University of Duisburg-Essen


The University of Duisburg-Essen is a public research university in Duisburg and Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and a member of the newly founded University Alliance Metropolis Ruhr. It was founded in 1654 and re-established on 1 January 2003, as a merger of the Gerhard Mercator University of Duisburg and the University of Essen. Until 1994, the name of the Gerhard Mercator University was Comprehensive University of Duisburg.
With its 12 departments and around 40,000 students, the University of Duisburg-Essen is among the 10 largest German universities. Since 2014, research income has risen by 150 percent. Natural science and engineering are ranked within the top 10 in Germany, and the humanities are formed in the top 20 to 30. Especially, the physics field is ranked in the top 1 in Germany. The University is ranked as one of the 200 best universities in the world.

History

Origins: University of Duisburg (1555)

The universities origins date back to the 1555 decision of Duke Wilhelm V von Jülich-Kleve-Berg, to create a university for the unified duchies at the Lower Rhine. To this end, it was necessary to obtain a permission of the emperor and the pope. Although the permission of the pope was granted in 1564 and of the emperor in 1566, the university was founded about ninety years later in 1654, after the acquisition of the Duchy of Cleves by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. It opened on 14 October 1655 by Johannes Claudberg as their first rector. The university had four faculties: Theology, Medicine, Law and Arts. During its period of activity it was one of the central and leading universities of the western provinces of Prussia.
Only a few decades later the university was in competition with the much better equipped Dutch universities. Since only about one third of the population in the western provinces of Prussia were member of The Reformed Church, most Lutheran and Catholic citizens in the second half of the 18th century sent their sons to other universities.
The university declined rapidly and was closed on 18 October 1818, due to a Cabinet Order of Friedrich Wilhelm III. At the same time, the University of Bonn was founded. Large parts of the Duisburg University Library were relocated to Bonn and formed the basis of the newly formed Bonn Library. The sceptre of the University of Duisburg was given to the University of Bonn, where it is still located today.
In 1891, the Rheinisch-Westfälische Hüttenschule was relocated from Bochum to Duisburg. Subsequently, the school was transformed into the Königlich-Preußischen Maschinenbau- und Hüttenschule, and in 1938 was renamed to Public School of Engineering.
After a decision of the federal state government in 1960, the teacher training college of Kettwig was settled to Duisburg and was named Pedagogical University Ruhr. In 1968, the university was founded again in Duisburg, related to the old one, bearing the name: Comprehensive University of Duisburg. Initially only small, the university was developed rapidly in the 1970s up to about 15,000 students. In 1972 the Pedagogical University Ruhr and the Public School of Engineering, which was renamed in 1971 to University of applied sciences Duisburg. Other schools were also relocated to Duisburg. The University of Duisburg was then called Comprehensive University of Duisburg. In 1994 the university was renamed Gerhard Mercator University.
In 2003, Gerhard Mercator University merged with the University of Essen to form the University of Duisburg-Essen, which is today one of the largest universities in Germany with about 40,000 students.

Recent developments

In March 2007 the three universities of Bochum, Dortmund and Duisburg-Essen founded the University Alliance Metropolis Ruhr, which now includes more than 120,00 students and 1,300 professors and is modelled after the University of California system.
In May 2018, the three members of the University Alliance Metropolis Ruhr launched the Research Academy Ruhr, an inter- and university overarching program for the development and support of young scientists. The program is funded by the State of North Rhine-Westfalia and the Mercator Research Center Ruhr with €800,000 over the next four years and an additional €1 million being added by the three participating members of the University Alliance.

Campus

The university has two main campus locations in Duisburg and Essen.

Faculties and Institutes

Main faculties

The University of Duisburg-Essen today has twelve faculties, listed below:
The NRW School of Governance is a central institution within the Institute for Political science and was founded in 2006 under the direction of Karl-Rudolf Korte.
It aims, through research and teaching, to promote the scientifically sound understanding of political processes.
It does so by educating and training students in three main programs:
  1. Masters program: "Political management, Public policy and Public administration"
  2. Part-time masters program: "Public Policy"
  3. Doctoral School: Scholarship and Excellence Programs at the Department of Political Science
and also through the use of various other education modules.

