Open Day delights visitors with its exciting variety

The varied programme for the Open Day, with which the university helped organise the newly conceived Senftenberg Town Festival – the Peter & Paul Festival – proved to be an attractive and exciting event for prospective students and their families, as well as for many other guests from the region and beyond, tourists in the Lusatian Lake District, alumni and parents with children. Every half hour, the bus shuttle service organised by the town transported fresh groups of visitors from the festival in the old town to the campus and back.

Wide participation from many sectors

Under the leadership of Dr Anne-Helen Lutter, the Officer for Location Development, the Senftenberg-based departments of the Faculties of Human Sciences and Environment and Natural Sciences, as well as institutions such as the College, the campus library, the University Sports Department and the Language Centre – and, in particular, the Departmental Committees – all contributed to the programme. The engineering sciences were also strongly represented, with the delivery robot and the student team Lausitz Dynamics, who presented their energy-saving vehicle following their title win at the Shell Eco-marathon Poland. Just a stone’s throw from the campus, visitors were given a glimpse into the Innovation Centre. 

Popular degree programmes across the entire university  

There was a large crowd at the Student Guidance and Counselling Service stand. Student counsellor Heike Postelt and Doreen Schwarz from the co-op programme team summed up the event by saying: “There was a great deal of interest in the study programmes offered by the BTU. In addition to the study programmes at the Campus Senftenberg, there was clearly strong demand for the opportunities available at the main campus in Cottbus and the Sachsendorf campus.”

Around 40 programme items

Visitors to the Open Day had a choice of around 40 exciting activities. A particularly large number of them, for example, opted for the activities organised by the library or the college. Here alone, around 250 interested visitors were counted, who discussed matters with humanoid robots, controlled dog-like robots or travelled into virtual worlds to experience the hidden world of cells.

The activities in the modern Biotechnology research building – offering insights into the body’s inner workings, information on the latest research findings into the healing of skeletal muscles, ‘Mushrooms in Action’ and ‘Microbiology Live and in Colour’ – also attracted great interest from visitors across the board. A particular highlight for many guests was the opportunity to carry out experiments at various stations under the heading ‘The Fascination of Chemistry’, guided by scientists.

The programme components of the highly sought-after Primary School Teacher Training study programme, as well as those of the Institute of Health – featuring the Nursing Science and Midwifery Science study programmes – were also very popular with visitors. Participants on two campus tours were particularly delighted to receive background information from lecturers. During a tour organised by the Studierendenwerk Ost:Brandenburg, many prospective students were able to see for themselves the modern and affordable accommodation options for students right next to the campus.

Highlights from culture, sport and cuisine

The artistic highlight of the programme was the closing event for the exhibition ‘The Beautiful, Colourful World of Work and Study’, featuring vibrant drawings by Ralf Schuster, the BTU’s long-standing photographer – accompanied by his own musical performance.
“How fit is my child? And how fit am I?” – large numbers of families and individuals put this to the test at the University Sports fitness check. People were keen to take the opportunity to try out some light-hearted sporting games. Many a vitamin-rich drink was pedalled into being on the Institute of Health’s smoothie bike.
The canteen team, the Departmental Committee representatives and Lausitzer Biotech e.V. ensured, with their diverse range of culinary offerings, that the Open Day was also, in this respect, a highly successful event and a collaborative effort that left a lasting positive impression.