Ruhr University Bochum

Ruhr-University Bochum
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Motto menschlich – weltoffen – leistungsstark (German)[1]
Motto in English
 People-centred – Cosmopolitan – High-performance [2]
Established 1962
Type Public University
Endowment €530 million (2013)[3]
Chancellor Karl-Heinz Schloßer[4]
Rector Elmar Weiler [4]
Academic staff
 Professor 411[5]
Junior Professor 71[5]
Academic Staff 2,745[5]
Administrative staff
 2,390[5]
Students 42,718[5]
Undergraduates 36,516[5]
Postgraduates 5,693[5]
509[5]
Other students
 3,387 (International Students)[5]
Location Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
51°26′38″N 7°15′42″E / 51.44389°N 7.26167°ECoordinates: 51°26′38″N 7°15′42″E / 51.44389°N 7.26167°E
Campus Urban/Suburban
Campus area 4.5 sq.km[6]
Nickname RUB
Affiliations UAMR, DAAD, DFG, Utrecht Network, MAUI Network, AEN Network, NOHA Network
Website www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Aerial view of Ruhr University (2014)
Ruhr-University, Main Lecture Hall, Audimax
Ruhr-University, Chinese Garden (located in the Botanical garden)

Ruhr University Bochum (German: Ruhr-Universität Bochum, RUB), located on the southern hills of central Ruhr area Bochum, was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany since World War II. Instruction began in 1965.

The Ruhr-University Bochum is one of the largest universities in Germany and part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the most important German research funding organization.[7]

The RUB was very successful in the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal and State Governments (2007), a competition between Germany's most prestigious universities. It was one of the few institutions left competing for the title of an "elite university", but did not succeed in the last round of the competition. There are currently nine universities in Germany that hold this title.

The University of Bochum was one of the first universities in Germany to introduce international Bachelor's and Master's degrees, which replaced the traditional German Diplom and Magister. Except for a few special cases (for example in Law) these degrees are offered by all faculties of the Ruhr University. Currently, the university offers a total of 184 different study programs from all academic fields represented at the university.[3]

Organization

Ruhr University is financed and administered by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Currently, 42,718 students are enrolled, and the university employs around 5,600 staff (411 of which are professors),[5] making it one of the ten largest universities in Germany (as of 2014). Kurt Biedenkopf, who later became prime minister of the state of Saxony, was director of the university from 1967 to 1969.

The university is organized in twenty different faculties. These are:[8]

English education

ECUE - European Culture and Economy

Interdisciplinary institutions

Facility

Unlike many older German universities, the buildings of Ruhr University are all centralized on one campus, located south of Bochum city. The Faculty of Medicine includes several university clinics which are located at different centres in Bochum and the Ruhr area. The centralized university campus architecture is comprised almost exclusively of the 1960s architecture style referred to as Brutalism, consisting of 14 almost identical high-rise buildings. One striking feature of these buildings is that although their roofs are all at the same apparent height (sky level), the absolute heights of the buildings vary in accordance with their placement on the undulating landscape in which the university is located: the campus is at the edge of a green belt on high ground adjacent to the Ruhr valley.

The arrangement of the buildings and the (concrete) paths and bridges between them was originally meant to resemble a "harbour of knowledge", with the buildings simbolising vessels, by architect Helmut Hentrich .[10]

The campus undergoes heavy modernisation and extension efforts, including the construction and refurbishment of several buildings.[11] Some of the original 1960s buildings are to be rebuilt (instead of refurbished) due to PCB contamination.[12] The overall campus concept envisions a modern facility[13] and the placement of Bochum as a "knowledge city".[14]

Points of interest

See also

References

External links