Start of the semester and matriculation ceremony
New students are welcomed to the HTWD with the matriculation ceremony. There is also an extensive programme to get to know each other.
The welcome week for new students at the Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTWD) began on Monday.
More than 1,440 first-year students are starting their studies at HTW Dresden at the beginning of the semester. The first-semester students were welcomed at the beginning of the week in the Rundkino Dresden cinema with the official enrolment ceremony and welcomed into the university's academic community.
They were welcomed by the Rector, Professor Ingo Gestring, the Chairman of the HTWD University Council, Dr Hartmut Freitag, and Jan Pratzka, Mayor of Dresden. The Prime Minister of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, himself a graduate of the HTWD, sent a video message.
Studying, a journey
"Studying is like travelling. You have already bought your ticket - for a journey that will not only change you professionally, but also personally. On this journey, you will discover new things, make friends, sometimes take detours - and in the end, you will move on with a rucksack full of knowledge, experience and opportunities," said Professor Ingo Gestring in his matriculation speech.
Dresden is a good starting point for the journey, said Gestring. On the one hand, there are excellent study conditions here: "Our university is practical, manageable and at the same time excellently networked with business, research and society." Secondly, according to the Happy City Index 2025, Dresden is one of the most liveable cities in the world.
One university, many opportunities
In two rounds of talks, students and members of the university spoke about arriving at university and the many possibilities for organising student life.
Johanna Bernert, who has been studying Horticulture at HTWD since last year, advised the newly enrolled students: "Have the courage to ask. The people at the university are open and if you ask, you will always get help."
Chris Würzburg adds: "Independent learning is sometimes challenging, but it's also fun. However, there is much more to studying than just learning." The computer science student recommends that anyone who wants to meet new people outside of their degree programme should definitely take advantage of the university sports programme."
Nick Olomek has already travelled a lot during his studies at the HTWD. He encouraged everyone to go abroad and get to know new perspectives: "You have a lot of opportunities at the university. We have 150 partnerships in 50 countries. It's like a big travel catalogue."
"Learn and live!"
The programme was led by Hanna Liebrecht and Pepe Funk, who both studied at the HTWD. At the end of the programme, Pepe gave the first-year students the following advice: "These may be the best years of your life! There are many ways to make your studies special. Look left and right, get involved and be a part of HTWD. Learn and live."
The event was accompanied by music from the chamber orchestra without a conductor under the direction of Olaf Spieß. Rosanna Mensch (ROS4NNA) and Paul Veit as well as Pola Szymczak (POLA) and Marlene Böwe from the Dresden University of Music (HfM) also performed on stage. The students of the jazz class performed their self-composed pieces.
Honouring the best students
Every year, the university honours the best graduates from each Faculty of the previous year as part of the matriculation ceremony. Lukas Rammensee (Mechanical Engineering), Lea-Marie Kubicek (Spatial Information), Jenny Leuschner (Business Administration), Carolin Fischer (Civil Engineering), Anne Sven Ralf Meißner (Agriculture/Environment/Chemistry), Vasco Schwarze (Faculty of Informatics/Mathematics), Ruben Anders (Faculty of Electrical Engineering) and Leonie Vanessa Ulrich (Faculty of Design) were honoured. Paulus Tamm from the Faculty of Informatics/Mathematics received the HTW Dresden Sponsors' Association Award for outstanding academic achievement.
In addition, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) sponsorship prize was awarded to Thi Thu Ha Le from Vietnam as the best foreign student. She has been studying Media Informatics at HTWD since 2022.
Extensive programme to get to know each other
The matriculation ceremony marks the start of the induction week for first-semester students. For the following days, the Student Council (StuRa), the Student Advisory Service and the Faculties have prepared an extensive programme to get to know the university.
There are also numerous activities for the 130 international students starting at the university in the winter semester - from a barbecue and a city rally to a hike in Saxon Switzerland. The International Week is organised by Faranto e.V. and the International Office.
Further information can be found atwww.htw-dresden.de/ese
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