Participation is completely voluntary and is not the only way for you to receive your diploma. If you don’t wish to participate in the ceremony, you can also pick up your diploma personally at the Registrar Services Office or have it sent to the address indicated in your leaving form. Make sure to pay attention to the emails sent by Registrar Services for more details.
On Thursday, June 10th, we will be holding our online Graduation Gala (4 p.m. CEST). This will be the celebratory part of this year’s Graduation, with speeches, musical interludes and video messages. You can watch this event live from anywhere in the world and your friends and families will also be able to watch. Only students who are part of the event, e.g. holding a speech or performing music, will have to be available in person on campus on June 10th. There will be no live audience at this event.
On Friday, June 11th, we will be holding the outdoor in-person Diploma Handout Ceremonies, scheduled to start at 10 a.m. A live stream of the ceremonies will be available for families and friends. The graduating class will be divided by degree and major into groups of maximum 70 students to attend one ceremony at a time. The division of the groups was done by the Student Graduation Committee. Their aim was to divide the graduating class in a way that you would be able to graduate with your peers from your study and degree programs.
Every group will get their own procession and hat toss photo. During each ceremony, a member of faculty will hold a speech and every participant will be able to walk on stage to receive their diploma. A photo will be taken of everyone on stage. Each Diploma Handout Ceremony is scheduled to last 30 minutes – with the hat toss photo taking place on campus green right afterwards. Hygiene regulations will be in place during all of the above mentioned activities.
We will have an approved safety and hygiene concept in place for all aspects of the in-person activities. This will entail assigned seats for all participants as well as the requirement to wear a mask and keep the minimum distance at all times during the events. All chairs will be disinfected after each Diploma Handout Ceremony.
Unfortunately, we cannot provide housing to students, who are currently not on campus and will be returning for the ceremony. However, we can provide you with an official statement that will allow you to book a hotel room in case the desired hotel requires one.
We can provide you with a visa letter to travel to Bremen for the Graduation ceremony. However, please be aware that the handing out of the diplomas may not be reason enough for you to receive a visa. We have already had a case in which the request was declined. Please also keep in mind that if you are traveling from abroad, you will have to comply with the current corona regulations, including testing and quarantine requirements. Same applies when you travel back home.
Please keep in mind that you will have to make your travel plans at your own risk. This means that in the case of a forced cancellation of the event, you will have to carry the costs for canceling your plane/train/bus ticket. We recommend you book a flexible ticket with the option to cancel it.
Again, please keep in mind that if you are traveling from abroad, you will have to comply with the current corona regulations, including testing and quarantine requirements.
At the moment, hotel visits in Bremen for touristic purposes are allowed but can change at any time. We can provide you with an official statement for the hotel in case one is required. Should you need a statement, please send us an email with the dates you will be staying in Bremen (maximum stay possible: May 8-12th).
For safety reasons, we have had to cancel the rehearsals this year. Due to the reduced format and the smaller groups, we will be able to hold the Diploma Handout Ceremonies without previous rehearsals. Of course, we will provide you with clear instructions for the day of the ceremonies.
However, attendance on June 9th is still mandatory in order to pick up your gown and rapid antigen test.
Should you, for an important reason, not be able to make it to your assigned time slot, please make sure to contact us. We will make different arrangements for those who have a valid reason not to attend their time slot (e.g. doctor’s appointment or travel arrangements).
If you already know that you cannot pick up your gown on June 9th, please send us an email and state the reason why you cannot attend.
Please be aware: if you don’t show up on June 9th and we also have not heard from you by June 9th with a reason why you cannot attend, you will not be allowed to attend the Diploma Handout Ceremony on Friday, June 11th. Please understand that we will not be able to make any exceptions to this rule. This is due to the fact that apart from your gown, you will also not be able to receive your rapid antigen test on that day along with the form with the statement that you will need to sign and submit. All of these items are necessary in order to participate in the Diploma Handout Ceremonies.
There are allocated slots for each group, during which all members of each group can pick up their gowns from the Campus Center Foyer. The gowns will have to be returned on Friday, June 11th, after your ceremony during assigned time slots. Please refer to this website for more details on gown distribution.
It will be mandatory for everyone participating in the Diploma Handout Ceremony to take a corona antigen test a day prior to the event. The tests will be provided by the University and handed out together with the gowns on June 9th. Therefore, attending the gown distribution is mandatory. Please refer to this website for further detailed instructions on the testing process.
Undergraduate and graduate students can participate in the graduation ceremony as a “walkthrough.” Meaning, if you don’t fulfill all the requirement to graduate, you can still walk on stage during the Diploma Handout Ceremony, but you will not receive your actual diploma until you have fulfilled all the requirements. Please talk to the Registrar’s Office if you have any questions about your eligibility to graduate.
Just send an email as soon as you find out that you cannot attend to:
graduation@jacobs-university.de