Hats for all, prizes for the best

On Friday, 19 September 2025, the President of the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU), Prof. Gesine Grande, will bid farewell to this year's graduates from the Cottbus main campus at the graduation ceremony in the Audimax from 5 pm.

"We are proud of our alumni, who are starting the next stage of their lives well trained and who, with the specialist knowledge, methods and skills they have acquired here, are ideally prepared to help shape our world. Those who study at BTU experience a culture of cooperation between disciplines and nationalities - an excellent basis for scientific work and social coexistence," says BTU President Gesine Grande.

Together with Jörg Rohde from the Friends of BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, the BTU President will also award prizes for the best Bachelor's and Master's theses from the six faculties at the graduation ceremony. The best theses are sponsored by the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg Friends' Association and are endowed with 350 euros for Bachelor's theses and 1,000 euros for Master's theses.

"The Förderverein is delighted to be able to fund the prizewinners with its contribution," adds Jörg Rohde, Förderverein der Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg e.V.

Around 1,100 graduates completed their Bachelor's or Master's degree at BTU last year. The event at the main campus will be followed by further graduation ceremonies on Wednesday, 24 September 2025, for graduates at Campus Sachsendorf and at the end of January 2026 at Campus Senftenberg.

Award winners for best theses

Faculty 1: STEM - Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology

Best Bachelor's thesis:
Albert Böschow, topic: Operation clones in universal algebra, Post's theorem and the connection to the complexity of constraint satisfaction problems

Best Master's thesis:
Nicolas Borchard, topic: Numerical solution of optimal control problems with Wasserstein regularisation
Mona Sobhani, topic: Investigating the Potential of a Hybrid Quantum-Classical Approach for Prime Factorization

Faculty 2: Environment and Natural Sciences

Best Bachelor's thesis:
Tim Leon Brauckhoff, topic: biopixR: Development and testing of an R package for the quantitative analysis of biological images with a focus on object counting

Best Master's thesis:
Julia Schowarte, topic: Investigations into the optimisation of the catalytic and photocatalytic degradation of selected fluoroorganic compounds

Faculty 3: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Energy Systems

Best Bachelor's thesis:
Lennart Jonas Schmidtsdorff, topic: Experimental investigation of an exposure strategy to holistically increase the process efficiency of the L-PBF process

Best Master's thesis:
Marie-Elaine Müller, topic: Planning and development of the service station of a research facility for future offshore hydrogen production

Faculty 4: Human Sciences

Best Bachelor's thesis:
Julia Stenzel, topic: The use of app-based home exercise programmes by patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis in Germany

Best Master's thesis:
Stefanie Everth and Astrid Kaßner, topic: Collaborative work: Nursing continues to develop - a research paper on teaching in practice

Faculty 5: Business, Law and Society

Best Bachelor's thesis:
Julian Bode, topic: Influence of story structures on dwell time for short video content on social media

Best Master's thesis:
Maximilian Fobo, topic: Quantitative analysis of doctor density and admission for applicants to medical studies in Germany: A spatial-econometrics-extended replication and an alternative-specific modelling of admission

Faculty 6: Architecture, Civil Engineering and Urban Planning

Best Bachelor's thesis:
Elisa Bretschneider, topic: The hybridisation of public spaces: An analysis based on Goffman's theory of front and back stage

Best Master's thesis:
Josephine Tillmann, topic: Stereotomy and applied geometry in the 11th century at Speyer Cathedral: Modelling historical processes in the planning of complex stonework constructions