The Networking Event
TUMblue is an annual networking event for TUM doctoral candidates hosted by the TUM Graduate Council. It enhances the interaction, communication and thus cooperation of doctoral candidates from all Graduate Centres in a casual setting. Furthermore, TUMblue raises the awareness for the TUM Graduate Council itself and promotes the identification of doctoral candidates with the TUM. Sometime around June hundreds of doctoral candidates come to TUMblue, which has a different theme each year, to enjoy free drinks, dinner, and music.
TUMblue 2025 – “Defend your thesis, not your dance moves!”
Get ready for a 90s throwback! 🎶 TUMblue is the annual networking event for TUM doctoral candidates, hosted by the TUM Graduate Council. It brings together doctoral candidates from all Graduate Centres in a casual setting with free drinks, free food, and free music. Happening on September 19th and following the Graduate School’s Doctoral Day, this year’s theme is all about 90s nostalgia – so dust off your best retro outfit and dance to hits from Eiffel 65, Aqua, and the Vengaboys!
TUMblue Program
Here are the essential details you need to know:
Date: 19th of September 2025
Time: Entrance starts at 7:00 PM
Venue: Theresienstr. 90, 80333 München – 0101.02.190 (N1190), (Hans-Heinrich-Meinke-Hörsaal) (à https://nav.tum.de/room/0101.02.190)
Program:
6:00 – 6:30 p.m. – Registration and mingling
Register, collect your food truck voucher and get excited about our evening program with your fellow doctoral candidates at TUM.
6:30 – 6:50 p.m. – Opening ceremony and keynote
Keynote speech by TUM Graduate School dean – Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Bungartz.
6:50 – 8:00 p.m. – “TUMblue showoff”
Prepare to be captivated by TUM’s talents at the “TUMblue ShowOff” – our Science Comms Contest from doctoral candidates for doctoral candidates! Three minutes to convey your research – and three rules: 1. Be creative! 2. Be entertaining! 3. Anything that you can carry on stage is allowed! (3b. No PowerPoint!) Great prize up for grabs. Want to join? Email us: gc-tumblue@gs.tum.de
8:00 – 11:00 p.m. – TUMblue food trucks
After the TUMblue ShowOff we will collectively move to our party location where you can redeem your food voucher at one of our food trucks. First come, first serve – so make sure to join early on!
8:00 – 10:00 p.m. – Live Music and “TUMblue DocRepGames Fair”
Enjoy great tunes, get to know the doctoral representatives at your school and take part in fun activities at our “DocRepGames Fair” – the perfect mix of music, mingling, and movement!
10:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. – DJ set
Our DJ stage fires up and moves TUMblue 2025 to the next level! So, make sure to wear your trashiest 90s outfit and get ready to groove along to Eiffel 65, Aqua, Vengaboys and all the classics.
Good to know:
🍔 Free Food: Pick up your voucher upon registration and choose among three food trucks!
🍺 Free drinks: We have you covered with complimentary drinks to enhance the overall experience and create a welcoming atmosphere for attendees.
💰 Long drinks available for purchase – bring cash!
🎤 TUMblue ShowOff: Share your research in 3 minutes – no slides, just creativity! Great prize up for grabs. Want to join? Email us: gc-tumblue@gs.tum.de
Registration from August 19th here
More information about TUMblue 2025 can be found here
Organizational Team 2025:
Sonia Darvishi, Stuart James, Caroline Birkner, Jessica Bielski, Konrad Kober, Nicolas MĂĽller, Ali Yilmaz Yildrim, Henry Winner, Lina Salman, Mario Ilic, Yonka BĂĽke Seymen, Haider Riaz, Sibtain Ali Thepdawala
Contact: gc-tumblue@gs.tum.de
Impressions from previous events
Previous TUMblues
TUMblue 2024 – “Illuminate the Horizon: Let your research glow”
TUMblue 2024 – “Illuminate the Horizon: Let your research glow” took place on September 27, 2024, at the Mathematics Informatics Building in Garching. Following the TUM Doctoral Day, the evening brought together doctoral candidates from all disciplines for a vibrant celebration of research, creativity, and community. The program featured a keynote, a dynamic Science Communication Competition, live music, food trucks, and a high-energy DJ set.
