University of Mannheim

University of Mannheim

Universität Mannheim
Seal of the UMA
Motto	In Omnibus Veritas Suprema Lex Esto (Latin)
Motto in English	Truth in everything should be the supreme law
Type	Public
Established	1763: Theodoro Palatinae 1907: Handelshochschule 1967: Universität Mannheim
Endowment	€115 million
Chancellor	Barbara Windscheid
Rector	Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden
Academic staff	840 (full time)
Administrative staff	550 (full time)
Students	12,362 (HWS 2015/16)[1]
Undergraduates	7,115[1]
Postgraduates	4,965[1]
Doctoral students	249[1]
Location	Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany 49°29′00″N 8°27′53″E / 49.4832°N 8.4647°E / 49.4832; 8.4647Coordinates: 49°29′00″N 8°27′53″E / 49.4832°N 8.4647°E / 49.4832; 8.4647
Campus	Urban (Mannheim Palace), 74 acres (0.3 km²)[2]
Colors	Mannheim Blue and White
Athletics	12 Varsity teams
Affiliations	German Universities Excellence Initiative Council on Business & Society EQUIS AACSB AMBA ENTER CFA IAU DFG IBEA
Mascot	Udo the Red Panda[3]
Website	www.uni-mannheim.de

The University of Mannheim (in German: Universität Mannheim), also known as UMA, is a public research university situated in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967 the university has its origins in the 1763 established Theodoro Palatinae (Palatine Academy of the Sciences Mannheim), which was founded by the later Duke of Bavaria Charles Theodor, as well as the Handelshochschule (Commercial College Mannheim), which was initiated by Mannheim's senior mayor Otto Beck and Heidelberg's professor for Economics Eberhard Gothein in 1907.

The University offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs as well as Ph.D degrees within business administration, economics, law, social sciences, humanities, mathematics, computer science and information systems – all with an interdisciplinary and international focus. The University of Mannheim's campus is located in the city center of Mannheim and mainly centers on its main campus – the Mannheim Palace (completed in 1760). The university has around 12,362 full-time students, 800 scholars enrolled, 840 academic staff and a total income of more than €120 million in 2016.^[4] It is organized into 5 academic departments and 2 academic colleges.

The UMA is consistently ranked #1 in national university rankings and among the top business schools worldwide for its business administration and economics programs.^[5][6][7][8] Moreover, the university's programs for social sciences, politics as well as business informatics rank nationwide within the Top 3 and its programs for law and computer science within the Top 10.^[9][10][11] The 2015 QS World University Rankings ranked the UMA among the best one hundred universities within the disciplines of Social Sciences & Management, Accounting & Finance, Business Administration & Management and Economics & Econometrics, as well as among the Top 50 universities within the discipline of Political Sciences. Furthermore, the University of Mannheim is placed 83rd with regard to global employer reputation.^[12] The THE world university ranking in 2016 ranked the University of Mannheim 102nd worldwide.^[13]

The University of Mannheim is a member of the German Universities Excellence Initiative, the International Association of Universities, the European Network for Training Economic Research, the International Business Education Alliance (IBEA), the Council on Business & Society, the German Research Foundation (DFG), and it is accredited by the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) as well as the Association of MBAs (AMBA).^[14]

History

The University of Mannheim has no clearly defined foundation date. While the University as it is known today was officially founded in 1967, its roots can be dated back to the 18th century established Theodoro Palatinae (Palatine Academy of the Sciences Mannheim) and the Handelshochschule (Commercial College Mannheim) that dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. Mannheim's history is closely tied to the history of its main campus – the Mannheim Baroque Palace.

Origins

The Mannheim Palace itself dates back to the early 18th century. The city of Mannheim, founded in 1606, was fortified and at the present site of the Mannheim Palace a fortress called Friedrichsburg was located, sometimes serving as alternative residence for the Elector, one of the most important territorial princes of the Holy Roman Empire. When Elector Palatine Karl Philip III. had confessional controversies with the inhabitants of his capital city Heidelberg, he decided to appoint Mannheim the Palatinate's new capital in year 1720.

Karl Philip III. decided subsequently to construct a new palace as his residence on the site of the old "Friedrichsburg". In general, it was part of a trend among the German princes to construct grand new residences in that era.The construction of the palace was commenced solemnly on 2 June 1720. The overall building process was intended to cost about 300,000 Gulden, financed by an extraordinary "palace tax" (Schlossbausteuer), but in the end, the palace cost totalled more than 2,000,000 Gulden and severely worsened the Palatinate's financial situation. The first administrative institutions began using the Mannheim palace in 1725, but Karl Philip III. was able to transfer his court to the new residence only in 1731.

The final construction was not completed until 1760. Karl Philip died in 1742 and was succeeded by a distant relative, the young Count Palatine of Sulzbach and later Duke of Bavaria Charles Theodor. Under the initiative of the Alsacian scholar Johann Daniel Schöpflin and following the general academization movement in Europe, Prince Charles Theodor established the Palatine Academy of the Sciences Mannheim (Kurpfälzische Akademie der Wissenschaften) on 17 October 1763. The so-called Academia Electoralis Scientiarum et Elegantiorum Literarum Theodoro-Palatinae, shortened "Theodoro Palatinae" concentrated on the teaching of Natural Sciences and History, and soon earned itself a reputation which reached far beyond the borders of Charles Theodor's realm. In 1778, a second school was established at Mannheim's palace – the Commercial School (Großherzogliche Handelsschule) – that served as school for merchant sons and which was later named into "Grand-Ducal Commercial Academy".^[15] Further associated institutions included the Mannheim Observatory, the Ducal Natural History Collection, the Ducal Physical Cabinet, the Mannheim Palace Botanical Garden and the in 1769 founded Mannheim Academy of Fine Arts. The establishment of the Theodoro-Palatinae had a strong cultural and educational policy link and intended to foster the sciences and arts in the Palatinate. Under Charles Theodor's reign the academy received enormous funding of more than 35,000,000 Gulden and contributed considerably to the cultural, economical and infrastructural development of Southern Germany during the second half of the eighteenth century. Charles Theodor developed Mannheim into a German centrum for Arts and Sciences. Not only the palace, but also the city of Mannheim saw their zenith during Charles Philipp's reign. The glamour of the Elector's court and Mannheim's then famous cultural life lasted until 1778 when Charles Theodor became Elector of Bavaria by inheritance and moved his court to Munich. Things worsened further during the Napoleonic Wars, when Mannheim was besieged. During Napoleon's reorganization of Germany, the Electorate of the Palatinate was split up and Mannheim became part of the Grand Duchy of Electorate-Bavaria, thus losing its capital/residence status. Although Mannheim kept the title of "residence", the Mannheim Palace was used merely as accommodation for several administrative bodies. In addition, the reorganization of the Palatinate and Bavaria made the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities a major concurrent for academic funding. The consequences of religious strife, increased rivalry for funding and the Napoleonic Wars put an end to the "Theodoro-Palatinae", which was finally closed on 17 February 1803 after forty years of existence. Several years later in 1817, the "Grand-Ducal Commercial Academy" was closed as well.

20th century

For most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the palace served no uniform purpose, being used as a representative building and a museum for the city. Although there was no continuous existence of a scientific college in Mannheim, the newly established Handelshochschule Mannheim, or Municipal Commercial College Mannheim, founded in 1907, saw itself in the tradition of Carl Theodor's earlier colleges. The Handelshochschule was founded under an initiative from Mannheim's senior mayor Otto Beck (1846–1908) and the Heidelberg's economics professor Eberhard Gothein (1853–1923).

Although the Handelshochschule quickly developed into a well-known institution that conducted teaching and research in business administration, economics, pedagogy and psychology it suffered from financial hardship due to scarce financial resources. Since 1932 there had been plans to merge the Handelshochschule Mannheim with the Heidelberg University, hence both solving the School’s financial situation and supplementing the faculties at Heidelberg with business, psychology and pedagogy departments; nevertheless until 1933 no final decision regarding the integration of the Handelshochschule was made. This situation changed in mid-1933 when the social democratic municipal administration of Heidelberg and Mannheim was banished and replaced by a national socialistic one that pushed the merging process forward. In contrast to the initial plans featuring a full integration of the Handelshochschule, the national socialistic administration preferred a partial integration only that includes to supplement Heidelberg’s university with psychology and pedagogy institutes from the Handelshochschule Mannheim – in an aryanized outlay however.

