Past Events:
Alumni Talks: Working in NGOs
27. October 2026
Two GCE alumni, Farina Hoffmann and Miriam Thiemann, shared their experiences of working in political NGOs and their current challenges. They gave interesting tips and insights into applications. Miriam explained the European Environmental Bureau, which advocates for environmental policies in Brussel. Farina shared the currently challenging circumstances working for Brot für die Welt promoting gender equality.
20th Anniversairy of GCE
17. - 19. July 2026
The study program celebrated 20 years since it's introduction in 2006 with an extended summer fete spanning over three days. On friday afternoon our board member Elizaveta Shcherbinina gave a few remarks about what it means to study GCE and the many paths and ways which GCE alumni have taken since their study. Saturday morning greeted us with with two excursions and then the summer fete in a lovely decorated ÖBG. Large thank you to the student board, the helping hands and of course Matilde, Sylvia and Stephanie - without you this celebration would not have been possible! Then we bid farewell to GCE initiator, and FroG supporter from the first hour, our very own Carl Beierkuhnlein into his well deserved retirement. After a night of dancing we met again for a delicious breakfast on sunday morning.
Notion Workshop
02. June 2026
Our board member Elizaveta Shcherbinina introduced the note taking programme "notion" to a group of interested students and shared tricks how to use it effectively to learn and connect notes from classes.
Alumni Talks: Is a PhD for me?
20. April 2026 - online
Starting a graduate programme is a common pathway after GCE, but is it the right one for you? Pia Bradler and Frank Weiser shared their phd-story with us, with lots of interesting insights on applications, stress and funding during the graduate journey.
Alumni Talks: Getting a job
02. March 2026 - online
Three GCE Alumni - Chris Shatto, Tabitha Stimpfle and Susanne Grünwald - shared valuable tips and their own journey through the german job market. We learned about platforms, the value of internships and personal connection.
Alumni Talks: Nature and People
05. August 2025 - online
One GCE-Alumni - Samuel Halter - and one external guest (Jana Koegst from Biosphere reserve Schwäbische Alb) were discussing the differences between biosphere reserves and nature parks. Biodiversity, economic development, marketing ... a lot of buzzword and some common ground, but also differences in management priorities were highighted by our guests.
GCE at COP Reorganization
Summer 2025
To make the selection process for COP attendance more fair, we debuted a model where GCE-
Alumni from FroG evaluate applications.
Summer Fete
12. July 2025
We played a game of speed dating at the summer fete. As always, FroG supported the Summer Fete with a donation.
Birdwatching in Wilhelminenaue
10. May 2025
To celebrate the height of spring we set out to see some birds in Wilhelminenaue with board member Flemming guiding the group. 12 interested students came as well as some roommates. We saw the great biodiversity of renaturated stream-landscape with the highlight beeing two little ringed plovers at the shores of the Main.
German Election Discussion
19. February 2025
For this event FroG invited two young politicians from the city parliament of Bayreuth to discuss and introduce the german parties and election system to our international students. Unfortunately both guests cancelled shortly beforehand. The native german students took over and gave insights into the election and german politics to an interested audience of about 10 international students.
Summer Fete 2022
23. July 2022
Finally, the GCE summer fete could take place again in its old tradition: GCE students, alumni, lecturers, staff, family and friends met in the Botanical Garden to celebrate together.
It was great to once again spend a relaxed summer evening with the GCE community and have the opportunity to present the FroG association to the new students.
Crime Time!
25. November 2021
Making the best of another autumn with corona measures, we organised a hybrid opportunity for FroGs and GCE students to connect during a mysterious evening...a Crime dinner (German: Krimidinner)! The aim of this group game is to solve a crime story throughout the course of one evening, structured around several courses of dinner. Every participant receives a character role with their background story and some clues to follow and will either be an innocent suspect or the murderer who is trying to stay undetected throughout the game.
Two groups played in parallel: an in-person team in Bayreuth, and an online group spending the evening together on Zoom. Both groups had a lot of fun and were (partly) successful in solving the crime. :)
The FroG Pub Quiz
25. March 2021
Digital Annual Members' Meeting 2020
18. November 2020
As the Summer Fete and in-person members’ meetings were not possible in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions, we held our first ever digital members’ meeting in November 2020. The online version of the members’ meeting worked out very well as Friends of GCE spread all over the world could participate – definitely worth thinking about for future editions. We elected the new board members and thanked Kiely Doherty, who no longer ran for a position, for all her work in the past years! We also thank Stephanie Thomas and Axel Paulsch for their incredible support in the preparation and realization of this digital assembly and beyond.
FroG Workshop 2020
May 2020
In May 2020 we held the first ever FroG Workshop – digitally. It was a great success to meet, establish working groups, brainstorm and prioritize some of FroG’s next steps. Also, it was a very nice way to at least virtually get to know new people and see some familiar faces.
Summer Fete 2019
July 2019
In July 2019, we held our annual members’ meeting prior to the Summer Fete. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces again – and also many new ones. As of 2019, Farina Hoffmann was no longer available for a board position in FroG and no substitute could be found at the members’ meeting. We thank Farina for all her work in establishing the association and look forward to seeing her around! Axel Paulsch volunteered to offer support to the board from then onwards.
FroG Annual Members' Meeting 2019
29. June 2019
Ökologisch-Botanischer Garten at University of Bayreuth
Just before the Summer Fete, we hosted our annual meeting, a mandatory event stipulated in the statutes of our organization. Members, students and the board discussed the current state of affairs within the organization as well as the goals and intentions for the future of FroG! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and input.
FroG at Klimawald Bayreuth
25.-27. April 2019
Three students of Global Change Ecology had organized a phenomenal event: “Klimawald (Climate Forest) Bayreuth aiming to build a climate-resilient forest in Bayreuth that can adapt to the future climate under a 2°C warming while mitigating climate change by reducing our carbon emissions”. In this 3-day project, the students have cooperated with many organizations in Bayreuth, and got people from a very diverse background joining to plant the 4500 trees. As Friends of Global Change Ecology, we supported the students with logistical and organizational tasks along with organizing a donation of refreshments from local bakery/breweries! In the future, FroG will continue to be a sustaining partner of this event.
Congratulations to the students for organizing such a great event that is very much in line with the goals of our association!
For more information, check out their website here:https://www.klimawaldbayreuth.com
Master's Thesis Experience Night
08. November 2018
Bayreuth, DE
The first Friends of Global Change Ecology e.V. event took place yesterday at the University of Bayreuth. The evening dedicated to the presentation of master's thesis topics attracted some 30 students from GCE 2015 to GCE 2018, eager to hear about their fellow students work. The presenters had 5 minutes to pitch their topic, methods, results, discussion and to share some wisdom from their process. Afterwards, a 2 minute discussion round gave the chance to the audience to ask some questions. The topics covered ranged from plant root composition to power structures of farmers in Kenya to marine turbulence schemes and migratory bird retreats. The evening was rounded off in an informal setting over some drinks and food in downtown Bayreuth.