“At this university you are never alone!”

Welcome to the European Capital of Culture 2025 and to the TUC family: Around 1,800 new students have so far enrolled at Chemnitz University of Technology for the winter semester 2021/2022.

Chemnitz University of Technology invited its new students to the matriculation ceremony on October 12, 2021, which was held as a hybrid event due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Access to the venue, St. Peter's Church on Theaterplatz in Chemnitz, was granted to those new enrollees who were lucky to win a lottery. About 100 freshmen were on site. Everyone else was able to follow the academic ceremony online. Diana Schreiterer moderated the event.

Chemnitz University of Technology is an engine for innovation and a driver of urban development

The President of Chemnitz University of Technology, Prof. Dr. Gerd Strohmeier, warmly welcomed the newly enrolled students to Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture 2025. In doing so, he did not fail to mention his university's diverse and active support of the city's application for the Capital of Culture title and invited all freshmen to help shape the Capital of Culture year 2025. Chemnitz University of Technology is in many respects an extremely innovative, modern, research-intensive and transfer-oriented university. The rector illustrated this with several examples. For example, he referred to the world's smallest microelectronic robot, which was developed in 2020 by an international research team led by Prof. Dr. Oliver G. Schmidt. In addition, Strohmeier illustrated the transfer strength of Chemnitz University of Technology with 90 spin-offs within the last four years.

The Mayor for Law, Safety and Environmental Protection of the City of Chemnitz, Miko Runkel, took the freshmen on a short excursion into the history of the city of Chemnitz and repeatedly praised the role of the university. According to Runkel, Chemnitz University of Technology is an engine for innovation and a driver of urban development. He invited the people to enjoy the many advantages of the city and to get involved in the city of Chemnitz.

Diverse university and exciting places to discover

The Student Council (StuRa) of Chemnitz University of Technology was also present at the celebration: Greti Kneita and Marius Hirschfeld described the diversity of Chemnitz University of Technology from their very private study experiences and referred, among other things, to the student initiatives, sports groups and committees in which it is worthwhile to get involved. One of the most important recommendations of the StuRa members to the first-year students was to network well within Chemnitz University of Technology family and to respect their own pace of study.

The keynote speech was given by Jenny Geuthel. She studied European History at the Chemnitz University of Technology. Afterwards, she worked and further qualified in Mexico and Berlin. Today, she works as the director of the International Schools in Niederwürschnitz in the Ore Mountains. "Think outside the box," Geuthel says. She says she learned abroad how important and valuable cosmopolitanism and tolerance are in life. Today, she is happy to pass on this experience to her students.

In an interview with moderator Diana Schreiterer, Max Rose, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in applied computer science from the TU, talked about his time studying. He also founded the start-up "audory" in Chemnitz, which develops interactive audio books with individual freedom of choice. Rose praised the diverse support provided by the university from the start-up network SAXEED to a start-up scholarship and assistance from the Faculty of Computer Science. He also clarified the coincidences through which a future field of activity or a desire to study can arise. Therefore, he said, it is important for personal development to commit oneself completely to the studies and the many experiences outside of them. He also gave the first year students an important message: “At this university, you are never alone!”

Afterwards, Schreiterer spoke with Benjamin Schaller, who is studying computer science for humanities and social sciences in his master's program. In the interview, he discussed his book "111 Places in Chemnitz You Must See" and introduced places in and around Chemnitz that the freshmen should also discover. These include, for example, the film club "mittendrin" in the basement of a student dormitory, where special films are shown at student-friendly prices. Another is the ring bus lines that depart from and return to the campus square - in between is a varied tour of about one hour through five Chemnitz districts. And there is the photogenic spiral staircase in the annex of the Böttcher Building on the Straße der Nationen, at the corner of Georgstraße.

Quick survey: What attracts students to Chemnitz

Nina from Freiberg decided to study teaching at elementary schools at Chemnitz University of Technology because you can choose works in elementary school didactics. "You can't do that anywhere else in Saxony. In addition, Chemnitz is close to my hometown of Freiberg," says the young woman. Nada came to Chemnitz University of Technology from Yemen to study Intellectual Communication/Intercultural Competence in the Master's program: "I was previously in Leipzig and have now come to Chemnitz because of the program. I already like it here very much." "The fact that Chemnitz has been awarded the title of European Capital of Culture 2025 was one reason why Chemnitz interested me," says Bukra from Albania, who has enrolled in the master's program in Web Engineering. For Marie-Luise, who came to Chemnitz from near Dresden to study psychology, the very good study conditions at Chemnitz University of Technology and the relaxed housing market were ultimately decisive when weighing up several alternatives. For her fellow student Celine, it was the proximity to home.

Background: Start of the winter semester 2021/2022

Chemnitz University of Technology starts the winter semester with 97 study programs, including 35 Bachelor's and 58 Master's programs as well as two diploma programs and two offerings at the Center for Teacher Education. New programs include mathematics (bachelor's and master's), financial and business mathematics (bachelor's), and exercise science in prevention and rehabilitation (master's).

About 1,800 new students have so far enrolled in one of the study programs at Chemnitz University of Technology for the winter semester 2021/2022. How many young people will ultimately begin their studies in Chemnitz this semester is currently not yet known, as enrollment in the 86 open admission degree programs at Chemnitz University of Technology is still possible until October 30, 2021. An overview of studying in Chemnitz is available to all interested parties on the landing page www.studium-in-chemnitz.de.

Welcome gift for the freshmen

Traditionally, there is also a welcome gift for the new students this year. Included is a gym bag in green university design with numerous goodies, vouchers and a TUC shirt. The bag can be picked up in the days following the enrollment and commencement ceremony at the Unishop in the Central Lecture Hall and Seminar Building of Chemnitz University of Technology on the Reichenhainer Straße campus. However, a prior appointment is necessary for this: https://mytuc.org/ydkz.

Multimedia: An ideal platform for exchanging ideas and networking with the university is available - not only for first year students - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

(Author: Mario Steinebach / Translation: Sai Teja Paila)

Matthias Fejes
15.10.2021

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