Director of the Handelshochschule since 1929 was Otto Selz, a German philosopher and psychologist who is considered as being a pioneer of the cognitive sciences. As a result of the merger plans and especially due to his jewish background Selz was discharged on 6 April 1933 following the Badischen Judenerlass administered by NSDAP politician Robert Heinrich Wagner, a waiver designed to ban jewish academics from German universities. Later, Selz was deported to the concentration camp Auschwitz where he was executed in 1943; of the eleven docents at Mannheim's Handelshochschule that also possessed a jewish background nine shared Selz's fate.^[16] The merger process became more concrete in June 1933 when Heidelberg’s Faculty for Philosophy and the University's Psychiatric Hospital discussed about the integration and allocation of Mannheim’s psychology department and concluded that while Heidelberg already has an academically strong psychiatric institution Mannheim’s departments would be a very valuable supplement. After several discussions and internal negotiations, both of Heidelberg University’s departments agreed on establishing a distinct Psychological Institute that fosters the clinical as well as the philosopical perspectives of psychology – hence, the Handelshochschule built the foundation of Heidelberg’s Institute for Psychology within the Heidelberg University Faculty of Behavioural Sciences and Empirical Cultural Sciences. In October 1933 Heidelberg university’s rectorate directed that students of the Handelshochschule Mannheim are allowed to continue their studies in Heidelberg and on 25 October a final meeting between Mannheim and ministries under Robert Heinrich Wagner was conducted to finalize the merger. The final contract included the transfer of all assets of the Handelshochschule to the Heidelberg University, the transfer of all existing institutes and collections to Heidelberg as well as the relocation of the Psychological Institute of the from then on former Handelshochschule Mannheim to the basement rooms of the Psychiatric Hospital department at the Heidelberg University. Only two weeks later the whole inventory and staff were transferred from Mannheim to Heidelberg – with this transfer the merging process was completed and the „jews released" Handelshochschule Mannheim finally closed. While the institutes, collections and personnel had been transferred in 1933 the entire absorption process took until April 1938.^[17]

Although the "Handelshochschule" was closed down in 1933, it built the foundation for what is today known as University of Mannheim.^[18] In World War II, Mannheim was heavily bombed from December 1940 until the end of the war and saw more than 150 air raids. The largest raid on Mannheim took place on 5 and 6 September 1943 when a major part of the city was destroyed. In 1944, raids bombed and widely devastated the Mannheim Palace, leaving only one room undamaged out of over 500 – only its external walls survived. Many people supported demolishing it entirely after the war to create additional space for a more modern city architecture. These plans were abolished and the palace was reconstructed instead. In 1946, the "Handelshochschule" re-opened under its new name Staatliche Wirtschaftshochschule Mannheim (State College for Economics) with a student body of 545 students in the school's first year. University of Mannheim's official seal has its origins during the time of the re-opening of the Handelshochschule. The official seal of the Trustees of the Staatliche "Wirtschaftshochschule" served as the signature and symbol of authenticity on documents issued by the corporation. A request for one was first recorded in a meeting of the trustees in 1946 during which some of the Trustees desired to get a Common Seal for the Use of the Corporation. The seal's design was chosen to represent the strong connection between Mannheim and the University of Mannheim and depicted the Mannheim Palace on top and the square-based outlay of Mannheim's downtown below; surrounded by In Omnibus Veritas, the University's official motto in a shortened version. UMA's motto was based on a line in the constitution from Carl Theodor's Palatine Academy of the Sciences Mannheim from 1763, In Omnibus Veritas Suprema Lex Esto that could be translated into "Truth in everything should be the supreme law". Ten years after its reopening, the "Staatliche Wirtschafshochschule" finally moved into the east wing of the meanwhile rebuilt palace. The other rooms of the old Residence were occupied by government officials whose offices were still in ruins after the war.^[18]

In 1963, the "Staatliche Wirtschafshochschule Mannheim" extended its subject program faculties to a total of three – Business Administration and Social Sciences, Philosophy-Philological Sciences and Law – and subsequently gained the status as "university" on July, 4 in 1967.

Following the new status the council of ministers of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg decided to rename the State College into the "University of Mannheim" (Universität Mannheim). The University of Mannheim experienced continuous growth in both recognition and size. While there were only 3,150 students registered in 1967, the number of students tripled by the time of the mid-nineties counting more than 10,000 students.^[19] In the winter term of 2013, the university's student body has reached its all-time high with more than 12,000 students. During the growth phase of the University in the 1960s and 1970s not only the number of students but also the number of faculties increased. In 1969, the University of Mannheim expanded its faculty number to eight by adding the faculties of Economics, Geography and Political Sciences and by splitting the faculties of Business Administration and Social Sciences as well as Philosophy-Philological Sciences.^[20]

21st century

The emphasis at the University of Mannheim has always remained on business and economics, although teaching was broadened to further disciplines. In 2000, the university received as first German and third university in Europe the accreditation by Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business for its business administration faculty.^[21] In the same year Mannheim initiated the Renaissance des Barockschlosses (Renaissance of the Mannheim Palace), a funding campaign aimed at raising funds for renovating and extending the main-campus. This aim was reached in the financial year 2006–2007, raising €53 million. In recent years, a policy referred to as "profile sharpening" (Profilschärfung) has been introduced to lift the University's reputation in its research clusters to a European level. The closing of majors such as geography (2002) and philosophy (2004) in the study program, due to this development back to the roots, has led to frequent complaints from the student council.^[22] As one of the final steps in this transformation, the University of Mannheim has founded the Mannheim Business School (MBS) in 2005 to offer executive education in Germany. As a result of the transformation process the organizational structure was restructured and the number of faculties was decreased to six. Since 2007, the University of Mannheim is funded as the smallest university by the "Excellence Initiative" under an initiative started by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Research Foundation to promote cutting-edge research in Germany and subsequently established Germany's first graduate school, the Mannheim Graduate School for Economics and Social Sciences (GESS) in the same year. In 2008, the University passed a reformation statute to increase its cross-faculty collaboration and research and announced its profile as university with a strong focus on Economics, Business Administration, Social Sciences, Law, Mathematics, Computer Science and Humanities.

Campus

"The nice and befriending Mannheim that is built evenly and genially."

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe[23]

The University of Mannheim is located on an urban campus in the city of Mannheim. Mannheim is a city in southwestern part of Germany and with approximately 315,000 inhabitants, the second-largest city in the state Baden-Württemberg, directly after Stuttgart. Mannheim is situated in the Rhine Neckar Triangle, a European metropolitan area with approximately 2.4 million people living there, comprising the neighboring cities of Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg, and a number of smaller towns in the perimeter. Mannheim is located at the confluence of the Rhine and the Neckar in the northwestern corner of Baden-Württemberg. The Rhine separates Mannheim from the city of Ludwigshafen, just to the west of it in Rhineland-Palatinate, and the border of Baden-Württemberg with Hesse is just to the north. Mannheim is downstream along the Neckar from the city of Heidelberg. Mannheim is unusual among German cities in that its streets and avenues are laid out in a grid pattern, leading to its nickname die Quadratestadt ("city of the squares"). Its pedestrian zone is a shopping and night life magnet for the surrounding area and beyond. Mannheim is about 30 minutes by train away from Frankfurt am Main and the Frankfurt International Airport, 40 minutes from Karlsruhe and its Baden Airpark as well as one hour by train from Stuttgart and the Stuttgart Airport. Mannheim is well connected to Berlin and Hamburg, which can be reached within one hour by plane from Mannheim City Airport. Mannheim's city centers on the eighteenth century Mannheim Palace, the former home of the Prince-elector of the Palatinate, that now houses the University of Mannheim.