Associated institutes

The university has a Confucius Institute.

Student body

it is the German university with the largest number of Chinese international students. Overall, it has a 16% composition of international students. The majority of such students are enrolled as engineering or economics majors.

People

Rectors

The University of Duisburg-Essen awards the Mercator-Professur to individuals who are well known for their social and scientific engagement. So far, recipients of the Mercator-Professur have been:
Further professors include Jette Joop, Kai Krause and Bruce Ames.

Poets in Residence

The institution of the poet in residence is not missing at any university in the USA. In Germany, the University of Duisburg-Essen was the first and, for a long time, only university that followed the American example and brought contemporary authors to the university as guest lecturers for readings and seminars. In 1975, Martin Walser was the first poet in residence to hold his poetics lectures in Essen.
Since the summer semester 2000, the following personalities have worked as poet in residence at the University of Essen :
Earlier poets in residence include Jurek Becker, Wilhelm Genazino, Günter Grass, Günter Herburger, Rolf Hochhuth, Heinar Kipphardt, Cees Nooteboom, Peter Rühmkorf, Martin Walser and.

Academics

International cooperation

Erasmus program

The university is part of the ERASMUS exchange program.

International university cooperations

The university also cooperates with several other international institutions of higher education.
University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE)'s main partner universities
University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE)'s faculty partner institutions
Besides the main partnering universities, various faculty of the University Essen-Duisburg also cooperate with international universities and specific faculties or programmes.
CountryPartner UniversityUDE Faculties
AustraliaCurtin UniversityCentre for Empirical Research in Education
Griffith UniversityFaculty of Economics and Business Administration
Macquarie UniversityFaculty of Humanities
BrazilSanta Catarina State UniversityDepartment of Educational Sciences
Universidade de BrasiliaFaculty of Engineering
Universidade LaSalleFaculty of Engineering
Universidade Estadual
Paulista "Julio de
Mesquita Filho"/ UNESP		Faculty of Engineering
University of São PauloFaculty of Engineering
CanadaUniversity of WaterlooCenter for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen
ChinaBeijing International Studies UniversityFaculty of Humanities
Chu Hai CollegeMercator School of Management
Dalain University of TechnologyFaculty of Engineering
Hong Kong Baptist UniversityMercator School of Management
Faculty of Physics
Nankai UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies
Renmin University of ChinaInstitute for East Asian Studies
Shanghai Medical College at Fudan UniversityFaculty of Medicine and University Clinic
Southeast UniversityFaculty of Physics
Sun Yat-sen UniversityFaculty of Medicine and University Clinic
Tongji Medical CollegeFaculty of Medicine and University Clinic
Tsinghua UniversityFaculty of Humanities
Wuhan UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies
Wuhan University of TechnologyFaculty of Engineering
Zhejiang University of Science and TechnologyFaculty of Engineering
Zhengzhou UniversityFaculty of Engineering
ColombiaUniversidad Santo Tómas de AquinoFaculty of Engineering
EgyptFayoum UniversityCentre for Water and Environmental Research
FranceInstitut Français du Pètrole Faculty of Engineering
Mercator School of Management
Institut national des sciences appliquées de Lyon Faculty of Mathematics
GhanaUniversity of GhanaFaculty of Social Sciences
IndiaAmity UniversityCentre for Water and Environmental Research
Indian Institute of Technology MadrasFaculty of Engineering
IndonesiaInstitute of Technology BandungFaculty of Engineering
University of IndonesiaFaculty of Engineering
IsraelTel Aviv UniversityFaculty of Humanities
ItalyCollegio Carlo AlbertoFaculty of Social Sciences
JapanChukyo UniversityFaculty of Humanities
Dokkyo UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies
Doshisha UniversityMercator School of Management
Fukuoka UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies
German Institute for Japanese StudiesInstitute for East Asian Studies
Hokkaido UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and TechnologyFaculty of Engineering
Kanagawa UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies
Kokugakuin UniversityFaculty of Humanities
Nagoya UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies
Ryukoku UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies
Seinan Gakuin UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies
Sophia UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies
Tokyo UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies and Faculty of Social Sciences
Tsukuba UniversityCenter for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen
Yamagata UniversityInstitute for East Asian Studies
Yamanashi Gakuin UniversityFaculty of Social Sciences
LithuaniaVilnius UniversityFaculty of Humanities
LuxembourgUniversity of LuxembourgFaculty of Humanities
MalaysiaNational University of MalaysiaFaculty of Engineering
University of Malaysia TerengganuFaculty of Mathematics
MexicoFaculty of Engineering
NamibiaUniversity of NamibiaFaculty of Humanities
NetherlandsUniversity of AmsterdamFaculty of Humanities
Palestinian territoriesPalestine Polytechnic UniversityFaculty of Engineering
PeruPontificia Universidad Católica del PerúFaculty of Engineering
PolandWarsaw School of EconomicsMercator School of Management
RomaniaFaculty of Educational Sciences
Russian FederationFar-Eastern Federal UniversityFaculty of Humanities
Far-Eastern State University of HumanitiesFaculty of Humanities
Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal UniversityFaculty of Physics
Faculty of Humanities
Nizhny Novgorod State Medical AcademyFaculty of Medicine and University Clinic
Nizhny Novgorod State UniversityFaculty of Educational Sciences
Plekhanov Russian Academy of EconomicsMercator School of Management
SerbiaUniversity of Novi SadFaculty of Chemistry
SingaporeNanyang Technological UniversityFaculty of Engineering
South AfricaUniversity of PretoriaFaculty of Humanities
South KoreaChung-Ang UniversityFaculty of Social Sciences
Mercator School of Management
Institute for East Asian Studies
Chungnam National UniversityFaculty of Engineering
TaiwanNational Tsing Hua UniversityFaculty of Physics
Faculty of Engineering
UkraineDonetsk National UniversityFaculty of Humanities
USAmerican UniversityMercator School of Management
Arkansas State UniversityMercator School of Management
Colorado State UniversityFaculty of Chemistry
Colorado State UniversityMercator School of Management
Fort Hays State UniversityFaculty of Humanities
Georgia Institute of TechnologyMercator School of Management
Indiana University of PennsylvaniaMercator School of Management
Lehigh UniversityMercator School of Management
Faculty of Social Sciences
Mississippi State UniversityMercator School of Management
Tulane UniversityFaculty of Social Sciences
University of ColoradoMercator School of Management
University of IllinoisMercator School of Management
University of North CarolinaMercator School of Management
University of Northern IowaMercator School of Management
Western Washington UniversityMercator School of Management
Faculty of Social Sciences

