University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Friedrich-Alexander University seal
Latin: Universitas Friderici Alexandriae
Former names
 Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen
Type Public
Established 1742 (first)
November 4, 1743 (1743-11-04) (moved) [1]
Budget € 543.1 million[2][3]
Chancellor Christian Zens[4]
President Joachim Hornegger[4]
Vice-president
  • Prof. Dr. Antje Kley
    (Vice President for Education of Teachers and Diversity)
  • Prof. Dr. Günter Leugering
    (Vice President for International Relations)
  • Prof. Dr. Kathrin M. Möslein
    (Vice President for Research)
  • Prof. Dr. Friedrich Paulsen
    (Vice President for Teaching)

[4]

Academic staff
 4,040[5]
Administrative staff
 2,290[5]
Students 39,868[6]
Location Erlangen and Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany
49°35′52.5″N 11°0′17.17″E / 49.597917°N 11.0047694°E / 49.597917; 11.0047694Coordinates: 49°35′52.5″N 11°0′17.17″E / 49.597917°N 11.0047694°E / 49.597917; 11.0047694
Campus Urban
Colors      Blue
Affiliations Domestic:
1. Bavarian State Ministry for Science, Research and Art
2. DFG
3. Excellence Universities
International:
1.Top Industrial Managers for Europe
2. SEFI
Website fau.eu
Logo of the Universität of Erlangen-Nürnberg

Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (German: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, FAU) is a public research university in the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. The name Friedrich-Alexander comes from the university's first founder Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and its benefactor Christian Frederick Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.[1]

FAU is the second largest state university in the state Bavaria. It has 5 faculties, 23 departments/schools, 30 clinical departments, 19 autonomous departments, 656 professors, 3,404 members of academic staff and roughly 13,000 employees.[7]

In winter semester 2014/15 around 39,085 students (including 3,556 foreign students) enrolled in the university in 239 fields of study, with about 2/3 studying at the Erlangen campus and the remaining 1/3 at the Nuremberg campus. These statistics put FAU in the list of top 10 largest universities in Germany.[8]In 2013, 5251 students graduated from the university and 663 doctorates and 50 post-doctoral theses were registered. Moreover, FAU received 171 million Euro (2013) external funding in the same year, making it one of the strongest third-party funded universities in Germany.[8]

In 2006 and 2007, as part of the national excellence initiative, FAU was chosen by the German Research Foundation as one of the winners in the German Universities Excellence Initiative.[9] FAU is also a member of DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)[10] and the Top Industrial Managers for Europe[11] network.

In Academic Ranking of World Universities for year 2014, FAU ranked second among German universities in Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences group for all four ranking parameters TOP, FUN, HiCi and PUB.[12][13][14][15]

History

Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, founder of FAU

The university was founded in 1742, in Bayreuth by Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and moved to Erlangen in 1743. Christian Frederick Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (one of the two namesakes of the institution) provided significant support to the early university. From the beginning, the university was a Protestant institution, but over time it slowly secularized. During the Nazi era, the university was one of the first that had a majority of Nazi supporters in the student council. In 1961, the business college in Nuremberg was merged with the university in Erlangen, so now the combined institution has a physical presence in the two cities. An engineering school was inaugurated in 1966. In 1972, the school of education (normal school) in Nuremberg became part of the university.

Schloss Erlangen
The castle in the center of Erlangen, known to many simply as the Schloss, is home to a large part of the university's administration

Timeline

Below is a short timeline of FAU from its inception to its present form:

Campuses

FAU Busan campus

FAU is the first German university to establish a branch campus in Busan in the Republic of Korea. In November 2009, its campus project received approval from the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The FAU Busan Branch Campus offers a Graduate School with a master's degree program in Chemical and Bioengineering and a research center.[16]

In 2014, the university announced its intention of working toward making the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone an educational hub. To this end, FAU Busan works internationally with various companies and universities.[17]

Library

The University Library Erlangen-Nürnberg is the library system of the Friedrich Alexander University and is a regional library for the region of Middle Franconia. As an academic universal library, it offers its users a wide range of specialist literature from all faculties and a variety of services. With approximately 5.4 million volumes, it is Bavaria's largest library outside the state capital Munich. Large parts of the media stock are also accessible in interregional lending. The University Library is a member of the Bibliotheksverbund Bayern (Bavarian library union).

