New academic year begins at the University of the Arts Bremen

On 5 October, the University of the Arts Bremen held a ceremony to mark the opening of the 2026/27 winter semester. Rector Prof. Dr Mirjam Boggasch welcomed 212 new students during the semester welcome event at the gallery on the Dechanatstraße campus. Slightly more than half of the new students are enrolled in the Faculty of Art and Design. The remaining first-semester students have chosen a music programme. In total, over 1,000 musicians and artists from 65 countries are enrolled at the University of the Arts Bremen. About two-thirds of all students belong to the Faculty of Art and Design. In the current winter semester, 195 lecturers are teaching at the University of the Arts Bremen, including 56 professors. Additional vacant professorships are to be filled over the course of the semester.

Three new female professors were appointed effect from 1 October; they will enrich teaching at the HfK Bremen with their expertise and extensive experience. In the Faculty of Art and Design, Prof. Patricia Fernández Carcedo (painting) and Prof. Kerstin Hille (drawing) took up their positions, while Prof. Mayumi Kanagawa assumed the professorship in violin in the Faculty of Music.

According to Prof. Dr Mirjam Boggasch, Rector of the HfK Bremen, it is first and foremost ‘the students who – each with their own strengths, abilities and interests, as well as their backgrounds, cultures and worldviews – together shape the HfK into a place of vibrant and inspiring diversity, while also strengthening it’.

More than 500 of them have come here to Bremen to study at the HfK as international students: ‘I am impressed by the international character of our student body every semester anew,’ said the Rector.

Birte Skrzypczak from the Office for Equal Opportunity and Gender Equality, as well as the two Vice-Rectors, Prof. Alexander Sahoo and Prof. Kilian Schwoon, also introduced themselves at the welcome event, as did the Students’ Union (AStA), which, as part of Welcome Week, invited students to various events – such as an International Brunch, a city tour and the Opening Party – designed to foster interaction and exchange among the new students.

This year’s DAAD Prize winner, Colma Ní Bhriain (violin, KPA-IGP master’s programme), provided the musical performance together with pianist Jiyun Yeon. Following the performance, Ní Bhriain was presented with the DAAD Prize. The citation was given by Prof. Dr Florian Edler, Dean of the Faculty of Music.

In addition, 16 international students were honoured for their outstanding academic achievements as part of the STIBET programme. From the Faculty of Music, Seungmin Baek, Yi-Chi Chan, Yein Kim, Zofia Momot, Mauro Facundo Ortega, Monica Sanguedolce, Mayu Takahashi and Jintao Zhu were honoured, along with eight other students from the Fine Arts programme. These include Mojtaba Akbari, Alvin Sihle Inensiko, Yoonyeong Lee, Marina Marcomini, Julia Ribeiro Moretti, Nahal Davari, Jamie Yzabel Santos and Wei Nie.
The official semester kickoff also marked the start of Welcome Week, during which first-semester students attended additional introductory events in their respective programmes – Fine Arts, Integrated Design, Digital Media and Music – and got to know the university and their fellow students.