Mannheim Palace

The University of Mannheim belongs to the small group of universities in Germany that are said to maintain a classical university campus, widely comparable to those of universities in the United States and the United Kingdom. All faculties, research institutes and facilities are placed in very short distances to one another and are reachable by feet. The present core campus covers over 74 acres (0.79 km²) in a contiguous area of Mannheim's downtown district; the older heart of the campus and core building comprises the Mannheim Palace. With a total length of more than 400 meters it is the largest baroque palace in Germany. The palace dates from the 18th century with its Construction commenced solemnly on 2 June 1720. Although the construction was not completed before 1760, it was used by first administrative institutions since 1725. In World War II, the palace was heavily bombed and partly destroyed. Many residents supported demolishing it after the war to create space for a more modern city architecture. Nevertheless, these plans were abolished and in recent years, the palace has been renovated extensively thanks to private donations and government funding totaling more than Euro 54 million. There was considerable building activity in the palace due to Mannheim's anniversary in 2007, when the palace has been repainted in a bright ocher/yellow, the Mittelbau been thoroughly rebuilt (including its new roof construction), and the Ehrenhof yard been restructured and paved with granite. In 2012, Mannheim's campus was listed the most beautiful in Germany.^[24]

Several of the University's buildings, mainly the Palace itself, were constructed in the Baroque architecture style from 1650 to the end of the 18th century. Much of the campus, predominantly the Mannheim Palace was designed by Louis Remy de la Fosse and Johann Kaspar Herwarthel, a prominent architects and the chief court designer of Charles III Philip. Modern steel and glass elements were integrated and now contrast to the almost 300-year-old walls.^[25] The city center of Mannheim is aligned symmetrically to the palace. The site of the palace is impressive, although the construction of roads and railway tracks has diminished its dominating appearance. To the southwest, Mannheim's main campus faces the river Rhine and the adjacent city Ludwigshafen. To the northeast the University's main campus, the palace, presents its 450 m long front to the Mannheim city centre. The Breite Straße runs from the palace to Mannheim's central square, the Paradeplatz.

The central part of the palace represents the Mittelbau which incorporated the representative halls of the Prince-Elector. Today, the Mittelbau holds university library halls and the Rittersaal hall (Great Hall). Furthermore, a palace museum was opened in 2007. The Mittelbau is flanked by the Ehrenhof West and Ehrenhof Ost wings, which include the large Ehrenhof central yard in front of the Mittelbau. In those two wings, there are mainly lecture halls and offices of the university's humanities sections. Below the Ehrenhof, there is a massive bunker complex dating from World War II. Initially constructed as defensive military fortification designed to protect up to 1,500 residents or valued materials from Russian and Allied bombing attacks, it served as a hotel with a capacity for up to 65 guests after the war and is used as occasional exposition space for modern and urban art today, e.g. during the Long Night of Museums in Mannheim.^[26] The Northern wing of the Palace includes the impressive Schlosskirche (Palace Church) and houses the Department of Law as well as Mannheim's Amtsgericht (Lower District Court). The Southern/Eastern wing is much larger than the northern one by including the popular Schneckenhof yard, which is a well-known event ground in Mannheim, and by holding the majority of the university's central institutions, as well as the largest lecture halls and the central library "Hasso Plattner Library". Two sculptures are located on the central courtyard and represent the two founders of the Mannheim Palace Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine and Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria.

Over the next two years until 2017, a new study and conference center will be built in the west wing of the courtyard. The new construction will be built in the disused boiler facilities and coal cellar of the Palace. The study and conference center will feature two semicircular lecture halls, an additional flexible-use conference area, ten breakout rooms and a large foyer that faces the palace garden at the back of the west wing with a large glass façade.

A5 + B6 Campus

Besides the palace the university maintains several building in direct or close distance to the main campus. 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. In 2012, the university and the state Baden-Württemberg has decided to provide the university with several new buildings located in the city quadrates of A5 and B6, which will create a second smaller campus in close neighborhood of the Mannheim palace. The additional area added to Mannheim's campus will be more than 5,100 square meters.^[27] The building complex will house parts of the Mannheim Graduate School GESS, economic research facilities and additional lecture halls.

Landmarks

Contemporary campus landmarks include the Mannheim Jesuit Church, the Mannheim Observatory, the original Antikensammlung within the Mannheim Palace, the Anna Hoelzel Memorial, the Mannheim Palace Church, the Centre for European Economic Research, the Palais Bretzenheim, the Landgericht Mannheim (district court) and the Mannheim Schneckenhof.

• 
  Mannheim Observatory
• 
  Jesuit Church, Mannheim
• 
  The Palais Bretzenheim
• 
  The Anna Hoelzel Memorial
• 
  Mannheim Schneckenhof
• 
  Mannheim Palace Church

Organisation and administration

Governance

The University of Mannheim is cooperatedly administrated by the Rectorate, which comprises the Rector (or President), three extraofficial Pro-Rectors (Vice Presidents) and the Chancellor. The rectorate is recognized as the 'executive body' of the university. Its main task is to implement the strategic aims concluded by the University Council. Since October 2012 the UMA is headed by rector Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden. The rectorate further consists of the chancellor, Susann-Annette Storm, who is the head of the central administration, the three pro-rectors, Eva Eckkrammer, Thomas Puhl and Thorsten Meiser who are responsible for international relations, teaching and communication as well as research and structure respectively. In addition, the Communication & Fundraising Department is also part of the rectorate and represents the interface between the University and the public.

The Senate is the "legislative branch" of the university. The rector and the members of the rectorate are senators ex officio, as are also the deans of the faculties. Another 18 senators are elected for four-year terms, within the following quotas: nine university professors; three academic staff; three delegates of the student body; and three employees of the university administration. The University Council is the advisory board to the aforementioned entities and encompasses, among others, the director of the Max Planck Institute Martin Hellwig, as well as CEOs of German industries.^[28]

The rector is the administrative head of UMA and in its chief executive officer, responsible for executive management, representation and leadership on academic issues. The rector reports to and is accountable to the Council. The university’s current rector is Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden.

Years	Rector
1967–1969	Knut Borchardt
1969–1970	Hans-Martin Pawlowski
1970–1973	Gerhard Zeitel
1973–1976	Eduard Gaugler
1979–1982	Heinz König
1982–1985	Gerd Roellecke
1985–1988	Heinrich Chantraine
1988–1994	Otto H. Jacobs
1994–2001	Peter Frankenberg
2001–2012	Hans-Wolfgang Arndt
2012 –	Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden

University of Mannheim is organized as a public, government, nonsectarian institution of higher education. Its official corporate name is "Universität Mannheim". Mannheim's academic activity is organized into "schools", or "faculties" (Fakultäten). Currently, the University of Mannheim has five official faculties and two academic graduate colleges: The Mannheim Business School (MBS) and Graduate School for Economics and Social Sciences (GESS). At the Mannheim Palace campus, the faculty for business administration, which dates back to the 1969, is the largest faculty with about 4,000 students enrolled, 37 professors, 150 additional academic staff and 37 chairs.^[29] 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. All the schools are closely interconnected in order to foster an academic and scientific exchange between the different subjects.

The Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss of the University of Mannheim (AStA) is the student government for University of Mannheim students and all registered students are members. Its elected leadership consists of the Senate elected by both undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students, and the President and Vice President elected as a ticket by the entire student body. AStA's task is representing student interests vis-à-vis the university administration and the senate.^[30]

Undergraduate and Graduate Schools	Graduate and Professional
Mannheim Palace and A5 Campus The Business School (1963) School of Law and Economics (1963) School of Social Sciences (1963) School of Humanities (1963) School of Computer Science and Mathematics (1967)	Mannheim Palace Campus and L7 Building Mannheim Business School (2005) Graduate School for Economics and Social Sciences (2007)

Business School

The University of Mannheim Business School is the undergraduate and graduate business school of the University of Mannheim. The School awards Bachelor of Business Administration, Master of Management (MMM), and Ph.D. degrees. As the first German institution, the Business School of the University of Mannheim has gained the "Triple Crown" (Triple accreditation): It is accredited by AACSB International, the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and EFMD (EQUIS). With 37 chaired professors and about 4,000 students, the Business School ranks among the largest in Europe.

The undergraduate business degree has the most developed integrated international exchange program in Germany, with a mandatory exchange term during the third year and more than 95% of third-year class students participating. Students generally study for one semester abroad at one of more than 400 highly respected partner schools in more than 50 countries. Instead of the exchange term, the program exceptionally allows students to have a further semester at Mannheim with a special curriculum focusing on international course load and business ethics.

Besides the strong international outlay due to the integrated exchange semester, internationality and cross-cultural learning is emphasized by obligatory language tracks in the course curriculum (Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, Korean or Portuguese tracks possible) and 70% of courses held in English.

