We welcome all new students at the University of Bonn! As the University IT and Data Center (HRZ) of the university, we manage the central IT services, which you can access through your studies.  To make sure that the first weeks run smoothly, we have created a checklist of the most important services that will help you to find your way around Uni Bonn: Activate your Uni-ID on gosa.gosa.uni-bonn.de, to use all digital services of the university: Your Uni-ID is your unique user name and among others it offers you access to the semester ticket and your lecture and exam registrations. Download the Uni-Bonn app, to always have your student ID, the semester ticket, the library card and the cantine menus on hand. Set up your email account to conveniently receive your mails on your smartphone and laptop. Configure Eduroam and VPN to access wifi across the campus and to read all academic journals. Create a Sciebo account at hochschulcloud.nrw to be able to manage your data in the university cloud. Besides all of these essential services, we offer other services that might be helpful to your studies.

The eCampus team is offering a wide range of webinars to support teachers and students with digital teaching in the 2025/26 winter term. You can review the training program in Confluence (accessible only via BONNET/VPN). The registration process can be done directly via eCampus.   »  See the training program on eCampus (for teachers and staff) » See the training program in the eCampus Confluence Space (for teachers and staff)     Program for studentsThere will also be eCampus introductions for new students: » See the training offer on eCampus (for students)  

Each semester IT classes are offered in the HRZ course room.  The teachers of the HRZ are looking forward to your registration for the following classes via eCampus in the winter semester 2025/ 2026: Attention: All classes are held in German, the HPC classes are held in English! Registration starting 01. September 2025: Key Competences for Historians Registration starting 15 October 2025: MS Excel I - Basic Knowledge Editing pictures using GIMP Registration starting 01. December 2025: MS Excel II - Advanced Basics of 3D printing techniques HPC

Once again the HPC team of the University IT an Data Center offers a variety of introduction classes and workshops around the topic of high performance computing. Please note: All HPC classes will be held in English! The programme for for the HPC classes in the winter semester 2025/ 2026 will be as follows: Introduction to Programming with Python10.11.2025 - 11.11.2025 15:00 - 18.30 on each day or 19.01.2026 - 20.01.2026 09:30 - 13.00 on each day or 23.02.2026 - 24.02.2026 15:00 - 18.30 on each day Linux Introduction Course03.11.2025 - 04.11.2025 09:30 - 13:00 on each day or 12.01.2026 - 13.01.2026 13:00 - 16:30 on each day Introduction to Working on HPC Clusters05.11.2025 - 06.11.2025, 09:30 - 13:00 on each day or 14.01.2026 - 15.01.2026,13:00 - 16:30 on each day Version Control with Git12.11.2025 - 13.11.2025, 13:00 - 16:30 on each day or 21.01.2026 - 22.01.2026, 09:30 - 13:00 on each day Python on HPC Clusters02.02.2026 - 03.02.2026 15.00 - 18.30 on each day Building a Raspberry Pi ClusterFriday, November 7, 2025 09:00 - 17:00 Introduction to Programming with R09.02.2026 - 10.02.2026 13:00 - 16:30 on each day All classes will take place at the University IT and Data Center, Wegelerstr. 6, Room 0.012.Registrations is done via eCampus. Please note this when registrating: For ALL classes on eCampus you HAVE TO join one of the groups to participate in the class. This is because most classes take place more than once and depending on the demand, more classes might be added.  As in every other year, the HRZ also offers other IT classes this winter semester. 

For the first time, on 11 September 2025, new administrators from different departments and institutes met at the HRZ for an exchange. After a short introduction, the different departments of the HRZ introduced themselves and discussed the expectations and experiences of the participants regarding the work of an admin.  After the tour through the machine rooms of the HRZ and the high performance computer Marvin, the new administrators had the opportunity to chat with the IT-security officer, the data security officer and the Digital Science Center (DiCe).  The goal was to establish another line of discussion between the decentralised IT-administrators and the University IT and Data Center. An endeavour that was, as all participants agree, successful.

