In modern science, the demand for more powerful and integrated research infrastructures is growing constantly to address computational challenges in data analysis, modeling and simulation. The bwHPC initiative, founded by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts and the universities in Baden-Württemberg, is a state-wide federated approach aimed at assisting scientists with mastering these challenges. At the 5th bwHPC Symposium in September 2018, scientific users, technical operators and government representatives came together for two days at the University of Freiburg. The symposium provided an opportunity to present scientific results that were obtained with the help of bwHPC resources. Additionally, the symposium served as a platform for discussing and exchanging ideas concerning the use of these large scientific infrastructures as well as their further development.