Start with NEUGIER

The BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg matriculation ceremony in the Cottbus Stadthalle on Monday 6 October marked the festive start of the 2025/2026 academic year. The new students were welcomed by BTU President Gesine Grande, the mayors of the university towns of Cottbus and Senftenberg and representatives of the student body.

Around 2,000 young people are starting their studies at one of the BTU's three campuses this winter semester, with a total of 7,300 students enrolled at the university.

At the start of the week, Cottbus city centre was the destination for many of the new BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg students, who had made the journey with their friends and families to attend the traditional matriculation ceremony in the town hall. They were greeted on the forecourt by women in traditional costume with bread and salt, and inside by BTU President Gesine Grande. She welcomed the "Erstis" with a speech under the motto NEUGIER: "From today, all new students are part of a community that spends a lifetime asking the eternal 'children's questions' of how, why and why not. Without this curiosity, there would be no scientific progress, we wouldn't know why an apple falls from a tree but the moon doesn't fall to earth. We would have no AI, no periodic table and no antibiotics. Welcome to BTU and to the world of science."

The mayors of the university towns, Doreen Mohaupt and Andreas Pfeiffer, also welcomed "their first-year students". They praised their cities in a quiz duel. Prior to this, two student representatives gave tips on starting their studies. RBB presenter Christian Mattheé hosted the programme, which was accompanied by musicians from the Instrumental and Vocal Performance and Teaching study programme and ended with the symbolic enrolment of representatives from the BTU's six faculties on stage. Around 1,300 guests were in attendance.

Peer Schmidt, Vice-President for Academic Affairs, confirms that BTU is becoming increasingly popular: "We had even more applications than last year, and fortunately this also applies to our Bachelor's degree programmes. Over 900 Bachelor's students are starting their studies with us, while the trend towards internationalisation is continuing in our Master's study programmes. More than 1,000 students from Germany and abroad are starting on the 18 English-language study programmes and our dual profile is also continuing to grow - with 120 new students starting here."

In addition to the "classics" of Computer Science, Biotechnology, Business Administration, Social Work, Architecture, Urban Planning and Civil Engineering, the teaching profession and the newly launched study programmes Environmental Sciences and Life Science and International Health are particularly popular in the Bachelor's degree programmes. The Master's degree programmes include Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Environmental and Resource Management, Power Engineering, Hybrid Electric Propulsion Technology, Transformation Studies and World Heritage Studies. More than 50 new students have enrolled on the new study programmes Mathematical Data Science, Chemistry Materials, Engineering and Sustainability. In total, BTU offers 48 German-language and 18 English-language study programmes. The number of international students is around 3,400.

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Kristina Strehle
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The guests at the ceremony were traditionally greeted with bread and salt in front of the town hall. (Photo: BTU, Sascha Thor)
BTU President Prof. Gesine Grande welcomed the new students and guests. In her speech, she addressed the many facets of NEUGIER, the motto of this year's event. (Photo: BTU, Sascha Thor)
Around 1,300 guests attended the enrolment ceremony in Cottbus' Stadthalle. (Photo: BTU, Sascha Thor)
On behalf of their fellow students, first-year students held short dialogues with their deans and symbolically signed up to study. Here: Oyindamola Depo Oyedokun (centre) with the Dean of Faculty 3 Prof. Georg Möhlenkamp (left) and Vice-President for Academic Affairs Prof. Peer Schmidt. (Photo: BTU, Sascha Thor)
The DAAD Prize was traditionally awarded at the beginning of the winter semester, this year for the 31st time. Student Fatemehsadat Toghraie was honoured for her excellent performance and commitment. (Photo: BTU, Sascha Thor)