Here are the essential details you need to know:
Date: 27th of September 2024
Time: Entrance starts at 7:00 PM
Venue: Mathematics Informatics Building, Boltzmannstr. 3, 85748 Garching bei MĂĽnchen
More information can be found here
Organizational Team 2024:
Sonia Darvishi, Vincent Bode, Melissa Zeni, Andrei Craciunescu, Mariam Mohamadi, Franziska Kotsch, Severin Böhmer, Stuart James, Vanessa Bolivar-Paypay, Leon Chryssos
TUMblue 2023 – “The Come as you are, Network like a star”
After the Corona pause TUMblue finally took place again in 2023. The GCs legendary networking event took place in Garching with free Foodtrucks, free drinks, live music and a lot of fun and games.
Here are the essential details you need to know:
Date: 15th of September 2023
Time: Entrance starts at 7:00 PM
Venue: Mathematics Informatics Building, Boltzmannstr. 3, 85748 Garching bei MĂĽnchen
More information can be found here
Organizational Team 2023:
Anna Jäkel, Ashishrao Mangalore, Ayesha Müller-Wolfertshofer, Ekaterina Zhigalova, Faye Chong Huey Ping, Franziska Kotsch, Juan Lozano, Luise Koch, Severin Böhmer, Shruti Shukla, Stuart James, Vanessa Bolivar-Paypay, Vladimir Shitov
TUMblue 2019 – “The Excellence Must Go On”
In 2019, TUMblue “The Excellence Must Go On” – the legendary casual networking event from doctoral candidates for doctoral candidates – takes place for the 6th year in a row – this year on June 7th, 2019 at the TUM Audimax Foyer. All guests will enjoy great music (including two live bands and renowned DJs), numerous networking opportunities, free beer and wine, gourmet food, and ice cream.
Since TUMblue is organized on a voluntary basis by the TUM Graduate Council, we also rely on helping hands to make this great and fun evening take place: For this reason, we are looking for many helping hands (please indicate during the registration process in case you want to help).
We also want to thank our sponsor the TUM Graduate School – without its support TUMBlue would not be possible.
Pictures of TUMblue 2019 can be found here.
Organizational Team 2019:
Richard Schenk (GOV)
Ronja Berg (MGC)
Markus Mäder (MW)
Albert Schletter (PH)
Lennart Bock (HEPP)
Poster Design: Romina Rösch (MGC)
TUMblue 2018 – “Gold Edition”
In 2018, TUMblue took place for the 5th year in a row – this year with more than 700 participants. To celebrate TUM’s 150 years jubilee, doctoral candidates from all TUM Graduate Centers as well as TUM Alumni were invited on June 29th, 2018 to TUMblue Gold Edition at the Audimax Foyer. All guests enjoyed great music (including two live bands and two Munich-based renowned DJs), numerous networking opportunities, free drinks, food, and ice cream. We also thank our sponsors, the TUM Graduate School and the UnternehmerTUM, who made this great event possible.
Pictures of TUMblue 2018 can be found here.
Organizational Team 2018:
Tamara Cikovic (MGC)
Richard Schenk (GOV)
Gerrit Siegers (Klinikum Rechts der Isar)
TUMblue 2017 – “Brains, Beer and Bavarian Brass”
More than 500 doctoral candidates from all TUM Graduate Centers were invited to a casual networking event on June 9th, 2017 in the Audimax Foyer. Besides various bands, the doctoral candidates enjoyed drinks and different snacks provided by food trucks on the plaza in front of the Audimax.
Pictures of TUMblue 2017 can be found here.
Organizational Team 2017:
Tamara Cikovic (MGC)
Alina Gales (GOV)
Richard Kern (MW)
TUMblue 2016 – “Science, Drinks and Rock’n Roll”
All TUM doctoral candidates were invited to enjoy free dinner, free drinks, Rock’n Roll music and great networking opportunities with doctoral candidates from all TUM Graduate Centers at the Audimax Foyer. The event took place on July 8th, 2016.
Organizational Team 2016:
Jonas Umlauft (EE)
Jenny Lebert (MSE)
Jörg Bentz (KGk)
Alexandra Funke (EDU)
TUMblue 2015 – “TUM Graduate School – Cross Borders”
The second TUMblue – a networking event organized by the TUM Graduate Council for doctoral candidates from all TUM faculties – took place on July 26th , 2015 at the Vorhoelzer Forum.
Organizational Team 2015:
Sandrine Stiegler (CH)
TUMblue 2014 – “TUM Graduate School – Cross Borders”
The TUM Graduate Council warmly welcomed Ph.D. candidates and members of the TUM Graduate School to a relaxing evening to celebrate, network, and get together with music, refreshments, and an open bar at the Vorhoelzer Forum. The event took place on May 26th, 2014.
Organizational Team 2014:
Sandrine Stiegler (CH)