With a warm welcome from Prof. Claus Volkenandt, Deputy Academic Director of the WittenLab. Zukunftslabor Studium fundamentale, welcomed the first semester students: "We are delighted that you have found your way to Witten/Herdecke University."

The start of the semester began in the Audimax with an official welcome from the WittenLab Board of Directors. Afterwards, the traditional Market of Opportunities in the Great Hall offered an inspiring insight into the wide range of activities at our university.

At the WittenLab. stand, new students were able to find out about the Studium fundamentale and ask individual questions about events, applications and procedures.

But that was not all: from 11 a.m. onwards, numerous student initiatives showed how lively and committed the UW/H is. Whether regional or international, social, ecological or entrepreneurial - the spectrum is broad and ranges from AIAS, an initiative in the fight against blood cancer, to FUK, the student team behind the Family Business Congress, to Wanderful, a socio-educational hiking project that connects pupils and students on joint hikes abroad.

These and many other projects showed that there are countless ways at UW/H to get involved, think outside the box and shape society together.

The start of the semester was therefore not only a successful start to studies, but also an invitation to become part of the lively culture of initiatives at UW/H.

We wish all new students an inspired start and look forward to an engaging semester!