The robot seal ‘Paro’ is an electronic friend that supports therapeutic use against loneliness and feelings of loss in dementia patients. Apps provide information about clinical pictures. Digital games train the brain to fight forgetfulness: these are just a few examples of many new developments and possible areas of application for digital technologies in healthcare. "The question is always what we want from the technology," emphasised Dr Erik Norman Dzwiza-Ohlsen from the Husserl Archive at the University of Cologne in his lecture at the start of the project week "Digital Health – interdisciplinary challenges from international perspectives". It took place from 20 to 26 November in Cologne and Heidelberg.
We have collected impressions and results from the project week in various articles, interviews and pictures. Click here for the impressions.

On 12 December 2025, the popular event series studioA: Career Talk with Alumni took place. Under the title ‘Career prospects in media studies – paths and creative freedom’, the three alumni Ariane Böhm (rbb editor), Isabelle Gehle (team lead for internal communication) and Michael Jacobus Maas (freelance filmmaker and founder of Guerilla Brot) shared their professional experiences with MeWi students.
The former media studies students returned to the University of Siegen from Saarland, Sauerland and Berlin to provide insights into their careers and share their experiences on site at Herrengarten – the current location of the media studies department. In the almost two-hour discussion, they answered numerous questions from MeWi students on the topic of ‘Career opportunities in media studies’. Click here to read more.

The Alumni Project Week "Global Digital Health - Interdisciplinary Challenges from International Perspectives" is a collaborative initiative bringing together Research Alumni and local researchers from 6 German partner institutions (DKFZ, KIT, and the Universities of Cologne, Heidelberg, Münster, and Siegen) from 20 – 26 November 2025 in Cologne and Heidelberg.
The project week gathered together international research alumni and researchers from the six partner institutions and focused on the societal, developmental and global relevance of digital advances in disease prevention, diagnostics, medical care and therapy, biomedical informatics, ageing research, health policy and health education, together with their challenges and opportunities from a global perspective. Click here to read more.

Mert Erdoğan, who was born in the Siegerland region, is the founder of the start-up syntik gmbH. In his AI workshops, he not only teaches the basics of AI, but also shows medium-sized companies how they can benefit from the fair use of artificial intelligence. Click here to read more.

Starting a degree, finishing it quickly and embarking on your professional career – that is probably what most students want. It is not uncommon for friendships and memories to be forgotten and suppressed in the process – but not for alumni of the University of Siegen, because they remain loyal to their university even years later, as do the former students of the diploma programme in Media Planning, Development and Consulting, or M-PEB for short. Around 20 of them are returning to their former university to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the start of their studies together. Click here to read more.

It has been 50 years since they completed their studies at what was then the University of Siegen. In 1975, Christine Götzky, Werner Höfer, Hermann Soetebeer, Manfred Schartmann, Otto Wendland and others completed their business studies and have remained in contact ever since. They are among the approximately 4,000 first-year students who began their studies when the University of Siegen was founded in 1972 – even though, as Christine Götzky recalls, they did not perceive themselves as having a special ‘freshman role’ at the time. Click here to read more.

Mechanical engineering is one of the most popular subjects in Germany. According to Statista, around 80,000 students enrolled in this sought-after subject in the 2024/2025 winter semester. Dr Daniela Hein was ahead of her time. She decided to study mechanical engineering at the former University of Siegen back in 1995. She has been the managing director of the VDI Society for Product and Process Design since 2009. Click here to read more.

For the first time, the University of Siegen invited alumni who graduated or completed their doctorate in 2000 to a ‘silver jubilee celebration’. Over 100 graduates attended the reception in the Audimax on the Adolf-Reichwein-Straße campus and received their anniversary certificates from Rector Prof Dr Stefanie Reese.
Some alumni also took the opportunity to take part in the varied Open University programme the next day and to get to know the campus "Unteres Schloss" on a tour organised exclusively for them.
Click here to read more.

On 22.03.2025 we received the sad news that Prof. Dr. Neelakshi C. Premawardhena passed away suddenly. We are very saddened by this. Neelakshi Premawardhena completed her doctorate in German Studies/Linguistics from 1997 to 2001 at the University of Siegen under Prof. Dr. Burkhard Schaeder. She was Chair of Modern Languages and also headed the Centre for International Affairs at Kelaniya University in Sri Lanka.

Prof. Neelakshi Premawardhena was a tireless global ambassador for our university as an alumna of the University of Siegen in her role as Alumni Ambassador. Since 2013, we have held DAAD-funded Alumni Academies, which she has greatly enriched with her tireless efforts. The international alumni community at the University of Siegen has grown into a close-knit family. The professional and personal exchange with Neelakshi Premawardhena has always been very cordial, her friendliness, wisdom and creative ideas have always inspired us. We have lost a member of our family. Her death has hit us all hard and leaves a huge gap.

Dr. Susanne Padberg and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mathias Wirths
Click here for the news item.