Jena/Erfurt (dpa/th) - The first-year students in the winter semester that has just started were welcomed with a ceremony at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. According to the information provided, more than 3,600 young people started studying at Thuringia's largest university this fall, around 240 fewer than last year. The speech for the new students on Friday was given by the co-founder of the Russian human rights organization Memorial, Irina Scherbakova, who is a visiting professor at the university. The organization, which was dissolved in Russia on the instructions of the local authorities, will receive the Nobel Peace Prize this year.
A total of 17,300 students are now enrolled at Jena University, including 2,500 from abroad. After the corona-related restrictions, the proportion of international students at 14.5 percent is again approaching the level before the pandemic, it said. Among the foreign students are 90 from Ukraine and 100 from Russia.
Around 980 young people have started university education at the University of Erfurt. 148 of the first-year students come from abroad, as the university announced on Friday with a total of around 6100 students. The coveted bachelor’s degree programs in English, German and educational sciences are particularly in demand for freshers, it said. Communication sciences and psychology were named as favorites for the master’s degree programs.
