It is designed to strengthen students throughout their time at the University, right up to their successful graduation, while also helping them to develop as individuals. The program is made up of three blocks:
1. Study orientation (“Well-guided!”)
2. Developing specialist and methodological skills (“Fit for your subject!”) and
3. Building up personal resources (“Be empowered!”)
When the pilot was launched in winter semester 2025/26, it was mainly courses from the “Be empowered!” block that were offered initially, with courses from the other two being added gradually. With the full rollout in time for the upcoming winter semester, a wide range of options is now available in all three blocks—more than 100 in total. “We made intensive use of the pilot phase in order to come up with an innovative offering for ‘Be strong!’,” explains Dr. Anna Karin, head of the office set up for the program.
Tailored to students’ needs
Courses that have already proven successful during the pilot are now to become firm fixtures, such as one in the Faculty of Medicine that readies students for their anatomy courses with donated organs. Others are set to debut in the winter semester, including a coding tutorial courtesy of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. This will teach participants to write their own computer programs in a modern, easy-to-understand language so that they will be able to tackle their own coding projects and/or supplement content from their degree program with digital aids that they have created themselves. “Students have been closely involved in the development of ‘Be strong!’ right from day one, which has enabled us to tailor the offering precisely to their needs,” Karin says.
“As well as giving our students the best possible support in the subject they’re actually studying, we also want to improve their resilience, their motivation and their self-management,” adds Professor Klaus Sandmann, Vice Rector for Teaching, Learning and University Development. “In so doing, we’re creating the ideal environment for satisfied students embarking on successful studies. With ‘Be strong!’, we’re giving teaching and learning at our University a powerful and lasting boost. This is an important objective, and one that we’ve also included in our Excellence Strategy.”
From study orientation through to a successful conclusion
Rather than focusing exclusively on a student’s early days, “Be strong!” deliberately considers their entire time at the University, from finding their feet in their first semester through to graduating with flying colors. “We’re seeing that students have vastly different needs depending on their personality, their interests and where they are in their degree program,” reports the program’s coordinator Anna-Katharina Stelter. She is keen for “Be strong!” to focus on students’ strengths: “It’s about helping students to overcome challenges with confidence while unleashing their full potential.”
The program is a joint project by University management, its faculties, the Bonn Center for Teacher Education and central service units such as the Central Study Advisory and Counseling Service, the Career Service and Healthy Campus Bonn as well as the University Gender Equality Commissioner. It is based in Division 9—Studying, Teaching, Academic Planning within Central Administration.
Registering and signing up: Anyone who is interested can register for “Be strong!” via the BASIS study portal at any time. They will also need to use BASIS to sign up for the individual courses by the relevant deadlines.