RWTH Cancels Events

Rectorate adopts package of measures. Kinderuni, Career Day, and Welcome Week cannot be offered.

 

Due to the continuing spread of the coronavirus and in line with the recommendations of the responsible authorities, RWTH Aachen University has now been forced to implement further measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and, if possible, to relieve the health care system. In coordination with the General Students' Committee (AStA), the Rectorate decided to cancel all non-essential events. All events with more than 1,000 participants must be canceled. Events with fewer than 1,000 participants must be schematically assessed for risks, the result being the crucial factor in determining whether an event can take place. To help the RWTH community with this analysis, the University is providing a special form.

According to these criteria, the Kinderuni on March 27, the Career Day on March 31, and the Welcome Week for International Students, which was to begin March 30, cannot be offered, among others. The University’s first event planned for its 150th anniversary year on March 13 in Berlin titled “The New Fiction of Good Science - in Need of a Paradigm Shift?!” was also canceled as a precaution.

In coordination with the student body, it was also decided to close all study and reading rooms as well as the University Sports Center as of March 14. This should help students prepare for the new situation. These measures are based on the recommendations of the German Federal Ministry of Health and the Robert Koch Institute as well as the regulations of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Crisis Management Team of the Städteregion Aachen.

“The Rectorate is aware that these measures will lead to restrictions in university life. However, we consider these steps necessary and ask for understanding and support. We are, of course, in continued constructive dialog with the staff representatives", explains RWTH Rector Ulrich Rüdiger. “We want to minimize the impact on students. But we also appeal to the student body’s sense of social responsibility to help limit the spread of the virus and protect those potentially at risk,” says AStA Chairman Marc Gschlössl. The students and their initiatives support the University’s approach. For example, the film studio has, with a heavy heart, for now, canceled the planned film screenings until mid-April.