Extracurricular activities and leisure time

Cafés and meeting points on campus:

If you need a place to meet with a friend, take a break from classes or work on your assignments, you can go to one of the cafés on campus: the Bistro (in the canteen building, on the ground floor), the Campus Café (in the church building, next to the R-building), or the café run by students in the R-building (on the ground floor). The Bistro offers warm drinks, sandwiches and some snacks. It can get quite busy at lunch time. The café of the campus church offers one warm lunch dish, as well as sandwiches and other cold snacks, café and other warm and cold drinks. This is definitely a more quiet spot on campus. Finally, the students' café in the R-building is a small, cozy café where you can relax on the couches and meet with friends. It offers warm and cold drinks, as well as a small assortment of snacks.

Students' initiatives:

At the University of Vechta there is a range of different students initiatives: the UniChor (University choir), the queer group, the debate club, the christian group of the university, InterMento (mentoring programme for international students) and much more. These initiatives are organized by students and take place regularly. The organisers often distribute flyers in the canteen and other places to inform about their next meetings and events. 

Church on campus:

The church on campus is an ecumenical community centre hosted on the University premises. It is located directly next to the R-building on campus. The church on campus organizes various events and meetings during the semester, as well as regular community meetings in the evening. If you are interested, you can visit its website. As already mentioned, the church also has a café that offers cold snacks, sandwiches, but also a warm lunch dish.

AStA (Students' representatives):

The General Students Committee of the University of Vechta (Allgemeiner Student*innenausschuss der Universität - AStA) is the main representative body of the University of Vechta. If you have an issue you wish to discuss with the AStA representatives, you can do so during their consultation hours, which are offered on a regular basis, concerning the different services of the University: the bike workshop, legal counselling, finances, etc. You can find the AStA representatives in the R-building. On the AStA homepage you can find a calender with the consultation hours/days for the ongoing semester. 

PhD students representatives:

PhD students also have their own representatives (Promovierendevertretung- PV). Among other things, the PV organizes regular network meetings for PhD students. For more information, you can visit the homepage of the PV or contact them directly via email. The current full time representatives are: Vanessa Pieper for Faculty I, Maria Klatte for Faculty II and Heidi Zacheja for Faculty III.

Other social events:

Furthermore, the various students' councils, the AStA, the International Office (see their event calendar) and the student initiatives organize several events and parties like barbecues, karaoke nights, flea markets, and so forth. Information on these events are usually available on the flyers distributed in the canteen, and via the email newsletters of the various groups. Events that are offered on a regular basis are: Uni-parties on Wednesdays (the location changes every week), the Unikino (movies in original language, usually screened at the University on a weekly basis during the semester) and the Campusfest in the summer semester.  

Give-away cupboard and fridge:

The students of the University of Vechta advocate for a more sustainable society. Hence, they have organized a give-away fridge in the student-run café. There, you can leave food that you are not able to consume yourself, or get yourself something to eat. Moreover, you can find a give-away cupboard in the R-building, close to the entrance. You can donate various objects and clothing that you don't use anymore or find something for yourself and take it home for free. 

The University of Vechta offers each semester a variegate sport programme. All members of the University have access to all sport courses for free, except for the fitness studio, the indoor-cycling class and a few other special courses. If you are not a member of the University, you can get access to the sport programme of the University as an external user (please check the information below on this page). In general, you can attend any course at any given time, with the exception of courses with limited available places (please see the programme and the updates available at the Hochschulsport page).

If the course you are interested in has a limited availability of places, you will have to sign up for the course in advance in the lists available in the S-building (the lists are pinned on the board next to room S013, in the S-building). You will have to do this every week, i.e. each week you have to register for the same course anew.

The updated programme and the leaflet with further information on the courses, as well as the map of the classrooms, are available on the website of the Centre for Hochschulsport. On this website you will also find updated information on possible changes and cancellations in the programme. Moreover, you can also consult the facebook page of the Centre for Hochschulssport, where you can also find the last updates on the various courses.

Using the fitness studio

If you are interested in using the University's fitness studio, you will have to pay an extra fee. First of all, you need to attend an introductory class. The timetable for the introductory classes is available online. You need to sign up for the class as explained above, in the corresponding list (at the entrance of the fitness studio), in the S-building. The introductory class costs 5,00€, which you will need to pay in cash directly at the beginning of the class. After successfully participating to the introductory class, you will get a confirmation of attendance. You will then need to bring this confirmation, as well as the fees for the fitness studio and a pass photo, to the office of the Hochschulsport (please check the opening hours here), in order to receive a fitness studio ID. The semester fees amount to 15,00€ for members of the University. The fitness ID has to be extended every semester upon payment of the semester fee.

The sport programme for external users

Even if you are not a member of the University, you may take part in the sport courses of the University as an external user, by paying a fee and applying for a membership card. In order to do so, you need to fill in the form available online, turn it in at the Hochschulsport office and pay the due fee. The fees amount to 15,00€ (12,00€ if you have right to a fee discount). By paying this fee, you will get access to all courses except for the already mentioned indoor-cycling, fitness studio, and other special courses. You can find further information here.

The fitness studio can also be used by non-members of the University. Even as an external user, you need to take part to the introductory class. The timetable for the introductory classes is available online. You need to sign up for the class as explained above, in the corresponding list (at the entrance of the fitness studio), in the S-building. The introductory class costs 5,00€, which you will have to pay in cash directly at the beginning of the class. After successfully participating to the introductory class, you will get a confirmation of attendance. You will then need to bring this confirmation, as well as the fees for the fitness studio and a pass photo, to the office of the Hochschulsport (please check the opening hours here), in order to receive a fitness studio ID (for external users). The semester fees amount to 25,00€ (20,00€ if you have right to a discount) per semester for non-members of the University. The fitness ID has to be extended every semester upon payment of the semester fee.

During to the current corona pandemic, the use of university sports and the fitness studio is currently not possible for external users.