Student Competition: POV – Studying at Paderborn University
The Topic
The aim is to give students at our partner universities exciting insights into student life at Paderborn University and in the OWL region, as well as into German culture and language. The main focus is on combining the authenticity, creativity, and personal perspectives of our students: show your campus life, the atmosphere of the City, cultural characteristics, languages in everyday life, and everything in between.
Formats and Language
You can submit videos, audio features, podcasts, animated clips, photo series, digital stories, or other creative formats.
Language requirement: Submissions should be entirely in English or include English subtitles so that the content can be easily understood by the international audience of the VJWs.
Ideas and Inspiration
We have collected a few examples in English to help you get started:
- Pre-recorded student-led interviews and testimonials
- Cultural stereotypes versus reality, e.g. from the perspective of Erasmus students
- “Things I Wish I Had Known About My University”: advice and experiences
- Getting around the university/city: narrated navigation and life hack videos
- “How to Be Polite in My Culture” – funny dos and don’ts, such as greetings, giving and receiving compliments, ordering food, etc.
- A day in my life: from the first coffee in the morning to afternoon lectures
- Hidden gems in OWL: places that you won’t find in regular travel guides
- Local food and language tips – how to successfully navigate everyday life in Paderborn
Thinking of something completely different? Send it our way! Creativity and authenticity matter more than perfection.
Submit your content by 20 October.
Please send us your submissions by email, together with the following information:
- Names of everyone involved
- Title of the submission
- Format of the submission
- Language of the submission, and, if applicable, language of the subtitles
If the file is too large to attach to an email, you can also send us a link to a Sciebo folder.
When creating video material intended for publication, please note the legal information provided here, as well as the forms available on that page for obtaining consent.
Do you have any further questions? You may already find the answers in our FAQs. If not, you are very welcome to contact us directly by email!
FAQ
There are two different assessments, which will be combined to determine the final ranking:
The Jury
The jury, consisting of staff members and students from the COLOURS organising team, will assess submissions according to the following criteria:
- Authenticity and thematic relevance, including the connection to Paderborn University and East Westphalia-Lippe (OWL)
- Creativity and technical implementation
- International value and relevance to the target audience
An initial ranking will be created based on the scores achieved in this assessment.
Participants in the Virtual Journey Weeks
Between 1 and 18 November, all participants in the Virtual Journey Weeks will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite contributions.
Based on these two assessments, the winners of the competition will be determined. They will be announced on 19 November – our Live Day at UPB.
All participants in the competition will receive certificates of participation from us. The top three teams will also receive winners’ certificates, as well as merchandise from UPB and the COLOURS Alliance.
The winners will be announced on 19 November as part of the Live Day.
Legal recourse is excluded.