At graduate level the "Mannheim Master of Management (MMM)" offers an entirely open course curriculum that allows students to choose courses according to their own wishes. The MMM can thus be converted to a Master of Finance, Master of Accounting, Master of Marketing etc. The range of available courses include all business related subjects and interdisciplinary courses, such Corporate Finance and Banking, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, Operations Research or Information Systems, and many more. Furthermore, students can select courses out of the Economics, Sociology and Humanities departments.

Several double degree graduate programs with institutions such as the Queen's University, ESSEC Business School Paris, Bocconi University, Copenhagen Business School, University of South Carolina are available and enable the students to pursue two master's degrees at the same time. International exchange programs, comparable to those at undergraduate level (while not mandatory), also allow for cross-cultural cooperation and learning. Usually more than 40% of the MMM classes each year choose to participate in one of those programs.

School of Law and Economics

Department of Law:

Eighteen full professors, their staff and numerous renowned associate lecturers research and teach at the Department of Law. The Department of Law is home to several important institutes and programs (e.g. the institute for company law (Institut für Unternehmensrecht (IURUM)), the institute for insurance law (Institut für Versicherungswissenschaft) or the centre for the law of bankruptcy law (Zentrum für Insolvenz und Sanierung (ZIS)).^[31]

The department of law 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.

Mannheim's Law school is the first law school in Germany to introduce a modern Bachelor of Law study program, the so-called "Bachelor Unternehmensjurist", while maintaining the high standards of the legal State Examination system. The programme combines modules from the Department of Law (thematic priority on business law) and the Business School (thematic priority human resources or tax and accounting). It enables students to study law and business simultaneously^[32] and ends after 6 semesters (3 years) with a bachelor's degree. It is the first bachelor's degree in Germany which can be followed up with a master's (graduate) programme in business, a master's (graduate) programme of law or the German state examination in law (Staatsexamen) (German government licensing examination).^[33]

Department of Economics:

More than twenty full-time senior faculty members and 21 assistant professors and numerous lecturers are engaged in a variety of research projects at the frontiers of their fields, ranging from micro- and macroeconomics, econometrics, labour economics, industrial organization, financial economics, auctions and game theory, policy analysis and evaluation to economic history and international trade. The department has special expertise in microeconomic specializations and econometrics, both in theory and application. Its research programmes are aided by large institutional grants from the German National Science Foundation (DFG); additional funds are obtained from other public and private institutions. The department owns a library collection of more than 350,000 volumes in German as well as other languages (mostly English) and subscribes to 400 journals.

The Department of Economics of the University of Mannheim is ranked 1st in Germany and is ranked as the best and most research intensive department among all German-speaking countries. Furthermore, the 2013 Economics Ranking of Handelsblatt ranks 6 professors of Mannheim's department among the world's 100 most influential researchers in Economics.^[34][35][36] The department maintains close partnerships and exchange agreements with universities like Yale University, University of California, Berkeley or the Warwick University.^[37][38]

School of Social Sciences

The School of Social Sciences comprises the fields of political science, sociology and psychology with an academic staff of 36 professors^[39] and 150 additional scientists. The faculty is well-known^[40] for its empirical-analytical orientation and its focus on Europe.

The Department of Sociology at the School of Social Sciences is renowned for its strength in empirical and analytical research, and for using innovative quantitative techniques in its research design.

The Department's main areas of focus in research and teaching consist of Sociological Theory, Comparative Sociology, Stratification Research, Economic Sociology, Social Psychology, and Quantitative Research methods. The department maintains close cooperation with the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) and the Leibniz Institute for Social Research (GESIS). Since 2014 the Mannheim School of Social Sciences is the first and only European partner institution of the EITM Summer Institutes and provides advancing theoretical and empirical research training in form of a summer school to scholars, together with its US partners Princeton University, Harvard University, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Duke University, Washington University and the National Science Foundation.^[41][42]

The Department of Psychology has developed into one of the leading research and teaching institutions in Germany, focusing mainly on the research areas of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Consumer Psychology, Social Psychology and Cognitive Psychology. Recently a new chair for Consumer Psychology has been established and a collaborative research center on decision making been opened. Further research is also being conducted at the Otto-Selz-Institute (Mannheim Centre for Work and Health), which focuses on the impact of negative influences at the workplace.

The Department of Political Science has an emphasis on the use of quantitative and analytical methods in its research on political phenomena. The Department's main areas of focus in research and teaching are Comparative Politics and International Relations, with emphasis on Political Behavior, Political Economy, International Conflict, and German and European Politics. The research activities of the Department of Political Science are complemented by the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) and the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 884 "Political Economy of Reforms", The Department of Political Science was one of the first universities in Germany to introduce a systematic and international study program by offering Bachelor, Master and Ph.D (doctoral) degree programs. Furthermore, the department holds close partnerships and exchange programs with the Washington University, St. Louis, the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and the University of Milan, Milan. The University of Mannheim is editor of the American Political Science Review, which is published by Cambridge University Press. The current editor-in-chief is Mannheim's Thomas König.

School of Humanities

The Mannheim School of Humanities engages in research and teaching at the intersection of culture, society and business with an interdisciplinary, international and intercultural perspective. With 26 full professorships, two junior professorships, about 100 research and teaching associates and more than 2,800 students in total, the Mannheim School of Humanities is the university's second largest school. Each year, about 1,000 new students take up their studies at the School of Humanities.^[43] The School 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.^[44] In close cooperation with the Business School, the School of Humanities offers several renowned interdisciplinary study programs such as "Culture and Business".

Distinguished fields of research are globalization studies and linguistic topics such as multilingualism. The school stands in close cooperation with the Institute for the German Language (IDS), the Mannheim Centre for Empirical Multilingualism Research (MAZEM gGmbH) and maintains extensive cooperation with a large variety of international partner universities.

School of Computer Science & Mathematics

The school consists of the Institute of Mathematics and the Institute of Computer Science:

Department of Computer Science:

The Institute of Computer Science and Business Informatics consists of eleven Chairs and Professorships dedicated to Data Management, Software Development, Web Technologies, Process Modelling, and Mobile and Visual Media. Their common point of interest is the management of complex data material for society and economy. The institute is mainly located in the building A 5,6. Together with the business informatics group that are part of 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.

Department of Mathematics:

The Institute of Mathematics consists of eleven Chairs and 22 Professorships that focus on classical mathematical disciplines as well as on economic and practical-oriented fields of mathematics. The main areas of research include Algebra, Analysis, Geometry, Stochastics and Mathematical Statistics as well as Mathematics in Finance and Insurance. 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.

Rankings and reputation

University rankings
Global
Times[45]	102
QS[46]	411-420
Europe
Times[47]	40

The University of Mannheim was called "The Harvard of Germany" by the German newspaper Die Zeit.^[48]

Business

Furthermore, Times Higher Education referred to the UMA as "Germany's leading higher education institution for business and economics" since the university is especially known for Business, Economics and Social Sciences.^[49] The University is widely considered to have the best business and economics program in Germany^[34] and its Master in Management is ranked 14th in Europe by the FT.^[50][51] The university's business school is ranked 1st in Germany by the Eduniversal ranking and 34th worldwide.^[52]

The Business School's MBA program is ranked globally 23rd by CNN Expansion,^[53] and 26th by The Economist.^[53] Its Executive MBA ranks 21st internationally in the Financial Times Executive MBA Ranking.^[53] A study conducted in 2011 by the social networking platform XING revealed that the majority of executives in German companies are alumni of the University of Mannheim.^[54][55][56]

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. According to the ranking of the German business newspaper Wirtschaftswoche, which based on the opinion of 500 human resources managers of leading companies in Germany, all programs of the university reached a place in the top 10. According to the current edition of the CHE-Ranking, the University of Mannheim is one of the most successful German universities. Nationwide it received the best evaluation in four of its disciplines: business administration, economics, political and social science.^[57]

In 2012 the university received the ERASMUS E-Quality seal for its performance in the ERASMUS exchange program.^[58] The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) awards this distinction annually to universities that perform especially well in the ERASMUS exchange program.

