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Communications and Marketing

20 x 20 characters: About tobacco smoke and drum music

Over time, every university member has surely had any number of formative experiences, including pleasant and less pleasant incidents, odd, funny, sad or surprising things. In the following, you will find a selection of the submissions we have gathered to date.

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1. How H-BRS advances research in the area of Visual Computing

“When we set out to buy the first flat screen for H-BRS, a two-page explanation was requested. The written explanation required to procure a letter opener was not much shorter. A lot of things have happened since then, and I would like to point out that we have always found solutions over all those years. This is why we are now establishing an Institute of Visual Computing that is recognised far beyond the region’s borders.”

Rainer Herpers

2. The first immersion square

"Rainer Herpers’ programming for his immersion square was finished, but there was nothing to project it to. It couldn’t simply be bought off the peg, either. Then an idea crossed our minds: bed sheets as canvases – but they had to be large and all flat. Hence, the professor’s wife and the press officer sewed and ironed bed sheets in the name of science, thus paving the way for visual computing.”

Eva Tritschler

3. The email that caused me to question my studies

"Why should I accept your paper being spat at me like that?” the email said. "Ever thought of getting yourself a new job? [...] At best one in which you have nothing to do with other people.” Those were my professor’s words. - Goodbye university, I had a good time! Later on I learned that my professor had just been kidding. I had sent him an academic paper as an attachment to an empty email. This has never happened to me since.”

Anna Tipping

4. Kölsch beer from the barrel

"When I enrolled in our university in 2000, I was very impressed by the following: rather than a bad-tempered porter, there were friendly ladies at the reception desk, all walls and floors were spotlessly clean, and in the dining hall we had Kölsch beer from the barrel! I came from a university and had never seen anything like that at any other higher education establishment.”

Michael Krzeminski

P.S.: "However, at the start of the semester it was impossible to see one’s hands in front of one’s face due to all the tobacco smoke in Hochschulstraße – that would be inconceivable today.”

5. Mile stone

"Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University will always be a special mile stone in my life. In 2013, I acquired my Bachelor’s degree there. What I remember best is my integrated study semester abroad. Even though I had decided to leave Germany at short notice, I received full support from the university, which meant that I was sitting on board an aeroplane to Australia only six weeks later. Let me take this opportunity to thank you for this wonderful experience.”

Christina Zink

6. Personal bonding

"It is impressive to see how approachable a university can be. The professors know their students by name. And even in the Registrar’s Office students are often welcomed with joy and called by their names. This personal bond with the university, which often remains several years after the students have graduated – I obtained my degree (Diplom) at Sankt Augustin Campus in 2004 – is simply enjoyable. The state-of-the-art equipment and the way each student’s individual needs are catered for are something that I have not yet experienced at any other state university. It was a special privilege for me to have the opportunity to complete my main studies at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University.”

Roman Kurowiak

7. Practical periods

"Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University is super. The General Students’ Committee (AStA) organises some great events. In addition, many practical periods are included in the curriculums, which led to me finding a fantastic job before I had even completed my studies. Thank you for the good time!”

Annette Mocny

8. Work-experience oriented

"I have always considered the work-experience-oriented moments to be personal highlights in the tuition we receive. These include the ‘Rube Goldberg’ machine or a bridge-building competition as well as the project management exercises based on group dynamics and the discussions on findings from evaluations that we have with other students.”

Dirk Reith

9. Excellent mentoring

"I’m impressed by how much the university staff do for their PhD students: scholarships, great further education modules and excellent mentoring.”

Andreas Krämer

10. Together you are less alone

"As a professor I often sit at my desk alone. Basically, this is okay. However, I very much enjoy looking back on activities with colleagues, such as the basic course on university didactics, which I took part in with profs from other departments, or the summer schools held in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013 in Espoo, Amsterdam and Valencia with students and profs from computer science, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. There were also the finals in the 2009 and 2011 contests carried out by the Stifterverband. And next year …?”

Marco Winzker

11. The way towards the goal

"If there is something I want, then I will find a way. If there is something I do not want, then I will find reasons.”

Hans Stender

12. My time at H-BRS

A frozen lake and a sun deck
German rail and a cycle track
From early morning till late at night
In between a lot of ploughing and delight
Theory and practice finally combined
Labour law through to accounting assigned
At the end one’s own path in sight
Three years behind – is that really right?
I love going back in time -
I’m happy to have studied at this university near the Rhine.

Daniel Creuzberg

13. Learning how to lead using drum music – that’s what things were like in the past

"We were standing in the middle of the lecture hall, with no shoes on – to get a better feel for the earth, as the lecturer said. Loud African music, rich in stressed beats, resonated through the room. Confusion and helplessness mingled with emerging reluctance. Had we made the right decision by enrolling in this newly established university that was considered particularly close to the world of work? “Move through the room to the beat!” the lecturer shouted. “Move to the beat towards your counterpart! Lead him using music! Try to ‘push’  him through the room in such a way as to make him follow your instructions - make him move to the place to which you direct him!”

Thank you to the university’s senior management for always following their students’ advice: The lecturer did not return the next semester.

Ulrike Kessler, first-semester student in 2000

Provide us with your characters! We are gathering your impressions, reminiscences and experiences with our university throughout the whole year 2015. Please send your email to eva.tritschler@h-brs.de