Paderborn University welcomes more than 2,800 new students for winter semester 2022/23

For many freshmen, a new stage of life begins this week. For the start of the winter semester 2022/23, Paderborn University welcomed 2,811 new students (provisional figure) to campus on Wednesday, October 5. University President Prof. Dr. Birgitt Riegraf was pleased to personally welcome the new students: "You have made the right choice with Paderborn University. We are happy that you are here and cordially invite you to join us in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the university this year." During the orientation days, first-year students will have the opportunity to get to know their field of study and the campus better and to make first contacts with fellow students and lecturers before lectures begin on October 10.

A successful start to study
 

The new students learned what makes for a successful study – also outside the lecture hall – during a round of talks. This was moderated by Sharlene Frammelsberger, who herself studied at Paderborn University. In addition to lectures and seminars, Riegraf said that meeting people in the corridors and eating together in the refectory are particularly important aspects of university life. Prof. Dr. Volker Schöppner, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Quality Management, encouraged students to take advantage of the extensive support offered by the university: "With the change from school to university, you are faced with great challenges. This change should be successful and, above all, fun," he emphasized.

"We are proud of the young people who are shaping the cityscape," said Mayor Michael Dreier. Paderborn, he said, is a university, sports and cultural city that has a lot to offer to the students.

Tim Aßbrock, Deputy Chair of the General Students Committee (AStA), referred to the numerous contact points of the AStA such as the social office, the copy service or the bicycle repair shop, which are open to students at any time. He also presented the new AStA Culture Ticket to the freshmen. Since October 1, students receive free admission to many cultural institutions in Paderborn with this ticket.

Varied welcome party
 

Tips for a successful party were provided by Paderborn's Event Physics during the freshmen welcome. The team around Dr. Marc Sacher, who initiated the event physics, impressively showed how to transform physical phenomena into experiments and convinced with a small show performance.

Lars Lagerpusch, among others, from the Uni Baskets also welcomed the new students. He invited everyone to come to one of the next home games, for each of which there are 200 free tickets for the students.

Birk Fischer, General Student Committee representative for media, who provided musical accompaniment for the event with his guitar and vocals, also received great applause.