Academics

Admissions

The admission process of the University of Mannheim is known as highly competitive. The Mannheim's business administration undergraduate program is the most selective undergraduate program at the University of Mannheim with an admission rate of only 10 to 11%.^[59] It is widely known for its reputation as the most prestigious undergraduate business program in Germany^[5] and its highly selective admissions. Undergraduate as well as graduate students are generally selected based on academic excellence and extraordinary extracurricular involvement.^[60] In 2012, the mean entrance average for Mannheim's business undergraduate degree was 1.2/5.0 (with 1.0 the highest grade possible), with more than 90% of admitted applicants ranking in the top 10% of their high school classes. Other highly competitive undergraduate programs at the university include Economics, Psychology, Information Systems and Law.

Admission to consecutive Master's programs always requires at least an undergraduate degree equivalent to the German grade "good" (i.e., normally a B+ in American, or a 2:1 in UK terms). Furthermore, at graduate level, applicants of the Business School have to submit a GMAT score of at least 600 to be considered in the application process while applicants for the economics programs have to absolve the GRE with high scores - especially in the quantitative section of the test.^[61][62] The average GMAT score of the class 2015 of the Mannheim Master in Management was 680.^[63][64]

Admission to Mannheim's full-time MBA program was rated as the most selective in Europe, on par with the HEC Paris MBA.^[65]

Organization and length of courses

The academic year is divided into two terms. The winter term (semester) runs from 1 September to 31 January and the summer term from 1 February to 31 July. Mannheim was the first university in Germany that decided to adopt the timeframe of international academic years whereby the academic winter term already starts in September - while in Germany the classical academic year begins in October.^[66] Thus, classes are held from early September to early December and early February to early June. Students can generally only begin their studies in the winter term and not during the summer terms. The standard time required to finish a bachelor's degree is principally six semesters, and a further four semesters for consecutive master's degrees. The normal length of Ph.D. programs for full-time students is 6 semesters.

Tuition fees

In general, the German government heavily subsidizes university study to keep higher education affordable and accessible regardless of the student's socio-economic background.^[67] After the German "Bundesverfassungsgericht" (Constitutional Court) had overturned a federal law prohibiting tuition fees in year 2005 and devolved the right to administrate tuition fees to the federal state level, the University of Mannheim decided upon the introduction of tuition fees in the summer term of 2006.

Following the ruling in 2005, the University of Mannheim started charging tuition fees of €500 per semester (i.e. €1,000 per year) since the beginning of the autumn/winter term 2007. (as with any university in Baden-Württemberg) In addition to the tuition fees a basic contribution fee to the state-run Studentenwerk^[68] of €66.5 as well as a €60 administrative fee (Verwaltungsgebühr) are mandatory. Following an amendment in Baden-Württemberg students do not have to pay the tuition fees of €500 any longer from 2012 on.

Financial aid

In 2007, the University of Mannheim established a university-wide scholarship system addressing both undergraduate and graduate students. With more than 144 scholars in 2014 the university maintains one of the largest scholarship systems of all public universities in Germany.^[69] The University works in close cooperation with a large number of partners and funders that include individuals, companies and foundations. Among the scholarship partners, companies like McKinsey & Co., Allianz, Merck KGaA, BASF SE or Bertelsmann can be found, as well as foundations like the Ulrike & Dr. Axel Weber Stiftung or the Ernst & Young Stiftung.^[70] The recipients of all scholarships are chosen based on their academic performance and for all scholarships an application is mandatory. The scholarships are both directed at enrolled/incoming students as well as university applicants. In addition to the respective funding, important networking possibilities are offered. In the academic year of 2011/12, the University integrated the Deutschland Scholarship of the Federal Government in its scholarship system. Mannheim's scholarship includes several programs:^[69]

The Deutschland Scholarship was initiated in the year of 2011 by the German Federal Government designated as a national scholarship program supporting selected scholars with a monthly funding of €150. This base-line scholarship amount is sponsored by private donors. The Federal Government doubles this amount of funding to €300 per month. In addition to a student's academic performance, the University of Mannheim considers the applicants' personal circumstances, social commitments or extracurricular success during the assessment. The Mannheim Votum Scholarship was established in 2011 by the Votum-Foundation that assigns scholarships to orphans in need of support in order to enable successful studies at the University of Mannheim. All complete, semi-, divorce or social orphans are entitled to an application. The funding contains a maximum of €6,000 per year. The Mannheim Sports Scholarship is explicitly oriented towards students who are already enrolled at the University of Mannheim. In order to financially support top athletes at the University of Mannheim and to consider their additional effort for training and competitions, the university has established a sports scholarship. The Mannheim Sports Scholarship supports enrolled athletes way beyond the cooperation agreement "Kooperationsvereinbarung/Partnerhochschule" for top class sports. Organizational as well as financial support is supposed to mitigate the dual burden of top athletes – this support, for instance, include individual tutorships and assistance in administrative issues as well. The University chooses the scholarship recipients in conjunction with their private donors. Furthermore, the system aspires to a close contact between the scholarship holders and donors.

Libraries

Mannheim's library system's origins date back to the early 20th century. When Mannheim's City College of Trade (Städtische Handelshochschule) was founded in 1907, it maintained a large central library, which was supplemented by various departmental libraries. In 1932 these libraries were merged with the Municipal Palace Library (Städtische Schlossbücherei), which later became the Municipal Science Library Mannheim (Wissenschaftliche Stadtbibliothek Mannheim).

When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, the College of Trade was dissolved and the books in its library were donated to the University of Heidelberg. In 1946 the bulk of the collection was returned when the "Staatliche Wirtschaftshochschule Mannheim" (State College of Business Mannheim) was founded. When the business college became a university in 1967, the library acquired new and much expanded collections in all the subjects taught at the university. It also inherited around 240,000 volumes of older books from the "Wissenschaftliche Stadtbibliothek Mannheim" (Scientific Municipal Library Mannheim), which was dissolved in 1970. Today, the University Library of Mannheim maintains four libraries with more than 2.2 million volumes.^[71] The conventional book supply is complemented by numerous electronic services, such as 30,000 scientific journals, 600 scientific databases and more than 47,000 e-books that can be accessed via e-journal. It is one of Germany's most frequently used library systems and in the German library rankings of 2012, it was placed among the 5 best libraries in Germany.^[72]

The Schloss Ehrenhof library, also known as "Hasso Plattner" library, is located on the Mannheim Palace campus and is the main library of the university. The library was built in 2006 and is among the most modern and best equipped university libraries in Germany.^[73] The library's construction was primarily funded by a donation of Euro 10 million by the SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner in 2005. The library was planned by the architects Blocher & Blocher Partners and built by Bilfinger Berger. Today, on an area of more than 4,700 square meters, the library houses subject-related literature in economics, history, geography and law.

Besides the Hasso Plattner library, there are the business-focused Schloss Schneckenhof library, the humanities-focused A3 library and the A5 library which has a focus on social sciences, mathematics, computer science and information systems.

Research

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.^[74]

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.

University of Mannheim's largest research institute is the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research. In close collaboration with the School 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 different collaborative research centres, such as SFB 884: "Political Economy of Reforms", which aims to provide scientific insights into success and failure of reforms, determined by competing interests, contexts and the political process of reform-making. The project Group „Contextualized Decision Making: Investigating Mediators and Moderators", funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), investigates how people make decisions and why decisions often depend on weeny aspects of the situation in which they are taken.