The University of Bonn is celebrating the very successful completion of the Atlassian project, which has significantly advanced digital collaboration throughout the university. Since January 2020, the Atlassian collaboration tools Confluence (wiki), Jira (task management) and Bitbucket (software development) have been widely available to employees. The aim of the strategically important project is to establish the Atlassian tools as a central virtual collaboration platform. These digital tools are designed to suit the working reality of employees. The ‘Functions in practice’ simplify a number of work processes:  Sharing knowledge: Sharing information with colleagues from your department or the whole university and working collaboratively on shared knowledge Writing in teams: Working simultaneously with colleagues from different departments on a text, a report or protocol Coding in teams: Versioned work on and sharing of programming code Organizing tasks: Managing tasks, working together on a process and keeping track of who has assigned which task Organizing projects: Keeping track of information on project progress Organizing teams: Organizing a digital space for collaboration with your team blogging @UBonn: Providing information about news within the team or across the university Under the management of the University IT and Data Center (HRZ), the project, which originally emerged from various wiki initiatives in 2017 and started as a DiCe project in 2020, was effectively implemented by the Atlassian Tools team. Following the successful launch, the Atlassian tools have been running in stable operations since 2023.  Numerous other institutions at the University of Bonn were actively involved in the ongoing development of Atlassian tools. The university administration has also developed a service portal based on the Confluence infrastructure. Long-term support structures at the HRZ ensure the operation, further development and comprehensive support of the users. This includes conceptual training and virtual consultation hours. In May 2025, the project was officially and successfully completed by the DiCe Executive Board. With the update in August 2025, the Confluence landing page of the University of Bonn will also receive a new intuitive structure that will support all employees even better in sharing knowledge, writing and coding together, administering tasks, blogging internally and organizing projects and teams.

On 1 August, our team was joined by two new trainees: Marek Stolz and Florian Katzenski began their training as IT specialists for system integration at the University Computer and Data Center. Over the next three years, they will work in all departments of the HRZ and get to know all the services we offer. ‘I chose the HRZ because here you come into contact with so many different departments, such as server and network departments, all under one roof,’ emphasises Florian. Marek adds: ‘I am very interested in the size of the HRZ and its infrastructure. In addition, the HRZ is a very experienced training company.’ Both are looking forward to the next three years and the experiences they will gain here. ‘We are very happy to have the new trainees,’ says Karin Ahorner, head of the HRZ training programme. ‘They will be welcomed in all departments and will learn everything they need to know in a forward-looking profession so that they can later work in an interesting IT position.’ Maybe even at the HRZ?

As announced in the circular on 24.07.25, the University of Bonn works actively to heighten cybersecurity for our electronic services. As announced in the fall of 2024, the University will be introducing multi-factor authentication (MFA) when logging in via Uni-ID, among other measures. The MFA rollout is being coordinated within the framework of a DiCe project, and has been agreed with the central committees and bodies. All University employees will receive a Yubikey security key as second factor in a phased rollout process. Students are not affected by the change at this time. Why use MFA? The Uni-ID is used as access credential for a wide range of electronic services which in many cases involve the accessing of personal data or sensitive IT infrastructure processes. For certain services, password-only security is insufficient, as passwords are often reused and easily stolen and crackable. MFA is also an important criterion for fulfilling requirements under the BSI-Grundschutz basic security standard, which all universities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia have agreed to uphold.  Instructions and support For help see the University IT documentation on Confluence or contact the University IT MFA support desk by email at mfa-support@uni-bonn.de for assistance on any issues concerning multi-factor authentication for Uni-ID login. The available instructions and support will ensure that you can get back to work as quickly as possible after encountering any problems, such as a lost or broken Yubikey occurring on a business trip. What do you have to do? The use of security keys (Yubikeys) is mandatory for all employees. A hardware security key was chosen because it offers greater security than software-based solutions, due to being physically separate from the user device. These keys protect against phishing attacks and allow secure storage of sensitive data.  Depending on your organizational unit, you will receive your personal Yubikey either from University IT directly or from a local distribution point. You will be informed by email to your University of Bonn email address of your distribution point and when your Yubikey is available for pickup.  The key can be used on any user device. We recommend carrying it on your work keychain so you have it with you at all times. Please make sure to not leave your Yubikey anywhere unattended. Upon ending employment at the University of Bonn, the Yubikey must be returned to the distribution point.