1,000 visitors discover the BTU in Senftenberg

The President of BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg Prof. Dr Gesine Grande cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony and thanked for the donation. She was joined by the district administrator of the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district Siegurd Heinze, the mayor of the town of Senftenberg Andreas Pfeiffer and the chairman of the town council Fred Frahnow as well as Christoph Maschek, chairman of the Lausitz Water Association (WAL), and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sylvio Simon, board chairperson of the Institute for Environmental Technology and Recycling Senftenberg e.V. (IURS). On the initiative of the IURS, the high-quality water of the Lusatian glacial valley can now be enjoyed by members and guests of the university from the new marble drinking fountain located in front of the cafeteria.

With a varied programme for all age groups, the BTU campus in Senftenberg was one of the three central points of the day-long event alongside the city centre around the market square. Around 1,000 interested people accepted the invitation to experience, discover and take part in over 40 programme items and were often guests at the BTU for longer periods of time between 10 am and 6 pm. Following the success of the first such event last year, the number of visitors to the Open Senftenberg Day at BTU increased significantly once again. For example, 405 visitors were counted in the on-site library alone. The Institute of Health's smoothie bike was pedalled by 250 - in particular younger - guests, most of whom were accompanied by several other people.

"The interest in our study programmes was very, very high," reports Maxi Vollmering from the study orientation team. The primary school teaching study programme was once again particularly popular. However, the focus was also on health-related study programmes such as nursing and midwifery. Answers to numerous questions about BAföG and student housing were available at the Studierendenwerk stand.
The Therapy Sciences laboratory building with its modern training and diagnostic equipment experienced a real rush of more than 200 visitors. Dr Barbara Hansen and other Biotechnology scientists were delighted that the laboratories were always full of interested visitors. Petra Hinz from Großräschen, for example, was impressed by the microscopy at the stem cell biology chair's stand: "It was convincingly illustrated how a muscle regenerates after injury."

"The Fascination of Chemistry" - under this heading, numerous visitors gained insights into the Applied Natural Sciences study programme through experiments. The 3D printing of orthoses was an example of what modern medical technology can do. There was also great interest in the hourly experiments in the high-voltage laboratory, which were accompanied by expert explanations. The opportunity to talk to the Lausitz Dynamics student team and take a look at their energy-saving vehicle, which will soon be competing in one of the world's largest energy efficiency competitions, the Shell Eco-marathon Europe, in neighbouring Poland, was also very popular.

There washands-on robotics and much more in the programme of the Centre for Student Acquisition and Study Preparation - College, which became a special attraction for hundreds of visitors. "The response was tremendous," says Kathrin Erdmann, Administrative Director of the College, "whether it was our robotics course, the virtual biology lab, 3D chocolate printing or the maths quiz."
The children, young people and adults were not only welcomed by the staff, but the humanoid robot AMI also proved to be an empathetic dialogue partner with human facial expressions. Three robot dogs could be controlled with some skill, and EDI - another humanoid robot - walked through the laboratories and across the campus with human-like movements.
Hanna and Charlotte, for example, who had travelled from Dresden with their parents, were amazed: "We really didn't expect this and didn't even know that something like this existed in Germany." A Cottbus family with two kindergarten children was also visibly impressed: "It was great for the children and us parents. We particularly enjoyed the robotics."

Highlights of the programme for children and families were also the children's university workshop on first aid run by the Institute of Health, the rides on the Electrical Engineering E-Muli and the university sports facilities with fitness tests for children and adults and various games. NABU Senftenberg also provided fun and exercise with the water polo pool provided by its regional organisation. "Our offerings were well used throughout the day," said BTU volunteer Toralf Nowatzki, who is involved with NABU.

Stadtwerke Senftenberg, Kommunale Wohnungsgesellschaft Senftenberg and the Partnership for Democracy in the district of Oberspreewald-Lausitz presented themselves at information stands in front of and in the media centre.
Students and the Lausitzer Biotech e.V. catered for the physical well-being with their food and drink offerings on campus. There were also tasty treats from the canteen team.
The feedback from visitors to the Open Senftenberg Day at BTU was extremely positive. "It's really great and fascinating what we saw. We are full of enthusiasm," emphasised Ursula and Axel Mette from Lauchhammer, for example, at the end of a two-and-a-half-hour campus tour.

The next opportunity to find out all about the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg and its future-oriented range of courses will be on Study Info Day on 8 July 2025 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Cottbus main campus.