Review of the year 2024
Dear Members and Supporters of the University of Bayreuth,
Another eventful year has passed, and together we have helped to shape it with great commitment. This annual retrospective provides you with an overview of some of the important events and successes of the past year. It is a reflection of your performance and dedication – whether in the lecture halls, laboratories, offices, workshops, or on campus.
The University of Bayreuth continues to grow: the architectural competition for the faculty in Kulmbach has been judged, and the development of the site is currently being planned. Construction work on the Africa Research Centre is progressing (inauguration in May 2025). In addition, a new modular building for scientific research as part of the High-Tech Agenda was completed in record time.
The University of Bayreuth is becoming even ‘greener’: the focus is on sustainable construction measures such as replacing conventional lighting with LED lighting, and expanding bicycle parking with shelters and e-bike charging stations. Photovoltaic systems with a total output of around 2,700 kWp have been installed on the campus, covering an area of around 7,500 m² – larger than a football field. E-mobility is also being promoted: four new charging points are already available in car park P5, and a further ten, including four fast chargers, are already in the pipeline.
The University of Bayreuth is strengthening its internationality: in the winter semester 2024/25, around 17% of first-semester students came from abroad. We currently have around 25% international academic staff, and 15% of professorships are also held by international scholars. In research, the university is playing a leading role in the new Bavaria-Queensland Research Alliance. The University of Bayreuth also emphasises internationality in its degree programme marketing: with the study portal www.gamechanger-campus.de/en and global online marketing campaigns, the number of international applications rose from 4,705 to 5,563, and admissions from 1,252 to 1,388.
The scientific community at the University of Bayreuth celebrated numerous successes in 2024: With the founding of the AI research centre RAIS², a platform was created to network AI expertise across faculties. Third-party funded projects such as ‘GO Forschung!’ (€850,000 in federal funding), ‘Rhizotraits’ (€1.9 million in federal funding), ‘FORAnGen’ (€1.7 million from the Bavarian Research Foundation), and the historical-geomorphological project ‘X-Archives’ (over €538,400 from the Volkswagen Foundation) were successfully secured. In addition, the DFG is providing over five million euros in funding for a new joint research training group on polymer informatics at the Universities of Bayreuth and Jena. Further highlights include a new Heisenberg professorship, the admission of a researcher to the Emmy Noether Programme, and a Humboldt Science Scout Award. The Bavarian Center for Battery Technology (BayBatt) has also opened the BayBatt Cell Technology Center for the production of battery cells.
The University of Bayreuth remains a driver of innovation: the Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (IEI) is strengthening the University of Bayreuth's position as a partner to business and society with the Open Innovation Lab and six other technology labs. Start-ups and companies benefit from top-class expertise, which has led to an increase in the number of start-ups of over 20% in two years. The Game Innovation Lab was particularly successful, with 24 start-ups. Tech start-ups also increased thanks to funding programmes such as EXIST or FLÜGGE. With around 60 networking events in 2023/24, the IEI and the labs expanded their collaboration with over 20 regional companies.
None of these developments and successes would have been possible without your commitment. We thank you sincerely for your contribution, your creativity, and your passion, which is what characterizes our university. This also allows us as a university to look ahead to the challenges ahead with confidence.
One highlight in 2025 will be our 50th university anniversary. We will celebrate this milestone throughout the entire year with a wide range of events. Details will be available in the spring.
Now it is time for a short winter break. Enjoy the Christmas season and holidays with friends and family. We wish everyone happy holidays and a good rest and look forward to working with you in 2025.
Sincerely,
Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible, President
Dr. Nicole Kaiser, Provost
Roland Jakisch, Deputy Provost