| University of Mannheim | |
|---|---|
| Universität Mannheim | |
| Established | 1967 |
| Type | Public University |
| Chancellor | Prof. Dr. Hans-Wolfgang Arndt |
| Students | 9.439 (FSS 2011)[1] |
| Location | Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany |
| Website | http://www.uni-mannheim.de |
The University of Mannheim is one of the younger German universities. It offers Bachelor, Master, and PhD degrees.
The University is mainly located in Mannheim’s palace the largest baroque palace in Germany. The whole city center of Mannheim is aligned symmetrically to the palace.
About 800 scholars and 9,300 students are enrolled. Several rankings, awards, and evaluations attest to the quality of research and teaching at the University of Mannheim.[2]
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In 1955 the public Business School (Staatliche Hochschule) moved into the east wing of Mannheim's baroque palace. The Business School used to be the Commercial College (Handelshochschule) which was founded in 1907. In 1939 it was closed. The college was re-established in 1946. In the fifties and sixties the Humanities and the Law School were established alongside Economics and Social Sciences. This is the reason why the council of ministers of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg decided to re-name the Business School on the 4th of July 1967, calling it the University of Mannheim. The University of Mannheim experienced enormous growth short after. While there were only 3150 students registered in 1967, the number of students trippled by the time of the mid-nineties counting more than 10 000 students.[3]
With its history as an economics college, the emphasis at the University of Mannheim has always remained on business and economics, although teaching was broadened to further disciplines. Recently, a policy referred to as "profile sharpening" has been introduced to clearify UM's perception as Germany's leading business school and to lift this reputation to a European level. The closing of geography (2002) and philosophy (2004) as study programs, which is due to this development back to the roots has led to frequent complaints from the student council.
The University of Mannheim offers a unique atmosphere. Its campus means all disciplines are in short distance of one another. The core of the campus is Mannheim palace. With a length of 400 meters it is the largest baroque palace in Germany. In recent years it has been renovated extensively thanks to private donations totaling around Euro 13 million. Modern steel and glass elements now offer a fascinating contrast to the almost 300 year-old walls.
All disciplines which are not housed in the palace are within a few minutes’ walking distance. They either have new buildings, like the Department of Economics and the Institute of Computer Science, or, like the Faculty of Social Sciences, are housed in renovated buildings.
The University comprises five schools: the Business School, the School of Law and Economics, the School of Social Sciences, the School of Humanities and the School of Mathematics and Computer Science.
As the first German institution, the Business School of the University of Mannheim gained the “Triple Crown”: it is accredited by AACSB International, the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and EFMD (EQUIS). With 27 chaired professors and about 3,500 students, the Business School ranks among the largest in Europe.
More than twenty full-time senior faculty members and numerous assistant professors and lecturers are engaged in a variety of research projects at the frontiers of their fields. The department has special expertise in microeconomic specializations and econometrics, both in theory and application. The Department of Economics of the University of Mannheim is ranked among the best three in Germany.
Fifteen full professors, their staff and numerous renowned associate lecturers research and teach at the Department of Law. The department places clear emphasis on the fields of commercial and business law. Close ties to legal and business practice, combined with an interdisciplinary profile in the economic sciences, are hallmarks of the Department of Law.
The Faculty of Social Sciences comprises the fields of political science, sociology and psychology with an academic staff of 24 professors and 120 additional scientists. The social sciences at the University of Mannheim have an excellent international reputation, reflected by rankings, awards and third-party funds. The faculty is well-known for its empirical-analytical orientation and its focus on Europe.
The School of Humanities encompasses English studies, Germanic studies, history, media and communication studies, philosophy and Romance studies. These disciplines rank Mannheim in the top three to ten institutions in Germany. In close cooperation with the Business School, the School of Humanities offers several renowned interdisciplinary study programs such as “Culture and Economy”. Distinguished fields of research are globalization studies and linguistic topics such as multilingualism.
The school consists of the Institute of Mathematics and the Institute of Computer Science. Through its successful focus on business mathematics in research and teaching, the Institute of Mathematics is constantly expanding its close cooperation with the University’s Department of Economics and the Business School. Together with the business informatics group within the Business School, the Institute of Computer Science recently founded the Center for Business Informatics to ensure that research and teaching standards in this area remain at the highest level. Both areas achieve excellent scores in the most important rankings.
The University of Mannheim was called "The Harvard of Germany" by the German newspaper Die Zeit.[4] It is especially known for its Business, Economics and Social Sciences. It is widely considered to have the best business program in Germany [5] and its Master in Management is ranked 13th in Europe by the FT [6]. The Business School's MBA program is ranked globally 23rd by CNN Expansion[7], and 26th by The Economist[7]. Its Executive MBA ranks 21st internationally in the Financial Times Executive MBA Ranking.[7] Moreover, The School of Law, the School of the Humanities, and the School of Mathematics and Computer Science - due to their close collaboration with Business Administration and the Social Sciences - provide their students with unique opportunities for specialization.
