Bonn Study Support Program “Be strong!”
“Be strong!”, the first structured study support program to be offered at the University of Bonn, launched in winter semester 2025/26. The “Be strong!” program is highly diverse, covers all phases of a degree program and will help you to find your way around your studies, acquire and consolidate specialist and methodological skills, and build up your own personal resources.
It will provide you with comprehensive, tailored support throughout your entire time as a student at the University of Bonn, from initial guidance in your first academic year through to your successful graduation.
A program in three blocks
The program is divided into three central blocks that will support you in different ways:
Well-guided!
Helping you to reflect and focus on your choice of subject or prepare for a change of subject.
Fit for your subject!
Courses and materials to (further) develop your academic and subject-specific knowledge and expertise.
Be empowered!
A wide range of courses on time and self-management, coping with stress, mental health and more.
Needless to say, the program and all its activities and services are free to take part in.
Latest news
The study support program is currently in its pilot phase, so spaces are limited.
You will need to register if you would like to take part in the “Be strong!” study support program, which you can next do between March 16 and 27, 2026, inclusive. You will find all the relevant information in an email or below on our web page.
For any questions regarding the program that you would like to discuss beforehand, feel free to contact the office at bestrong@uni-bonn.de.
Semester program
“Be strong!” is currently in its pilot phase. We began in the winter semester with elements from the “Be empowered!” block: workshops, coaching and self-study activities to support you in your personal development and hone your skills for your studies and your future.
Summer semester 2026 will see us add the “Well-guided!” and “Fit for your subject!” blocks to the program, thus providing activities and services that will accompany you throughout your study journey. As well as guiding you and helping you to reflect on your study choices, you will also be supported with challenges and approaches relating to your subject and helped to (further) develop both subject-specific and interdisciplinary skills and personal resources.
You can pick the activities and services that best suit your individual needs, set your own priorities and get support or simply some suggestions for whatever you think will add value for yourself and your studies.
Well-guided!
The “Well-guided!” block is all about giving you insights into various degree programs and research fields, a varied selection of courses, and the opportunity for personal reflection and taking stock of your current situation. These courses and wide-ranging advisory and counseling services will help you to reflect and focus on your choice of subject and can help you prepare for a change of subject.
Fit for your subject!
From preliminary courses, bridging courses alongside your studies and interdisciplinary courses on the basics through to tailored additional services, the “Fit for your subject!” block contains courses and self-study activities to (further) develop your methodological and subject-specific skills and learn the fundamentals of your subject and techniques of academic working with the help of preliminary courses, courses on the basics and extra teaching.
Be empowered!
In the “Be empowered!” block, we offer you free workshops, coaching sessions and self-study activities to develop and improve your study skills, health, social interaction and planning for the future. These include time and self-management, learning strategies and exam preparation, all complemented by one-to-one advice. This will support and strengthen you as you build and expand your personal and interdisciplinary resources.
Recording attendance
For all University of Bonn students registered for the program, the office will record which workshops they have signed up for and confirm their attendance provided that they participated regularly and actively in the meetings. Certificates of attendance will generally be issued at the start of the new semester. For example, if you begin the study support program in winter semester 2025/26, we will issue your first certificate at the start of the following semester, i.e. summer 2026. You can also request a certificate of attendance from the office at other times if this is justified.
In the future, students are also expected to be able to count “Be strong!” courses toward their new degree program if the examination regulations permit.
In addition, the revision of the Higher Education Act of North Rhine-Westphalia (Hochschulgesetz, HG) is likely to allow an individual standard period of study to be extended under certain conditions, e.g. if additional interdisciplinary achievements are recorded. Assuming that the future legal regulation can be applied to the study support program, then an extension to the standard period of study for program participants from winter semester 2025/26 onward is expected to be possible retrospectively as well.
Contact
Dr. Anna Karin
Anna-Katharina Stelter