Faculties

The Kollegienhaus, the historical central building and lecture hall of the University at the borders of the Schlossgarten

In February 2007, the senate of the university decided upon a restructuring into five faculties.[18] Since October 2007, the FAU consists of:[19]

The following faculties were part of the university (sorted in the order in which they were founded):

Logo of the University Hospital
Old University Library (Erlangen)

Faculty of Engineering

Inception

In 1962, after lengthy debate, the Bavarian parliament decided to establish a Faculty of Engineering in Erlangen. Then, the University of Erlangen thus won out against the city of Nuremberg, which, for decades, had been demanding the establishment of a college of engineering in Nuremberg. Since the expansive areas of building land required for this project were not available in the center of Erlangen, the foundations for a new university campus were laid in the south east of the town in 1964. The formal establishment of the Faculty of Engineering, then the seventh faculty at the University, took place in 1966. What was unique at the time was that the various engineering departments were subsumed, as a faculty, into the main university rather than constituting an independent university.[1][20]

Present status

The Faculty of Engineering at FAU is a young educational and research institution. Since its foundation in 1966. The Faculty has five departments:

The Faculty has close connections both with other natural sciences and with traditional subjects at the university. The Faculty of Engineering currently concentrates on the following research fields:

Research

[23]

Major research areas

FAU claims leadership in a number of research topics. The current eight such major research areas are:[24]

Excellence initiative

[25] The Excellence Initiative by the German federal and state governments to promote science and research at German universities aims to promote cutting-edge research and to strengthen the higher education and research in Germany to improve its international competitiveness and to make top performers in academia and science visible. As part of this initiative, FAU was awarded the contract for the Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT), which received 1.9 million euros of annual funding for the next five years. The Cluster of Excellence 'Engineering of Advanced Materials and Processes' (EAM) was also established at FAU as part of the initiative and has been approved in the second round. EAM is funded with 40 million euros.[26]

Cluster of Excellence 'Engineering of Advanced Materials

[27][28][29] The Cluster of Excellence 'Engineering of Advanced Materials – Hierarchical Structure Formation for Functional Devices' (EAM) is the only interdisciplinary research collaboration of its type in Germany to focus on the investigation of functional materials and their processing at all length scales. The main research focus is on the fundamental and applied aspects of designing and creating novel high-performance materials. It is part of the Excellence Initiative of the German Research Foundation.

Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies

[30][31] The Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT) was founded in 2006. SAOT’s scientific focus lies on optics and optical technology, two fields which are considered key technologies of the 21st century. SAOT is currently funded with seven million euros.

Research institutions

Central institutions

[32]

Interdisciplinary centers

[33]

Research centers and centers of excellence

[34]

Partnerships

FAU is the first German university to establish a branch campus in Busan in the Republic of Korea. FAU has contacts with approximately 500 universities all over the world, including many of the world's top universities like the University of Cambridge, Duke University, UCL, Imperial College London and many more.[35]

Academic ranking

University rankings
Global
ARWU[36] 151-200
Times[37] 160
QS[38] =272

Overall world academic ranking of the university published by Academic Ranking of World Universities,[39]

Awards

Alexander von Humboldt Professorships

In 2010, the newly announced professor of physics and co-director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Prof. Vahid Sandoghdar was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship,[40] Germany’s highest-endowed international research award, endowed with €3.5 million. In the year 2011, the second in a row, FAU communications engineer and researcher Prof. Dr.-Ing Robert Schober (born 1971) was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, entailed with €3.5 million,[41][42][43] for an algorithm developed by him which is found in many modern phones today. In 2013, Prof. Oskar Painter received an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship as well. Prof. Painter is another new co-director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light.

