Starting with this issue, the ZFHE will publish one English-speaking edition per year on a topic of international interest, in order to disseminate German-language research results beyond our borders and to encourage discussion in an international context. This first English-language edition focuses on the experiences and the academic socialization of first-year university students. The articles offer both diagnoses and differentiations in terms of different types of first-year students, as well as highlighting their experiences and development during their introduction to the academic environment and examining connections between their academic development and the existing educational environment.