Small and mid-sized skilled trades businesses are facing growing challenges; repurposing and renovating existing buildings is becoming increasingly complex, time pressure is mounting, and there is a growing shortage of skilled workers. Digital tools and robotics are promising relief. But how can new technologies be used in a way that they actually help craftspeople in their everyday life? This is the question being asked by the interdisciplinary research team at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in the »Handwerk der Zukunft« project. The team will be receiving nearly one million euros in funding from the European Social Fund from 2026 to 2028.

Ludwig Lorenz, Master’s student at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s Faculty of Media in the Computer Science for Digital Media degree programme, has been awarded one of six fellowships from the »Future Scouts« Programme. The fellowship is awarded by the Stifterverband and the Reinhard Frank-Stiftung.

With its application-oriented, cutting-edge research into resource-saving building materials and forward-looking construction methods, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar was represented at the international »Ideen – Erfindungen – Neuheiten« (iENA) trade fair in November 2025: Four patent applications have now been awarded two gold and two silver medals. At the award ceremony on 11 December 2025 at the Technischen Universität Ilmenau, the scientists were presented with their medals and certificates in a festive ceremony.

This year's German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Prize goes to doctoral student Ihab Al-Rikabi from Iraq. He is being honored for his outstanding commitment to social, societal, and intercultural issues at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

Mai Do’s »VOXAIPE – Decoded« digital typography project was honoured at the Deutschen Design Club (DDC) competition. The innovative, AI-supported typography design tool stood out with its conceptual originality and design quality in the »Digital Talents« category. Her work explores how artificial intelligence can translate voices into visual forms.

An interdisciplinary team of fresh graduates from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar was honoured for their »Care Blanket« submission at the renowned European competition Europan 18. The design impressed the jury in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country, Spain) with its clear, socially, ecologically focussed strategy for renovating apartment blocks from the 1960s and 1970s.

In a celebratory ceremony, the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar bid farewell to around 170 graduates. As part of the graduation ceremony, outstanding final projects were honoured with prizes and awards. The exhibition of the award-winning and award-nominated projects will be on display in the Main Building of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar until 18 December 2025.

Die Künstlerin Sarah Spitzer, Alumna der Fakultät Kunst und Gestaltung, erhält den Preis der Stiftung Ulla und Eberhard Jung 2025. Ausgezeichnet wird ihr medienübergreifender Werkkomplex »Die Entfremdung des Vertrauten« (2022/2025). Wir freuen uns sehr über diese Anerkennung und gratulieren herzlich!

Huge success for Produktdesign (Product Design) at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: Three final projects from the Faculty of Art and Design made it onto the prestigious VDID Newcomer Awards’ shortlist and one of the projects was awarded one of the top three prizes. Felix Stockhausen was honoured for his »Velocity« mobility concept, which redefines getting on and off trains with a bicycle.

Für den schriftlichen Teil ihrer Diplomarbeit »Kartografie summender Rückstände – Im Schlick wühlen« wurde die Freie-Kunst-Absolventin Laura Wiemers mit dem mit 3.500 Euro dotierten Förderpreis »Junge Kunst« der VerbundVolksbank OWL Stiftung in der Kategorie »Literatur/Sprache« ausgezeichnet.

Die Bauhaus-Universität Weimar hat vier Erfindungen der Professur Konstruktives Entwerfen und Tragwerkslehre für ressourcenschonende Mauerwerks- und Bauverfahren zum Patent angemeldet. Die Entwicklungen ermöglichen eine CO₂-arme Produktion und eröffnen neue Perspektiven für das nachhaltige Bauen. Auf der internationalen Fachmesse »Ideen – Erfindungen – Neuheiten« (iENA) in Nürnberg vom 1. bis 3. November 2025 stellt das Team der Professur die innovativen Erfindungen (Konzepte, Forschungsergebnisse und erste Praxisbeispiele)an einer eigens gestalteten Ausstellungswand vor.

Produktdesign (Product Design) graduate Louise Richter has been awarded prizes in two categories for her piece of furniture for the final stages of life, »BeiStand«. Her piece impressed judges in both the Expert« and the »Consumer« categories. With »BeiStand«, Richter recognised a field that receives little attention: the side table in palliative care settings.

Architecture graduates Henrike Gosda and Felix Iburg were awarded third place in the national JOANES-Preis 2025. Their Master’s thesis »Ein genossenschaftliches Haus an der Fliegersiedlung«, written in the 2024/2025 winter semester, impressed the judges with its boldness, creativity, and consistent honing of cooperative housing designs. The prize is endowed with 1,500 euros and will be presented on 4 November 2025 at the Aedes Architekturforum Berlin.

The »Preis der Stiftung Buchkunst«, which comes with a 10,000-euro prize, has been awarded to Christian Rothe for his book »Buchenwald – Im Dickicht vom Ettersberg«. We are delighted that our graduate has achieved yet another success and offer him our warmest congratulations. In 2015, Christian Rothe was honoured in the prestigious competition for final project »Weil er er war, weil ich ich war« in the category of most beautiful German books.

A teaching project in the semester break? That’s certainly unusual. And it’s being held in Potsdam, rather than in Weimar? How interesting! We wanted to take a closer look. The successful double exhibition »UNBOXING BAUHAUS« has just closed with a finissage and the participants can consider themselves enriched by the countless experiences. We asked how the project came about.

The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is participating in this year's Campus Exhibition at Ars Electronica 2025 in Linz with several contributions. In keeping with the festival motto »Panic«, students and faculty from the departments of Art and Design as well as Architecture and Urbanism are presenting artistic works that critically examine digital technologies, ecological contexts, and social issues.

This year, the Herder Prize, which is endowed with 2,000 euros, is being conferred to students from the teacher training programme in Fine Art Education (Secondary School) (»Lehramt an Gymnasien Kunst«). In the programme’s introductory project entitled »Almost Perfect« (Fast Perfekt), the prospective teachers explored the topic of »Perfection«. The prize acknowledges artistically sophisticated and innovative work offering contemporary interpretations of Johann Gottfried Herder’s ideas, which addresses social challenges and proposes creative long-term solutions.

Wie verändern sich Gestaltungsprozesse, wenn nicht einzelne Akteur*innen entscheiden, was gemacht wird, sondern wenn das Material selbst, der Körper in Bewegung und das gemeinsame Tun eine Rolle spielen? An diesem Punkt setzt das neue Forschungsprojekt »IN TUNE« an, das im Rahmen der Forschungswerkstatt 2025 von der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar gefördert wird.

On Friday 11 July 2025, the Fine Arts graduate Jakob Nickels was awarded the 2025 Lyonel Art Award for his final project entitled »Gentle Strength«. The award honours the final projects of up-and-coming young talents from the Faculty of Art & Design and is endowed with 2,000 euros in prize money. It has been conferred by the Lyonel Verein zur Förderung von Kunst, Gestaltung und Kultur (Lyonel e. V.)« every year since 2019.

On Thursday 10 July 2025, the Student Council (StuKo) conferred Teaching Awards to six teaching formats at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar that students consider particularly good. The award ceremony took place during the Summaery opening event, which was held behind the main university building.