And he renovates, on a tight budget and with great creativity. Now he is retiring. The university magazine “up2date" recently did a profile on him.

Winning the title without conceding a single goal: B-Human – the robot soccer team from the University of Bremen and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) – has once again won the RoboCup German Open. In Hamburg, the Bremen team, which has also been supported by the Alumni Association for years, won all eight matches.

On 2 March, the Academic Senate elected Professor Jutta Günther as the new Rector, who will take office on 1 September 2022. The Bremen professor of economics will replace Professor Bernd Scholz-Reiter, who is retiring after ten years in office. The 22 members of the Academic Senate (AS) elected Professor Günther with 14 votes. Also standing for election was Professor Verena Blechinger-Talcott from the Free University (FU) Berlin, who received 8 votes.

"A baked fish, a pickled herring and a crab roll are sitting in the sauna…” What sounds like a joke is actually the invitation to an event on a topic that doesn’t readily invite jokes: The consequences of climate change for North Sea fisheries. "SCIENCE GOES PUBLIC!" is a format for reaching wider audiences that presents “dry” science topics in pubs in varied and humorous ways. The tenth instalment of this popular series runs from 10 March to 14 April 2022.

In September 2022, the University of Bremen's career-oriented mentoring programme ProMentes will enter its twelfth round. For a period of ten months, committed executives from business, culture and public administration act as mentors to advise and support students and graduates who are about to enter professional life. Alumni are cordially invited to participate as mentors or mentees.

One anniversary after another: No sooner has the University of Bremen wrapped up its 50th anniversary celebrations than Studierendenwerk Bremen, founded in 1972, begins its look back on a 50-year success story. Everyone at the university knows of Studierendenwerk, but most would be hard pressed to say where it is actually located. Some 300 employees make sure that everything runs smoothly for the 30,000 students at the four universities in the state of Bremen.

Last year, the University of Bremen adopted the SKILL programme, which is intended to advance digitalisation of teaching and studying. Will green boards and white chalk soon be a thing of the past? What kind of acceptance is this programme finding at the university? Where does the university stand in its own digitalisation efforts – and in comparison to other universities nationwide? In a video interview (in German), Christoph Sodemann spoke with the vice-rector responsible for the programme, Professor Thomas Hoffmeister, about these and other questions.

“future concepts bremen” are digital innovation projects at the University of Bremen that implement the basic principles of research-based learning and are intended to promote the transfer of knowledge and technology to business and society. future concepts offers students the opportunity to study in a practice-oriented way, to develop their professional and personal skills, and to collect career-building contacts with future employers.

After three semesters of online courses, the Uni Bremen campus is, since this past October, filled with life again. Under strict conditions, lectures and seminars are once again being held in person and many students are also returning to the dining hall (“Mensa”) and the university library. We asked around on campus to find out how students are getting on.

You’ve got your university acceptance, found a place to live, said goodbye to your home town, and now you’re waiting, full of anticipation, for your studies to begin. All the hurdles are behind you, and nothing stands in the way of a brilliant new phase of life. Finally seeing the university with your own eyes, meeting new people, and getting settled into academic life. Orientation Week is meant to ease you into your studies, bring you in contact with other students, and ensure that you know what to expect. But this winter, what has been standard practice for decades will take on the aura of something extra special.

When it comes to donors and foundations, most people think of the big ones: Bill & Melinda Gates, the Körber Foundation or German political party foundations. But there are other ways to make a difference. On the occasion of the university's 50th anniversary, the University of Bremen Foundation has launched an initiative that invites you to participate in numerous ways – and also to donate. The motto: Make sense.

A group of children waits in front of the university library, neatly lined up in rows of two. Only a few students stroll along the boulevard. Nevertheless, university life seems to be gradually returning here. On the hottest day of the year thus far, we were on campus to take a closer look...

Empty stadiums, strict hygiene rules — no problem for footballing robots. Yet for more than a year, the pandemic has brought play to a standstill for the high-tech kickers. That’s because their human masterminds have not been allowed to accompany them to tournaments, a hard blow for Team B-Human from the University of Bremen and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DKFI). But now humans and robots have done an end run around the virus and successfully competed in their first virtual tournament in Germany — a completely new challenge for the winning Bremen team.

The construction boom at the University of Bremen continues and perhaps the most exciting project is currently coming up behind NW1. In March 2022, the new NEOS complex will be inaugurated, housing the DIGITAL HUB Industry and the new headquarters of the IT service provider encoway. NEOS is also the future location of several university institutes, start-ups and an Open Innovation Lab, where SMEs and established industrial companies can experiment. This will be a "high-tech playground" according to our alumnus Christoph Ranze, who is the managing director of encoway. NEOS embodies a breathtaking success story that started a hundred metres away with three small offices.

Just in time for its anniversary, the University of Bremen has a new look – with vibrant colors that combine red and blue. The new variety of colors is supposed to give the university’s users more options for individual designs and, at the same time, strengthen the university’s visual identity and recognition value. 

Finally, another eye-catcher: The new building on campus for the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS is about to be completed. The brilliant white building amazes with its arched lines, organic curves, and an asymmetric layout.

How can I start my career? What soft skills are necessary in order to be successful on the job market in my professional field? How do I best apply, or are there other ways of finding the perfect job for me? The Career Camp 2021 is supposed to answer these questions. It will be a mega event hosted by three departments – interdisciplinary, internationally, and unprecedented at the university. And right on time for the 50^th anniversary. The organizers think it important to integrate as many alumni and their knowhow as possible into the format. How? Find out here.

Since the beginning of the year, the pandemic has a firm grasp on all parts of life. The University of Bremen, too, was forced to stop its regular teaching and research activities. At the same time, scientists from many different fields have addressed Covid-19 and its implications over the past several months. The university magazine up2date.online has pooled these research activities – with an impressive result.

For Farhana and Fahmida it is all about instincts and love, about very elementary feelings when they talk about food. It is a way of life. Food culture in Germany? The two master students from Bangladesh and Pakistan prefer to talk about literature, environmental protection, and other reasons why they came to Germany. In Bremen they represent the students from their two home countries, about one hundred from Pakistan and more than 150 from Bangladesh. Quite a few. And that is not the only thing that takes us by surprise when we meet.

After 15 months of building, the BIOM had its roofing ceremony at the end of August. Its name is a reference to an actual biome. It will be an attractive clinker construction, in which approximately 1,000 students and more than 100 staff members of the Biology Department in the future will conduct research, teach, and learn.