Achieved something valuable

To the theme song of the television series *Game of Thrones*—as well as the rest of the evening’s music, performed by the university orchestra under the direction of Udo Sutter —the graduates of the summer semester of 2025 and the winter semester of 2025/26 made their way into the Oberrheinhalle for their graduation ceremony. After a brief stop for a group photo, they made their way to their seats in the hall, where numerous friends and family members were already waiting. Kai Wißmann, who hosted the event, then invited Rector Prof. Dr. Stephan Trahasch onto the stage, who welcomed the graduating students and wished them continued optimism for the future. “In addition to knowledge, you have gained something during your studies that cannot be measured in credit hours,” he explained, “Experience. Self-confidence. And the ability to deal with uncertainty. Because let’s be honest: A college education is not a straight path. And that is exactly what makes it so valuable.” The Rector added that the commitment and creativity the graduates had demonstrated for the university community were also invaluable. He singled out two groups in particular: first, the 16 doctoral graduates, who had achieved extraordinary feats and taken on responsibility for knowledge, progress, and the future. This achievement is also a strong testament to the University’s research strength. Second, the rector thanked the international students for their openness and courage in pursuing their studies in another country: “Because without them, our campus would be significantly quieter, significantly less diverse, and probably just a little bit more boring.” This internationalization, which will be further promoted by the European university alliance ChallengeEU—founded in 2025—will continue to shape the University in the coming years.

The subsequent discussion between Prof. Dr. Tobias Hagen, prorector for internationalization, and Deepti Tyagig and Melak Derese Kassu illustrated what this might entail. During the discussion, the Indian and Ethiopian alumni described their time at Hochschule Offenburg and the valuable experiences they are now taking back to their home countries along with their degrees.

In the subsequent interview with graduate Leandro Hippel, alumni Alexandra Huber (now at ipa-Fraunhofer) and Christian Feißt (now at Sinusquadrat) made it clear just how valuable a degree from Hochschule Offenburg can be for one’s future career and what they wish they had known sooner.

Afterward, graduates Paula Barrakling and Hannes Link invited professors Sabine Hirtes, Elke Mackensen, Julia Roederer, and Thomas Seifert onto the stage for an interactive quiz: They were asked to guess how the majority of the graduates had just answered multiple-choice questions such as “What helped you the most during your studies?”, “Where did you spend the most time on campus?” or “What will you miss the least?” It turned out that all four knew their students very well; three of them even ended up with the same score. Some of the answers were further highlighted by the following film, in which the graduates humorously looked back on their student lives.

And in her commencement speech, graduate Tiziana Bohlinger also looked back on student life, which for many began during a very special time—the COVID-19 pandemic. But the graduates had not only overcome the associated hurdles—such as online lectures, proof of vaccination, and a lack of social contact—but also numerous exams, figuring out how to get a burger in the university cafeteria, and finding the emergency exit in the physics lab. And now? “This degree opens more doors than we’ve ever had before. We just have to walk through them and make the most of it,” explained Tiziana Bohlinger, expressing her gratitude to the lecturers. And with precisely the optimism for the future that the president had wished for the graduates, she added: “Because maybe we don’t have the perfect plan, but we’ve gained confidence in ourselves. And even if there are obstacles in our path, we’ll clear them out of the way, too.”

Statistics

The four departments, the Graduate School, and the Graduate Academy graduated 757 students, more than a third of whom were women. 466 students completed a bachelor's program and 275 a master's program, including 75 students who had completed an international master's degree at the Graduate School. In addition, 16 students completed a collaborative doctoral program with the support of the Graduate Academy.  The Department of Economics had the most graduates, with 252, followed by the Departments of Maschinenbau and Process Engineering (180), Electrical Engineering, Medical Engineering and Computer Science, as well as Media (both 151). Seven students completed the interdisciplinary Applied Research master's degree program.