There are also a further three research institutes with close ties to the University: The ZEW — Centre for European Economic Research, GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, and the IDS – Institute of German Language.^[75][76]

Associated institutions

BIT – Business Information Technology Institute CEEE - Center of Econometrics and Empirical Economics FGW – Research Group Elections e.V. GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences IDS – Institute of German Language IfM – Small and Medium Sized Companies and Entrepreneurship IMGB – Institute for Medicine Law, Health Law and Bioethics IMU – Institute for Market-oriented Management InES – Institute for Enterprise Systems IZG – Mannheim Interdisciplinary Center for Intellectual Property Mannheim Institute for Transport- and Traffic Law Mannheim Institute for Insurance Law

Mannheim Institute for Economics and Statistics MaCCI – Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation MAZEM – Mannheim Center for Empirical Multilingual Research MZES – Mannheim Centre for European Social Research MCMF – Mannheim Center for Macroeconomics and Finance Otto-Selz-Institute of Applied Psychology: Mannheim Center for Labour and Health Graduate College "Formations of the Global: World Experiences - World Designs - World Publics" ZIS – Mannheim Center for Insolvency and Restructuring ZI – Central Institute for Mental Health zentUMA – Mannheim Center for Company Succession ZEW – Centre for European Economic Research

Mannheim Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
One of the more recently established institutions that are affiliated with the University is the Mannheim Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (MCEI) that intends to provide a founder and incubator platform for students, young entrepreneurs and investors. The institute is supported by the Mannheim Institute for Mittelstand and SME Research (IfM) and the Chair of SME Research & Entrepreneurship at the University of Mannheim. Several successful startups have already been launched at the University of Mannheim or been initiated by former students, for instance, Payback (€500m exit to American Express), Delivery Hero (raised $1.4b funding),^[77] AUTO1 Group (raised $200m funding),^[78] StudiVZ (€85m exit to Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group), Simfy (raised €30m funding),^[79] Goodgame Studios (initiating IPO),^[80] SavingGlobal (raised $32m funding),^[81] Synchronite (sold to LivePerson),^[82] movilizer (sold to Honeywell in 2016),^[83] movilitas (sold to Peak-Ryzex),^[84] Amorelie (sold to ProSiebenSat.1 Media),^[85][86] AngelPad, Lendico (raised >€20m funding),^[87] PayMill (raised $18m funding),^[88] esome (raised €14m funding),^[89] Spreadshirt (raised $12.7m funding), number26 (raised €50m funding),^[90][91] TripDa (raised $11m funding),^[92] Stocard (raised €6.2m funding),^[93][94] MCube Incubator,^[95] Compass (raised $4.4m funding),^[96] Trecker.com (raised $2.6m funding),^[97] Coffee Circle (raised €2.1m funding),^[98] CloudRail (raised €0.5m funding),.^[99] Livecoding.tv (Y-Combinator class of 2015),^[100] Brickgate,^[101] CaterWings,^[102] 52masterworks,^[103] or Appinio.^[104]

Partnerships and cooperations

The University of Mannheim maintains wide-ranging international contacts to universities and organizations on all continents, both in areas of research and student exchange. Apart from being a member of the International Association of Universities (IAU) network, the university participates in several European exchange schemes for researchers and students, such as the European ERASMUS, the IBEA and ENTER programs partnering with universities like University College London, University of Stockholm, Tilburg University or Charles III University of Madrid. It also coordinates several intercontinental projects, mostly through the Erasmus Mundus program. Today, the university maintains more than 550 cooperations with over 400 universities in more than 50 countries and five continents,^[105] among them:

America Johns Hopkins University University of California Berkeley Rice University Yale University Carnegie Mellon University University of Cincinnati Washington University University of Florida University of Toronto McGill University Queen's University Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo ITESM Monterrey

Europe Paris-Sorbonne University Sciences Po Paris HEC Paris ESSEC Business School Saint Petersburg State University Bocconi University IE Business School University of St. Gallen Lund University King's College London University of Manchester Cass Business School University of Edinburgh University of Warwick

Asia University of Hong Kong Chinese University of Hong Kong Peking University Tsinghua University Fudan University National University of Singapore University of Tokyo Keio University Chulalongkorn University Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Indian Institute of Technology Madras Korea University Seoul National University

Pacific Australian Catholic University University of Adelaide University of Auckland Macquarie University University of Melbourne University of New South Wales University of Queensland University of Auckland

Besides its direct academic cooperations and exchange programs the University of Mannheim maintains a broad network to other universities and research institutions through its memberships of the German Universities Excellence Initiative, the German Research Foundation (DFG), the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) as well as the Association of MBAs (AMBA). Furthermore, Mannheim has set up international summer schools for international students offering (semi-)intensive German courses and numerous subject courses, by the departments of Business Administration and Philosophy.

Programmes and degrees

Undergraduate Studies

The University of Mannheim is dedicated predominantly to the study and research of social sciences, mathematics and computer sciences. The UMA awards a range of academic degrees spanning bachelors, masters and PhDs. The postnominals awarded are the degree abbreviations used commonly among German universities.

The University of Mannheim offers a wide variety of academic degrees for undergraduate students. Numerous university rankings^[106][5] The subjects political science,^[107] sociology,^[108] history, English studies, Germanic studies, computer science and information systems are also regularly highly ranked.^[109] 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 substantial business knowledge in addition to their major.^[110]

Courses are split across more than thirty research centres and departments, plus a Language Centre (IDS). Since almost all programmes are within the social sciences, they closely resemble each other, and undergraduate as well as graduate students usually take at least one course module in a subject outside of their degree, promoting a broader education in the social sciences. At undergraduate level, specific departments are relatively small (c. 90 students across three years of bachelor studies), ensuring small lecture sizes and a more hands-on approach than other public institutions. Since September 2009, it has been compulsory for second year undergraduates to study Business Ethics alongside normal studies.

Graduate Studies

The University of Mannheim provides further study options for each of its Bachelor programs. The university offers graduate degrees in Master's of Art, Master's of Science, LL.M's, and PhD's in addition to professional degrees such as the Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration. Admission to graduate programs is decentralized; applicants apply directly to the department or degree program. Most graduate students are supported by fellowships, teach assistantships, or research assistantships. In general, the Master's programs incorporate a strong international dimension, for instance by offering integrated exchange programs and double degrees and an increasing number of them is completely taught in English.^[111]

Doctoral Studies

The Mannheim Graduate School for Economics and Social Sciences (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^[112][113] 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. The GESS consists of the Center Doctoral Studies in Business (CDSB), Center for Doctoral Studies in Economics (CDSE) and the Center for Doctoral Studies in Social and Behavioral Sciences (CDSS).

The GESS offers different PhD programs, among them:

• Accounting & Taxation
• Finance
• Management
• Marketing
• Economics
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Sociology

The University of Mannheim also offers individual doctorates, 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 out of multiple disciplines and is integrated into an interdisciplinary lecture program.^[114]

Continued business education

The University of Mannheim has courses in continued academic education, with the Mannheim Business School (MBS) as its prime example. Mannheim Business School is the umbrella organization for continued business education at the University of Mannheim. Programs offered include the Mannheim MBA (different tracks are available, e.g. Asian track), the ESSEC & Mannheim Executive MBA, Tongji & Mannheim Executive MBA and the Master of Accounting & Taxation.^[115]

Student life

Mannheim hosts more than 15 Studentenverbindungen (student cooperations), which were predominantly founded in the 19th century. The Studentenverbindungen are to some extent comparable to the fraternities in the US or Canada. As traditional symbols (couleurs) corporation members wear colored caps and ribbons at ceremonial occasions (Kommers) and some of them still practice the tradition of academic fencing (Mensur), a kind of duelling, with the intention to "shape their members for the challenges of life." ^{[116][117][118]} In the 19th and early 20th century, the Studentenverbindungen played an important role in Germany's student life. Today, however, these corporations include only a relatively small number of students that often have the self-declared mission to keep academic traditions alive and to create friendships for life. The corporations' often representative 19th-century mansions are present throughout Mannheim.

Mannheim is not least famous for its student night life.^[119][120] Besides the various parties regularly organized by the Fachschaften (student councils) of the different faculties, the semester opening and closing parties of the university, the Schlossfest, the dormitory parties, and the soirées of Mannheim's student fraternities, the city, and the metropolitan area even more, offers a wide spectrum of night life activities. Adjacent to Mannheim's main campus is Mannheim downtown that represents the major night life district, where numerous bars and clubs are located close to each other. About 10-15 min. by tram away from the Mannheim Palace, Mannheim's upcoming party/pub district Jungbusch can be reached that is also in close neighborhood to several of Mannheim's student resident halls. From Wednesday on, it is all night very crowded and full of atmosphere. Moreover, Mannheim has more than six major clubs. The largest of them, the "Baton Rouge", is located in the middle of downtown adjacent to Mannheim's monument, the Wasserturm. The city of Frankfurt am Main - "Germany's finance capitol", which is about three times as large as Mannheim, can be reached a 30-minute train ride away, and offers an even more diverse night life, having a broader variety of clubs and bars. Furthermore, the city of Heidelberg, that is home to the famous Heidelberg Castle and the Old Town with origins in the 13th century, can be reached by train in 15 minutes.^[121]

Demographics of student body^[122][123]

	Student Body	Germany Census
German	84.2%	80.5%
African	0.7%	0.7%
Asian	4.5%	2.5%
American	1.3%	0.5%
European	9.3%	14.3%

Student body

In the 2011–12 academic year there were 12,000 full-time students at the University of Mannheim.^[124] Of these, approximately 15% of the student body came from abroad. Furthermore, each academic term around 800 incoming exchange students (370 ERASMUS students) choose the University of Mannheim as their exchange institution.^[125][126] In general, the UMA has, together with the exchange body, a highly international student body, with 110 nationalities represented. Additionally, in the 2011 International Student Barometer, a global survey for international students, the University of Mannheim was ranked #1 in Germany for multicultural study environment.^[122] There is approximately an equal split between genders with 51% men and 49% female students.