German Excellence Initiative

The University of Erlangen-Nürnberg was successful within the German Universities Excellence Initiative in competing for a "cluster of excellence" and a graduate school.[44] The Cluster of Excellence 'Engineering of Advanced Materials' (EAM)" focuses on interdisciplinary developing new materials, joining engineering and natural sciences. The Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies emphasizes a strong focus in optical and photonics technology in the natural sciences, in engineering and the medical sciences and aims for a concise doctoral education. It is supplemented with a Master's degree program in the same topics.

After an in-depth evaluation, both programs were extended for the third phase of the German Excellence Initiative in 2012 until 2017. They contribute significantly to the research funding of the University, including five new research buildings, permanent new technical facilities and research and teaching staff. They also aim to increase the international perception of the contributing fields of research in Erlangen.

Notable alumni and professors

Points of interest

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Geschichte der FAU ›". Fau.de. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  2. ↑ "Freistaat Bayern Haushaltsplan 2015/2016, Einzelplan 15" (PDF) (in German). Bayerischer Landtag. p. 278. Retrieved 2017-06-20. Public funding: € 365.5 million
  3. ↑ "Entwicklung der Drittmitteleinnahmen der FAU Erlangen - Nürnberg nach Geldgebern 2012 bis 2016" (PDF). University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (in German). Retrieved 2017-06-20. Third party funding: € 177.6 million
  4. 1 2 3 "Die Leitung der FAU" (in German). University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  5. 1 2 "FAU staff". University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Retrieved 2017-06-20. University hospital not included.
  6. ↑ "Studierendenzahlen im Wintersemester 2016/2017 (Kopfzahlen)". University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (in German). Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  7. ↑
  8. 1 2 "FAU Key figures and rankings". fau.de. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ "DFG - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "T.I.M.E. - Top Industrial Managers for Europe". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "University of Erlangen-Nuremberg | Academic Ranking of World Universities - 2016 | Shanghai Ranking - 2016". Shanghai Ranking. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  13. ↑ "Rankings ›". Fau.de. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  14. ↑
  15. ↑ "Academic Ranking of World Universities in Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences - 2014 - 2014 Top 100 Universities in Natural Sciences and Mathematics - ARWU-FIELD 2014". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "Welcome to FAU Busan Campus - German University in Korea". Fau-busan.ac.kr. 2011-05-13. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  17. ↑ "[Weekender] German university epitomizes educational hub vison". Koreaherald.com. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  18. ↑ "Die Universität stellt sich neu auf". Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. 7 February 2007. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  19. ↑ "Uni Erlangen Faculties". FAU. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  20. ↑ "Uni Erlangen Faculty of Engineering". Erlangen University. Retrieved 3 Oct 2013.
  21. ↑ "Ranking - QRED - EPFL". 6 January 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ "Research › FAU.EU". Uni-erlangen.org. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  24. ↑ "Major research areas at FAU › FAU.EU". Uni-erlangen.org. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  25. ↑
  26. ↑ "Exzellenzinitiative › FAU.DE". Uni-erlangen.de. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  27. ↑
  28. ↑
  29. ↑ "Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials (EAM) - Home". EAM. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  30. ↑
  31. ↑ "Startseite". Aot.uni-erlangen.de. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  32. ↑
  33. ↑
  34. ↑
  35. ↑ "Study". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  36. ↑ "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2017". Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  37. ↑ "World University Rankings 2016-2017". Times Higher Education. 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  38. ↑ "QS World University Rankings 2018". Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  39. ↑ "University of Erlangen-Nuremberg | Academic Ranking of World Universities - 2016 | Shanghai Ranking - 2016". Shanghai Ranking. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  40. ↑ "Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation - AHP Preisträger 2010". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  41. ↑ "Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation - AHP Preisträger 2011". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  42. ↑
  43. ↑ "Newsletter Archive". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  44. ↑ Redaktion: Referat LS 4 - Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Internet (14 May 2013). "Excellence Initiative for Cutting-Edge Research at Institutions of Higher Education". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  45. 1 2
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