Studium Individuale: Janna Schulte – Mind in Motion
2026-03-09 After completing her training as a business administrator, Janna Schulte's career path seemed clear: a career with a furniture giant. But then she decided to attend Leuphana University – and today she is using her knowledge to improve life in cities.
Shift start, three o'clock in the morning: Forklifts and trucks maneuver around the grounds of a large furniture store in Augsburg. Heavy packages are brought to the right shelves, and around 40 colleagues are briefed for the day. Right in the middle of it all: Janna Schulte. At 24, she manages processes and takes on responsibility early on. She is capable and enjoys her job.
Nevertheless, something remains unresolved. In her private life, Janna Schulte is involved in bicycle demonstrations, is increasingly concerned with sustainability, and is becoming politically active. “I found myself asking more and more often: How can we achieve a good life in cities?” she recalls. The young woman decides to look for answers.
She looked for universities that focus on sustainability and came across Leuphana. Then she read about the Individuale program: “I was immediately fascinated. The opportunity to broaden my academic horizons suited my interests. I didn't want to commit to one discipline, I wanted to discover, I wanted to study.”
The program requires students to design a large part of the curriculum themselves, based on a question they choose themselves.
The approach is convincing, but she still hesitates: “I had my training and my degree in business administration. I could have had a career in logistics. Wanting to study was idealistic.” But her thirst for knowledge is too great: Janna Schulte applies to Leuphana, quits her secure job, and moves to Lüneburg.
She finds the answers to her questions faster than she thought: “A seminar on how cities and buildings influence our actions shaped my course of study.” She took modules on urban and transport planning, spatial sciences, and sustainability—across different faculties—and gained a better understanding of the challenges of livable cities.
In the Studium Individuale program, students choose their lectures and seminars for their bachelor's degree individually from the entire range offered by Leuphana. “I chose every course myself and enjoyed attending them,” says Janna Schulte.
This process is accompanied by regular core modules and reflection formats that ensure exchange within the cohort. “Precisely because we are taking different paths, cohesion is important,” says Janna Schulte. Shared breakfasts, self-organized study groups, and interdisciplinary exchange complement the program.
She describes the depth of content in the core modules as particularly formative. The intensive text work, the need for preparation, and the discussions among peers were challenging, but they taught her fundamental skills. “I learned to quickly familiarize myself with new topics, read texts critically, and make connections.”
During a semester abroad in Vienna, she deepened her focus and took specialized modules in spatial and transport planning: “It was the freedom in my studies that enabled me to specialize.” After graduating from Leuphana, Janna Schulte studied for a master's degree in urban planning at HafenCity University in Hamburg.
At the same time, she worked for several years as a research assistant in the Green Party parliamentary group in Hamburg, dealing with transport and mobility policy. “Quick research, evaluating topics, finding good sources—I learned all these skills in my Studium Individuale.”
Now 33, she is a research assistant at TU Hamburg and is pursuing a doctorate in transportation planning. She is researching how cities can become more livable and how many parking spaces are actually needed—a question that originated in her bachelor's degree program.
Her conclusion is clear: “Without the Studium Individuale program, I wouldn't be where I am today – or at least I would be much later. The program doesn't prescribe a fixed path, but helps you find your own.”