Sports and athletics

Students interested in sports can choose from more than seventy disciplines at the Mannheim Institute of Sports – from beginners to top-level. The Mannheim Institute of Sports is a modern-service enterprise within the University of Mannheim supporting athletics and the health of all students and employees at the University of Mannheim and the region. At the moment the institute offers a wide variety of programs with 241 courses in 76 different athletic disciplines and more than 320 hours per week.^[127] Most of the courses are offered free of charge. During the academic terms more than 6.000 students participate weekly.

Moreover, the University of Mannheim also maintains numerous sports societies that vary widely in their level and scope. Many more popular sports operate several university teams and departmental teams which compete in leagues against other teams within the university. The university offers a broad variety of varsity teams, such as teams in more than 16 different court sports from Tennis to Volleyball, courses in several different Martial Arts, 26 courses in physical fitness and body building, 9 courses in health sports from aquapower to yoga, and groups in 12 different dance styles. In addition, equestrian sports, Sailing, Rowing, Skiing in the Austrian Alps, Track and Field, Swimming, Fencing, Cycling, Acrobatics, Gymnastics, and many more. Mannheim is also host of a large number of successful athlets that compete on national and international level in several disciplines – the majority of these athletes is supported by the Mannheim Sports Scholarship. Supported students include German champions in Handball (2009), Olympic-style Weightlifting (2009), Chess (2008), Shooting (2009) and Hockey (2012).^[128]

The University of Mannheim and its sports teams also engages in numerous national and international competitions, such as the "European University Rowing Championships", where the University of Mannheim placed 2nd in 2005 finishing ahead of the University of Oxford, or the WHU Euromasters championships at which Mannheim regularly participates in the disciplines of Soccer (male & female), Basketball, Volleyball, Relay Race, Rowing and Cheerleading. Mannheim regularly competes against the Heidelberg University at the Red Bull Student Boat Battle, an annual university sports event initiated by the Red Bull GmbH that takes place in Mannheim and Heidelberg since 2007. During the competition the two universities celebrate their long-established rivalry by competing in the discipline of Water Jousting.^[129] Furthermore, the University of Mannheim and the WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management established the annual rowing race German MBA Rowing Race in 2006 where the MBA students of the Mannheim Business School and those of the WHU competing against each other.^[130] Model for the "German MBA Rowing Race" championships is the prestigious duel The Boat Race between the universities Cambridge and Oxford, carried out annually since 1829. The annual rowing competition takes place alternately either at the Moselle in Koblenz or at the Neckar in Mannheim. The race took place outside of those places in Düsseldorf in 2013 for the first time of its foundation and congregated an audience of several hundred people. For the first time since 2007, Mannheim has won the race in July 2013 and defended the title in 2014.^[131][132] The detailed nature of the record-keeping over the event's history has many record statistics being carefully monitored. A selection of the more frequently cited statistics includes: Number of wins: WHU, 6; Mannheim, 3 (2006, 2013, 2014); Most consecutive victories: WHU, 6 (2007–2012).

Student clubs

The university supports a number of student groups in various fields of interest. Currently there are around 36 active student clubs or "associations" on Mannheim's campus. Among them are the student parliament AStA, the student councils of the different faculties (Fachschaften), two drama clubs, the university orchestras Collegium Musicum Instrumentale and College Jazz Orchestra, three choirs, six student media groups, eight groups of political parties, a large number of different NGO's such as Amnesty International Student Initiative 1388 Mannheim, Unicef Student Initiative, Model United Nations Mannheim e.V., Enactus Universität Mannheim e.V or the SICoR – Student initiative Club of Rome e.V. Mannheim, several departments of European organizations of students and various business or economics related student groups.

The official organization of former students of the University of Mannheim is AbsolventUM Uni-Mannheim. With more than 7,000 members and 50 alumni clubs on 4 continents. Since 1993, the club has been reinforcing the alumni's lifelong bonds with the University of Mannheim, as well as the networks among its members, by means of numerous events and information platforms.^[133]

Mannheim Forum

The Mannheim Forum is an economic congress organized exclusively by students of the University of Mannheim and is among the largest collegiate events in Germany with more than 500 participants each year. During the Mannheim Forum various events take place on Mannheim's main campus. Besides topical speeches by renowned people, the participants also have the opportunity to attend the Recruiting Fair, as well as participate in several company workshops. During the panel discussions the audience can discuss with several top tier personalities from the worlds of business, economics, society and politics. Renowned speaker include Frank Mattern (CEO, McKinsey & Co. Germany), Peer Steinbrück, Paul Achleitner, Christian Lindner, Götz Werner, Dirk Müller (famous broker, known as "Mister Dax"), Hamed Abdel-Samad, Sahra Wagenknecht and Frank Plasberg etc. Under the topic „Time Questions: Politics, Economy, Society and Science", the most recent Forum took place, under the patronage of the state Baden-Württemberg and its Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann, from 13th until 15 March 2015 on Mannheim's main campus - the Mannheim Palace.^[134][135]

Traditions

Each year the University of Mannheim is host of the Schlossfest (Palace Festival), a festival at which the Mannheim Palace campus is open to visitors and introduces the university to incoming freshmen. During the Schlossfest several events take place that are dealing with themes out of arts, science and music. The science events include live experiments and academic speeches regarding specific subjects, while the arts events include art exhibitions, art workshops, dance acts, museum guides as well as guides through the old, non-public areas within the Mannheim Palace. Furthermore, several live-acts including musicians like Xavier Naidoo (2011), Söhne Mannheims, orchestras as well as comedians like Bülent Ceylan (2009) are part of the event program. The Schlossfest in 2013 attracted more than 13,800 visitors.^[136] The University of Mannheim also regularly hosts a large number of concerts, sport events, talks as well as theatrical performances. One of the largest events represents the annual music concert Arena of Pop organized by the radio station BigFM that featured acts including P!nk, Ricky Martin, Foreigner or Sunrise Avenue.

Besides the Schlossfest the University fosters the long-established tradition of weekly Schneckenhof parties that usually take place Thursdays on UMA's popular quadrangle "the Schneckenhof" during the summer terms and in UMA's catacombs during the winter terms and that are regularly organized by the Fachschaften (student councils) of the different faculties. The tradition of conducting parties on the Schneckenhof dates back to the early 1990s. Of those parties the most famous are the ones hosted by the Fachschaft BWL (Student Council of Business Administration) once each academic term, called "BWLer Fete", which normally attract the largest number of visitors, e.g. 3,000 in Fall 2013. The BWLer Fete is traditionally sponsored by different corporate partners such as Hays, Oliver Wyman or MLP and each party is organized under a unique theme, such as Russian Lover (Fall 2010), Circus Circus (Summer 2010), Like A Boss (Fall 2012) or Schneckenhof Goes Hollywood (Fall 2013).^[137] Each of the "BWLer Fete" parties usually ends with the refrain of the song "Meine Stadt" by the Söhne Mannheims.^[138]

"Meine Stadt holt ihren Mann Heim, Ganz egal wo er auch ist.

Diesen Reim schickt ihr der Mann Heim, Der sie so oft vermisst."^[139]

Another event that has become a popular tradition at the University of Mannheim are the Norweger Parties (Norwegian Partys) that were established by Norwegian Mannheim alumni in 1981. Normally, the event takes place during the academic summer at the University's Schneckenhof and is organized and hosted by Norwegian exchange students or Mannheim students with Norwegian background, in conjunction with international UMA societies. The event is characterized by attracting a large number of visitors (3,000 in 2013) and belongs to the most popular Schneckenparties. During the event the Schneckenhof is decorated in Norwegian themes and offers traditional beverages and food from Norway.^[140]

Newspapers and radio

Student newspapers include the long-established The UniMAgazin and its younger rival, The ForUM. Together with colleagues from the Heidelberg University, students run a radio station since 2001, radioaktiv, which provides members with an opportunity to produce and host weekly radio shows and promotes broadcast journalism, sports coverage, comedy and drama.

