Freshman Welcome Event 2024 at the TUM Research Campus in Garching

A Celebration of Joy and Thirst for Knowledge

That’s exactly what Georgia Kehagias from Australia and Paula Lorente from Spain are doing. Georgia was already in Germany five years ago as an exchange student, and now she’s studying environmental engineering at TUM. Climate protection is especially important to her. In her Australian hometown by the beach, she has seen how the sea has changed since her childhood.

Georgia and Paula have known each other for just a week, and they’ve already become friends at TUM. Paula chose to study Management and Technology after hearing that Munich is often considered the most attractive city in Germany. So far, she couldn’t agree more.

Ziqi Chen hails from Ningbo, a bustling city of 10 million people in China, and is passionate about applied mathematics. “TUM is the perfect place to connect mathematics with technology,” he says. Ziqi is celebrating the start of the semester alongside Jonas Böttcher, a 35-year-old Bavarian who earned his high school diploma at night school after a career in medical technology. Now, Jonas is studying geosciences at TUM. “The subject just hooked me!” he exclaims.

Lina Debyan from Egypt, Maria Nash from Brazil, and Ana Mariá Sánchez from Spain bonded over their shared passion for chemistry. Their degree program, Chemical Engineering, blends chemistry with mathematics and engineering. “I absolutely love this combination,” Lina says, whose brother and sister are also studying at TUM.

Maria had only heard stories about Munich from her parents, who lived here years ago. “The city is amazing!” she says. And Ana still can’t believe that she’s standing on the TUM campus, about to begin her studies. “I come from a working-class family. I’m the first woman in my family to ever go to university,” she says excitedly. Her parents are incredibly proud of her.

Their interest in astrophysics is what drew Leo Köster from Switzerland and Beat Löffler from Munich to TUM. Both are pursuing a bachelor’s degree in physics, and may later specialize in astrophysics – or perhaps they’ll venture into a completely different field. They’re keeping their options open.

Luisa Mendonca and Celestine Fröhlich are studying health sciences at the new sports campus at the Olympic Park. “The building is amazing,” says Luisa, who is from Munich. Celestine, from Nuremberg, came to TUM via a detour through Cologne. “What I love about this program is that it combines medicine and psychology, with a strong focus on prevention. Usually, health sciences tend to focus more on management.”

Syed Farhad Al Shah is starting his studies in Technology of Biogenic Resources at the TUM Campus in Straubing. Together with Muhammad Junaid, he moved from Pakistan to Bavaria. The two childhood friends are determined to learn as much as possible so that they can improve conditions in their home country with their knowledge. “Sustainability is so highly valued in Germany,” says Muhammad, “and I think that’s fantastic.”

Four friends from South Korea have also made the journey to Bavaria. As exchange students, Juhoon Suklea (Computer Science), Hyeonj Kim (Architecture), Seungyeon Huh (Life Science), and Jaemin Kim (Management) will spend the winter semester at TUM before returning to Korea University. One thing they already know for sure: they’ll never forget Bavarian beer.