Kicking off the new semester with a bang at the Campus Senftenberg

Director Daniel Ris took the opportunity to personally welcome students, lecturers, staff and guests of honour with the well-known song from the musical *Cabaret*, and to invite the University President, Prof. Dr Gesine Grande, onto the stage.

“You have made an excellent choice in opting for BTU and Senftenberg,” emphasised the president, addressing the first-year students and all students in her welcoming remarks. She immediately backed this up with examples of success in teaching and research, including top marks in the CHE ranking for supervisors at the start of studies, 15 ongoing appointment procedures for new professorships, the Brandenburg Innovation Prize for the BTU spin-off ‘quantum grade materials’, and a significant breakthrough in cancer research – achieved by the team led by Prof. Dr Julia von Maltzahn in collaboration with the Leibniz Institute for Ageing Research in Jena.

“More than 2,000 first-year students are starting their studies with us this winter term. In total, there are now around 7,700 students, 1,200 of whom are here in Senftenberg,” said Prof. Gesine Grande. “Today we are welcoming around 300 new Bachelor’s students across eight study programmes and around 90 new Master’s students across five programmes. Among them, for the first time, are pioneers in the new dual Master’s programme for the Teaching Degree for Primary Education (Mathematics and English) and in the programme in Social Work in a Society in Transition.”

The students were also warmly welcomed by the Mayor of Senftenberg, Andreas Pfeiffer, and the District Administrator of Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Alexander Erbert, as well as by students from higher semesters Leonie Tabel and Jakob Schellschmidt. Theatre director Daniel Ris, together with Paul Sinschek, an Electrical Engineering student, hosted the informative and entertaining programme to mark the start of the semester.

Fascinating insights into the university and the theatre

Both pianist Saessak Shin and the ‘T’s and Drums’ band – made up of teacher-training students from the BTU – as well as singing actors, knew how to captivate the audience with their music. The audience also got to experience the humanoid robot Ami as a learning coach in the biotechnology laboratory and virtual reality from the university’s College. The internationally successful student team Lausitz Dynamics presented their self-designed energy-saving vehicle, the HydroRaycer, and provided insights into the racing action at the Shell Eco-marathon Poland 2026, where they prevailed against teams from across Europe and Africa. 

The director and, with great humour, the actress Billy Böversen whetted the audience’s appetite for the programme at the new Senftenberg stage. Prizes on offer in a raffle included tickets for the current FestSpiel anniversary celebrations marking the theatre’s 80th birthday and the ‘Junges-Wahl-Abo’ season ticket, which offers BTU students the chance to attend five performances of their choice for just 25 euros.

There were attractive prizes to be won in a quiz organised by the town of Senftenberg and the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, which had once again generously supported the start of the semester at the Neue Bühne. In the new bar, the lively and culturally rich start to the new academic year drew to a close with lively conversations and music, as well as free beer and snacks.