Careers Advisers from the Federal Employment Agency visit UBT

With glorious sunshine and spring-like temperatures of 18 degrees, the campus showed itself from its very best side to the 40 or so visitors. Participants travelled from the Employment Agencies of Amberg, Ansbach, Aschaffenburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Coburg, Fürth, Erlangen, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Schweinfurt, Schwandorf, and Würzburg.

Once a year, these careers advisers — officially known as “advisers for the transition to working life” — meet for a networking event at one of the region’s higher education institutions. They can expect a programme of talks about degree options and campus tours, which is put together jointly by the local Employment Agency and the University’s Central Student Advisory Service.

Following informal networking over coffee and cake, Professor Martin Huber, Vice President for Teaching and Students, welcomed the visitors as key multipliers for the University of Bayreuth. The University’s anniversary motto “Where Science meets Courage and Innovation” and the colour scheme of the new 50th anniversary logo set the tone for the presentations that followed.

Using the online degree finder tool and the degree programme website, Professor Jochen Koubek provided an overview of the University’s online information resources and highlighted the unique features of the Bayreuth bachelor’s programme “Media Studies and Practice”. In particular, the combination of academic study and practical project work in the fields of film, audio and computer games is a distinctive feature of this programme. The presentation also offered the opportunity to answer questions about internships and the aptitude assessment procedure.

The participants had also expressed interest in learning more about battery technology — a topic Professor Ralf Moos, one of the programme’s founding coordinators, was happy to address. He explained its significance in the context of the energy transition and the expansion of professorships through the Bavarian Hightech Agenda. In addition to the master’s programmes offered in Bayreuth and the career prospects they provide, Professor Moos also emphasised the relevance of the bachelor’s programmes in the natural and engineering sciences, the importance of independent learning, and the practical orientation of university studies.

Chegetai Choto, a student at the University of Bayreuth and a coach with the University Health Management team, led an “Active Break” session to get everyone moving and laughing — with participants gamely attempting the coordination exercise “Rabbit and Hunter” with varying degrees of success. Afterwards, everyone was refreshed and ready for the final presentation of the day.

This last talk provided an overview of the University’s range of supplementary study options, with a special focus on the interdisciplinary certificate programme in “Sustainability”. Professor Manuel Steinbauer highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of the University’s most popular certificate — from exploring the concept of sustainability from different academic perspectives in the introductory module to collaborative student projects involving participants from all faculties. For example, a project on upcycling abandoned bicycles may well raise legal issues.

During the lunch break, participants had the chance to try out the University’s main refectory and its “Frischraum” café. In the afternoon, three different tours were on offer: Ehsan Emamjomeh, MSc, demonstrated how battery production works in the laboratory at the BayBatt Cell Technology Centre. Even before its official opening, Professor Eva Spies and Dr. Malick Faye provided an insight into the new Africa Research Centre, while Paul Hadwiger offered a tour of the film studio housed in the same building. The Ecological-Botanical Garden — a site of research and teaching — was another highlight of the campus tours, with Dr. Marianne Lauerer leading the group.

The day concluded with an internal exchange session for the Employment Agency staff. Even during the event, initial contacts were made for further collaborative activities. Feedback from participants on the programme, the organisation, and the catering at the University of Bayreuth was consistently positive. The general consensus was that an in-person visit and on-site impressions are invaluable for careers guidance.

The organisers, Dr. Kristin Irrgang from the Bayreuth-Hof Higher Education Team and Andrea Kreuzer from the Central Student Advisory Service, concluded: The 2025 Northern Bavaria Careers Advisers’ Meeting was a rewarding event for both the University of Bayreuth and the staff of the Employment Agencies.