Tips for new students
Welcome to the University of Bayreuth! As a new student you can look forward to ideal study conditions that regularly achieve top marks in the official rankings. It’s not just careers that begin here, but also friendships. You will soon find your way around our friendly university. To make the start of your studies easier, we have compiled some tips and information on this site.
The most important information and tips
Be sure: You will soon know your bt user identification inside out! You will find it on the back of your University of Bayreuth Campus Card (bt...). With the bt user identification, you can authenticate yourself with all online services of the University, for example e-mail, VPN, intranet, e-learning, MyFiles etc..
All students at the University of Bayreuth receive a campus card. You can use it for many different services. Among other things, it serves as a ticket for public transport, as a library card, and for cashless payments in the Cafeteria. You will receive your Campus Card by post after successful enrolment. Before the start of each new semester, the card must be re-validated, for example in the Central University Administration building or the Central Library.
cmlife is your central point of contact for the administration of your studies. With your bt user ID and the password you have set, you can log in and register for courses and exams, create your timetable, or print out certificates. You can find an overview of the self-service functions for students on the homepage of the Student Administration Office. You can also log in here with your ID and password.
A manual and a help page on how to use cmlife are linked below. If you have general questions about cmlife, the Campus Management Office will be happy to help.
The e-Learning platform enables the virtual exchange of information and materials, and the handing in of submissions.
Also of interest: Students have the opportunity to take online courses from various providers. The examination board of your degree programme will decide on their crediting.
Information for first-time users and on coronavirus-related restrictions in the University Library and the departmental libraries can be found on the website of the Bayreuth University Library.
A lot of content is accessible electronically off campus for University members (incl. students), such as the comprehensive range of e-books, electronic journals, or databases. To further reduce the load on the VPN service, it is currently no longer necessary to activate a VPN client for library searches from off campus. Instructions for activating the Proxy Add-on in the Firefox browser can be found under this link.
Fancy learning a new language? The Sprachenzentrum at the University of Bayreuth makes it easy for you to take language courses to complement your studies. And the selection is impressive: from ancient languages such as Ancient Greek and Latin to world languages such as English, Spanish, or French, to rarely offered languages such as Bambara, Hausa, and Swahili.
Sometimes the abbreviations that are commonplace for senior students and University employees cause confusion for first-year students. When we talk about RW, AI, Geo, or GW, we are referring to the buildings on campus. To help you find your way around, we recommend that you take a look at the campus map. By the way, the map is printed in miniature on the back of your campus card!
Also good to know is that you will often find the abbreviation c.t., the so-called academic quarter hour, next to the course details. It indicates that the course scheduled for "6 p.m. c.t." does not start until 6:15 p.m.. The abbreviation s.t., on the other hand, stands for "sine tempore", meaning that the course scheduled for "18 s.t." actually starts at 6 pm.
UniNow makes it easy for you to organise your everyday university life. Whether it's e-mails, appointments, the cafeteria menu, or your current grades, you'll find everything clearly arranged and up-to-date in your app. UniNow has been certified by the TÜV technical inspection agency, and meets the recognised requirements for software quality in terms of functionality and data protection/data security. The campus app is available as a free Apple or Android version.
With Scrit, you receive important messages from the University of Bayreuth directly on your mobile phone, for example, if a storm will prevents you from attending classes. Messages via Scrit are sent to specific target groups. For you, this means no "spam", but only messages that really concern you.
Sitting in the sun on the Rondell, eating together in the Cafeteria, first-year events, pub crawls, and flat-warming parties – in Bayreuth there are many opportunities to take part in student life and meet new people. But you can also connect virtually:
As a digital alternative for social campus life, some students have set up a Discord server to exchange ideas and make new contacts in an informal way. Online events such as game nights, discussion groups, and other virtual campus culture take place regularly. University initiatives can also be reached via this channel. The offer is free and voluntary; a download is not necessary.
- Feel like getting involved? The University group Enactus Bayreuth e.V. has opened the Instagram account @hochschulgruppen_bayreuth, where many University groups introduce themselves. Take a look, find out about the various University initiatives, and get inspired by the sheer diversity of the University of Bayreuth!
As an internationally active university, we in Bayreuth are continuously working to improve the general conditions for everyone on campus. That's why we attach great importance to students actively participating in the opinion- and decision-making process. Of course, there are sometimes differences of opinion, but at the end of the day, constructive cooperation always prevails.
Maybe you would like to get involved in the Student Parliament (StuPa) or work on one of the faculty commissions. If you would like to find out more about StuPa or one of the working groups, the best thing to do is to get in touch with one of the Student Parliament contacts.
Student Advising will be happy to help you. You can find a lot of useful information under the heading "First-year students". The Student Administration Office has also compiled important information about starting your studies online for you.
You can also find the latest information from the IT Service Centre on the use of digital services and IT solutions at the University of Bayreuth.
Digital on campus
You can't be at the University of Bayreuth (yet)? No problem! Just click your way across campus virtually.