On 14 January, the University of Freiburg’s three inter-faculty promotional organizations – Alumni Freiburg e.V., the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft Freiburg im Breisgau, and the Verband der Freunde der Universität Freiburg im Breisgau e.V. – invited the interested public to the rector’s traditional new year’s address. Rector Professor Hans-Jochen Schiewer used the occasion to give an outlook on the year 2016.

The rector looked back on a positive year 2015: Not only did the University of Freiburg set a new record with more than 25,000 matriculated students but also marked the reopening of its heart, the University Library, after five years of renovations. The Rectorate sharpened the university’s international profile with the foundation of the European Campus as well as the establishment of a liaison office in New York. Profesor Schiewer was especially pleased with the great involvement of many students, teachers, and alumni on behalf of the refugees. Many good projects were made possible by volunteer work and donations. The University of Freiburg thus cultivated its own special brand of Germany’s welcome culture.

Rector Schiewer foresees great challenges for the university’s future but is at the same time justifiably optimistic. The cooperation with Freiburg’s Fraunhofer institutes promises great research achievements, and the newly founded Performance Center for Sustainability Technologies will carry the University of Freiburg’s name across the world. The greatest challenge facing the Rectorate and the university is the upcoming new round of the Excellence Initiative in the years 2016 and 2017, because it will have a long-term impact on the development of the alma mater.

Click here to see the rector’s new year’s address in full.