Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) is Munich’s largest institution of higher education and one of Germany’s internationally most renowned universities. With a very strong commitment to research, it has a long tradition stretching back to 1472. As a general university, the LMU offers a broad range of subjects from humanities and cultural studies to law, economics and social sciences to medicine and the natural sciences. These opportunities are currently being taken up by some 42,000 students, of whom 17% come from abroad; this makes the LMU one of the largest German universities. A total of 13 Nobel Prize laureates confirm its outstanding research. That is also the guiding principle of its institutional strategy "LMUexcellent Working Brains – Networking Minds – Living Knowledge". Research chairs and a centre for advanced studies focusing on cutting-edge interdisciplinary research represent just two opportunities for academic excellence.
www.uni-muenchen.de
Important Facts
Students 42,000
Degree courses 150
Professors 700
Departments 18
Founded in 1472
Technische Universität München
"At home in Bavaria, successful in the world" is the motto of Munich’s second elite university, the Technische Universität (TU). Founded in 1868, today some 21,000 students study at the TU’s three campuses, including more than 4,000 scholars from outside Germany. 400 professors engage in teaching and research at 12 departments with 127 degree programmes. The TU’s strengths lie in the natural sciences, technology, medicine and the life sciences. The university, which has six Nobel Prize laureates, stands out for its successful fundraising and close partnerships with industry. The TU sees itself as an entrepreneurial university – an idea that also strongly influences its institutional strategy, which centres on the interdisciplinary and interdepartmental TUM Institute for Advanced Study. This new institution is intended to further strengthen the TU’s international profile in natural sciences, engineering, medicine and life sciences.
Important Facts
Students 21,000
Degree courses 127
Professors 400
Departments 12
Founded in 1868
Universität Konstanz
Seminars and sailing almost belong together at Universität Konstanz. After all, it is situated immediately on the banks of Lake Constance in the area where Germany, Switzerland and Austria meet. Although relatively small with some 10,000 students, it is counted among Germany’s best universities. Students can choose between more than 40 different subjects in the fields of natural sciences, humanities, law and economics. The institutional strategy of Universität Konstanz "Model Konstanz – towards a Culture of Creativity" focuses squarely on new talent: the university wants to foster up-and-coming scholars and become a leading centre for the best young researchers. The Chemical Biology Graduate School is open to researchers from the fields of chemistry, biology, computer science and information science. This is just one example of interdisciplinary work on the shores of Lake Constance.
www.uni-konstanz.de
Important Facts
Students 10,000
Degree courses 40
Professors 174
Departments 13
Founded in 1966
Universität Freiburg
In the heart of the city of Freiburg and not far from Switzerland and France you will find one of Germany’s oldest universities: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität. Founded in 1457 with courses in theology, medicine, law and philosophy, it now has 11 departments. Some 20,000 students – including approx. 3,600 international undergraduates – are registered here. Universität Freiburg has long seen itself as an interface between the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities. The university has big plans for the money from the Initiative for Excellence. For example, foreign and German researchers at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) are to strengthen the universities international position in four departments. Researchers are also to receive rapid assistance from the Science Support Center, which will bring together all the departments responsible for third-party funds.
www.uni-freiburg.de
Important Facts
Students 20,000
Degree courses 140
Professors 500
Departments 11
Founded in 1457
Universität Karlsruhe (TH)
The Fridericiana is Germany’s oldest Technische Hochschule (TH) or technological university. The university, whose campus is situated in the centre of Karlsruhe, was founded in 1825. Some 18,000 students, including approx. 3,700 from outside Germany, are enrolled in 43 degree courses. Its main disciplines are the natural sciences, engineering and economics. Universität Karlsruhe (TH) is rated as a top university in many higher education rankings. Nobel Prize laureates in physics and chemistry have worked at the TH as have technological pioneers like Carl Benz, the inventor of the car. Like TU Munich, the TH belongs to TU9, the group of Germany’s nine leading technological universities. It also sees itself as a research university, the idea that forms the basis for its institutional strategy. At its core is the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where the TH is cooperating with the extra-university Research Centre Karlsruhe – a model partnership.
www.uni-karlsruhe.de
Important Facts
Students 18,000
Degree courses 43
Professors 277
Departments 11
Founded in 1825
Universität Heidelberg
No other German university is as well-known throughout the world as the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität. Outstanding research and teaching place it firmly in the international Champions League of universities. Founded in 1386, it is the oldest university in Germany. Eight Nobel Prize winners have taught here. More than 26,000 students, including over 5,000 from outside Germany, and top researchers from all over the world are attracted to the city. Traditionally, the southern German university focused on the humanities. Today, however, the natural sciences are equally important. The subjects on offer range from Egyptology to dentistry. Heidelberg also enjoys an excellent reputation in medicine. Key areas here are molecular biology and cancer research, whose cooperation the university aims to further develop as part of its institutional strategy.
www.uni-heidelberg.de
Important Facts
Students 26,000
Degree courses 146
Professors 380
Departments 13
Founded in 1386
RWTH Aachen
More than 30,000 students are enrolled at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH) in the region where Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands meet. The RWTH has an excellent reputation among up-and-coming mechanical and electrical engineers – also from abroad. More than 5,500 international students study and research in Aachen. To reinforce its leading position, the technological university has set itself three goals: it aims to strengthen the natural sciences, more closely network engineering sciences and join with the Research Centre Jülich one of the largest extra-university research institutions, to form the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA). Additionally, RWTH is establishing a chair for tailor-made fuels from biomass, which will develop expertise in an industry of the future.
www.rwth-aachen.de
Important Facts
Students 30,000
Degree courses 92
Professors 436
Departments 10
Founded in 1863
Universität Göttingen
Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen, Lower Saxony, was founded in 1737. Today, 23,400 students, including 11% foreign students, are studying 124 different subjects in the small university town. Courses are also available in young disciplines like bioinformatics, molecular biosciences and neurosciences. Since its foundation, more than 40 Nobel Prize winners have worked at the university in Göttingen. The university’s institutional strategy "Göttingen. Tradition – Innovation – Autonomy" relies on its strengths as a research university with a wide range of subjects, its autonomy as a foundation and extra-university research partnerships – for example, with five Max Planck Institutes, the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, the German Primate Centre and a branch of the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
www.uni-goettingen.de
Important Facts
Students 24,000
Degree courses 124
Professors 400
Departments 13
Founded in 1737
Freie Universität (FU) Berlin
The FU is one of the internationally best known universities in Germany. Only 59 years old, it is a very young university. With some 100 degree subjects, roughly 34,000 students – 15% of them students from abroad – it is one of Germany’s most multifaceted higher education institutions. In addition to languages, law and natural sciences, it also has a variety of smaller departments. The Otto Suhr Institute for Political Science has received special recognition. The FU institutional strategy "International Network University" aims to better network researchers, professors and students. Two excellence clusters and graduate schools are already being created. Furthermore, the FU is contributing to an additional excellence cluster with Humboldt Universität, a graduate school at the Charité and a research cluster at Berlin’s Technische Universität.
www.fu-berlin.de
Important Facts
Students 34,000
Degree courses 100
Professors 400
Departments 12
Founded in 1948