The profile of the University of Mannheim is reflected in its research achievements. In economic and social sciences, Mannheim is one of the best research centers in Germany and among the top ten to twenty institutions in Europe.
All disciplines work in close cooperation with each other to determine central research subjects, for example on the topics of decisions, governance, migration and integration or language acquisition.
The University’s largest research institute is the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES). In close collaboration with the Faculty of Social Sciences, it dedicates its research to exploring societal, social and political development in Europe. Focal points are comparative research on Europe and investigating the European integration process.
There are also a further three renowned research institutes with close ties to the University. ZEW — Centre for European Economic Research, the GESIS — Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, and IDS — Institute of German Language.
The University of Mannheim offers top-class degrees for undergraduate students. Numerous university rankings confirm the excellent status of the overall Mannheim course portfolio. For many years now Mannheim has been recognized as the undisputed top provider of high-quality business administration and economics degrees.
The subjects political science, sociology, history, English studies, Germanic studies, computer science and business informatics are also regularly highly ranked. One of the key features of Mannheim teaching is that as well as the Business School itself, all the other schools offer students the opportunity to acquire sound business knowledge in addition to their major.[8]
The University of Mannheim provides attractive further study options for each of its Bachelor programs. The Master’s programs have a strong international dimension for example by offering exchange programs and double degrees and some of them are completely taught in English. They enable students to deepen or broaden the knowledge acquired in their first degree.[9]
The Graduate School GESS provides doctoral training in empirical and quantitative methods and their application to economic and social sciences. The Graduate School is the first of its kind in Germany and is among very few in the world to integrate these disciplines into a coherent curriculum. It is funded by the “Excellence Initiative” of the German government.
Furthermore, the University of Mannheim offers the possibility to do an individual doctorate which is the traditional option in Germany. Doctoral candidates are supervised by a professor. The School of Humanities offers a third option — in the doctoral training program “Formations of the Global”, each doctoral student receives close support from three mentors from multiple disciplines and is integrated into an interdisciplinary lecture program.[10]
The University of Mannheim is committed to continued academic education, with the Mannheim Business School gGmbH as its prime example. Mannheim Business School is the umbrella organization for continued business education at the University of Mannheim.
A typical characteristic of the University of Mannheim is the high level of commitment demonstrated by its scientists, students and employees. The students’ commitment is not just academic. With a range of offerings, the University links teaching and research achievements on the one hand and making a contribution to society on the other.
As a member of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative, the University of Mannheim has set itself the goal, enshrined in its mission statement, of developing its students into responsible leaders in business, society and scholarship. Topics such as business ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability are an integral part of teaching and research. Many scholars also pass on their knowledge as advisors to the government, companies or nonprofit entities.
The University received an award from the Jimmy Carter Foundation for its Service Learning courses. Service Learning is a method whereby students apply their knowledge in community projects. More than 60 student initiatives also offer the opportunity to get involved in the fields of business,social projects, culture or media. SIFE Mannheim, for example, launches social projects with economic expertise. The group represents Germany in the SIFE Worldcup 2009 as national winner. For international students, the VISUM Initiative has set up the “Buddy Program”.
Students receive help in launching their career from the University Career Service, which has contacts to more than 300 companies. Language courses allow students to enhance their career prospects even further.
And finally, graduates keep in lifelong touch with each other thanks to the alumni network. ABSOLVENTUM MANNHEIM is with more than fifty regional groups world-wide one of the biggest and most successful German alumni associations.
Students interested in sport can choose from more than forty disciplines at the Institute of Sports — from beginners to top-level. The Institute of Sports is a modern-service enterprise within the University of Mannheim supporting athletics and the health of all students and employees in the University of Mannheim and the region. At the moment they are offering a wide variety of programs with 140 courses, 320 hours per week in 55 different kinds of sports.
Mannheim placed 2nd in 2005 European university rowing championship, finishing ahead of Oxford.
With the German Bundesverfassungsgericht's (~Supreme Court) 2005 ruling to allow German states to charge tuition fees, the state of Baden-Württemberg has started setting new tuition rates. Further increase of tuition fees is currently issue of political discussion.
Since the beginning of the autumn/winter term 2007, the University of Mannheim charges tuition fees of 500 € per semester, i.e. 1000€ per year. (as with any university in Baden-Württemberg) Apart from the exemption of exceptional cases laid down by law, the university does not exempt highly gifted from paying the tuition fees. Instead of this the University of Mannheim has established a scholarship system, which is sustained by firms, alumni and foundations. But due to a change in policy in Baden-Württemberg students do not have to pay the tuition of 500€ any longer from 2012 on.