Student housing

Student Housing – while not directly on-campus – is provided through the "Studentenwerk Mannheim" (Student Services Mannheim) which offers student accommodation and catering services with more than 19 residence halls and 13 cantinas. The residence halls have an overall capacity of more than 3,150 places.^[141] Furthermore, the "Studentenwerk" also runs a general social counseling service, a large nursery and other social institutions.

Different apartment types and single rooms in residence halls, traditional working-class neighborhoods or upscale suburbs are available. Most rooms are furnished and hard wired to the university's computer center, which means that internet is for free. The monthly fees also cover heating, hot water and hall cleaning. The prices for a single room ranges between €285–330 per month and €260–380 per month for single apartments.^[142] All the residence halls are within cycling distance to the colleges and are well linked to the vast public transportation network of Mannheim City. The catering services include the operation of the university's canteen and cafeteria EO which are offering meals for students at discounted prices.^[143][144] Applications for rooms or apartments in the residence halls can be made online or at "Studentenwerk" help desks at Mannheim's campus. Applications for these sought – after places can be made at any time.^[145]

The closest residences to the Mannheim Palace campus are located in the squares L8 and N6. The Hermann-Heimerich-Haus in N6,8 offers 70 units (20 single rooms in two-person apartments and 50 single-person apartments) and maintains a rooftop common room accessible by all residents. It is situated next to Mannheim's shopping malls, the Mannheim main station and the Mannheimer Wasserturm, which is Mannheim's landmark. The residence hall L8, 13+14 offers nine single room apartments and is closest to the university's main campus and in direct neighborhood to the Mannheim Palace. Besides these two close resident halls, several further resident halls in relative short distance to the campus are available with good connections to the public transportation system in Mannheim.

Notable alumni and faculty members

Alumni and faculty of the University of Mannheim include many founders and businessmen as well as a large number of internationally acclaimed economists, philosophers, jurisprudents and social scientists. In business, Mannheim alumni and faculty notably founded, co-founded or presided over Morgan Stanley; Swiss Re; Coty; SAP; Deutsche Bank; Daimler; WILD; Hugo Boss; Escada; Bench.; K+S; Evonik; TAG AG and Ernst & Young. Alumni and faculty in the field of economics include the President of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research Hans-Werner Sinn, the former President of the DIW Berlin Klaus F. Zimmermann, the President of the ZEW Clemens Fuest, the President of the RWI Essen Christoph M. Schmidt, economists Axel Dreher, Isabel Schnabel and Horst Siebert, as well as the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Roman Inderst and Knut Borchardt. Alumni in the field of computer science include the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Joachim Weickert and Daniel Cremers as well as Hans Meuer, chairman of the International Supercomputing Conference. With a current network of more than 80,000 living alumni, the University of Mannheim is one of the most influential business institutions in Germany. Among former students, many have reached top positions in business, -including in DAX companies-, and in politics.

• 
  Claus E. Heinrich - Former Board member of SAP
  Ph.D. Operations Research 1986
• 
  Werner Müller – Former Federal Minister of Economics and CEO of Evonik
  M.Sc. Economics and Philosophy 1975
• 
  Hans-Peter Wild - CEO and Owner of WILD Group
  J.D. Tax Law 1970
• 
  Stefan Lippe – Former CEO of Swiss Re
  Ph.D. Business Administration 1982
• 
  Hans-Werner Sinn – Former President of Ifo Institute for Economic Research
  Ph.D. Economics 1978
• 
  Hans Albert – German Philosopher and Professor for Social Sciences
  (former Professor)
• 
  Clemens Fuest – President of Ifo Institute for Economic Research and former professor at Said Business School
  M.Sc. Economics 1991
• 
  Jens Weidmann – President of Deutsche Bundesbank
  Ph.D. Economics 1993 (did not graduate)
• 
  Christoph M. Schmidt – President of RWI Essen and Chairman of German Council of Economic Experts
  M.Sc. Economics 1987
• 
  Edmund Phelps - Nobel Prize laureate in Economics
  Dr.h.c. Economics 2001

List of selected alumni (the full list is available at subpage):

Business Sabine Bendiek, CEO of Microsoft, Germany (2015–today)[146] Claus E. Heinrich, Board member of SAP (1996–2009)[147] Alan Hippe, Board member of Continental (2002–2008), Thyssen Krupp and Roche[148] Claus Wellenreuther, Entrepreneur and co-founder of SAP Clemens Boersig, Board member of RWE (1997–1999) and Chairman of Deutsche Bank[149] Hans-Peter Wild, CEO and Owner of Rudolf WILD GmbH & Co. KG Dietmar Harhoff, Managing director of German Silicon Valley Accelerator[150] Otto H. Jacobs, Chairman of Ernst & Young Germany Stephan Sturm, Former managing director at Credit Suisse First Boston and CFO of Fresenius (2005–today)[151] Alexander von Frankenberg, Venture Capitalist, Managing director of High-Tech Gründerfonds[152] Henning Kagermann, former professor and CEO of SAP (1998–2009) Werner Müller, CEO of Evonik (2003–2008) and Chairman of Deutsche Bahn[153] Fabian Dömer, CEO of Arthur D. Little Germany (2010–today)[154] Klaus Maier, Board member of Daimler (2005-2009)[155] Bruno Sälzer, CEO of Hugo Boss (2002–2008) and CEO of Escada (2008–today) Dirk Notheis, Board member and CEO of Morgan Stanley Germany (2006–2012)[156] Bernd Beetz, CEO of Coty (2011–2013)[157] Lorenz Näger, CFO of Heidelberg Cement (2004–today)[158] Peter Röder, Board member of Munich Re (2007–today)[159] Luka Mucic, CFO of SAP (2013–today)[160] Jürgen M. Schneider, CFO of Bilfinger Berger (1990–2009)[161] Hartmut Leser, CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management Germany (2013–today)[162] Uwe Raschke, Board member of Bosch[163] Walter Sinn, Managing Director of Bain & Company Germany (2014–)[164] Stefan Lippe, CEO of Swiss Re (2009–2012) Thomas Kern, Partner of KPMG[165] Ralf Bethke, Chairman (2007–2017) and former CEO of K+S (1991-2007)[166] Markus Ochsner, CFO of ABB Germany[167] Dirk Barnard, Board member of Vodafone Germany (2011–today)[168]

Academics Hans Albert, German Philosopher Axel Dreher, German Economist, belongs to the IDEAS 500 top economists Wolfgang Franz, German Economist and former Chairman of the German Council of Economic Experts Clemens Fuest, German Economist and Chairman of the ZEW Miles Hewstone, Psychologist Christian Homburg, renowned German Professor of Marketing Roman Inderst, German Economist and Winner of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize[169] Wolfgang Männel, former German Professor for Business Administration Hans Meuer, Professor of Computer Science and Chairman of the International Supercomputing Conference Christoph M. Schmidt, German Economist and President of the RWI Essen Otto Selz, Former Professor in Psychology, Philosophy and Pedagogy Norbert Schwarz, German Psychologist Ulrich Steinvorth, German Philosopher Hans-Werner Sinn, German Economist and President of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research Michèle Tertilt, German Economist, former Professor Stanford University and Gossen Prize Laureate Klaus F. Zimmermann, German economist, professor for economics at the University of Bonn and former President of the DIW Berlin[170] Honorary Doctorates Edmund Phelps, American Economist and Winner of the 2006 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences Richard Blundell, British Economist and Econometrician Richard Lenel, former Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Honorary Citizen of the city of Mannheim Kurt Lotz, second post-war CEO of Volkswagen Torsten Persson, Swedish Economist and Director of the Institute for International Economic Studies at Stockholm University Jean Tirole, French Professor of Economics and Winner of the 2014 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

See also

• Mannheim Graduate School for Economics and Social Sciences
• Mannheim Business School
• Mannheim Centre for European Social Research
• Rhine Neckar Metropolitan Area
• Education in Germany
• List of business schools in Europe

Notes and references

Further reading

External links

• University of Mannheim
• MADOC (institutional repository with publications created by members of the University of Mannheim)