University Alliance Metropolis Ruhr

As part of the University Alliance Metropolis Ruhr network the university is involved in running three liaison offices in Moscow, New York City and São Paulo. The offices aim to foster international academic exchange between the local and Ruhr area and are responsible for their respective continents.

International network

The university is also part of the AURORA Network of European universities.

Further cooperation programmes

The university is part of the IS:link, the VDAC and offers the internationally oriented, doctoral programme "ARUS – Advanced Research in Urban Systems", which is based on previous academic achievements in selected fields within the Joint Centre "Urban Systems".

Rankings

In Germany, there is no comprehensive university ranking because of the standardization of the universities in Germany, sharply contrasting to the university system in U. S. A. However, the institute for evaluation of universities in Germany has reported the ranking of the departments in annually. In this ranking, University of Duisburg-Essen is ranked in a high position in the science and engineering field. Especially, the department of physics is ranked as the top 1 university in Germany.
Measured by the number of top managers in the German economy, University of Duisburg-Essen ranked 15th in 2019.
Considering their rankings in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings citation index from 2019, the University of Duisburg-Essen ranks fifth in Germany, behind Heidelberg, the Berlin Charité, Ulm and Hohenheim, thus displaying its particular scientific success and high productivity. In an international comparison of the universities most frequently cited in scientific publications, the University of Duisburg-Essen is in 103rd place. Overall, the University of Duisburg-Essen has steadily improved its position in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, making it one of the 200 best universities in the world. In the Times Higher Education Young University Ranking, it is ranked 14th worldwide in 2019.
In May 2018 the Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung rankings placed the university in the top ranks in different categories and fields, like the Physics department for seminar and lecture content and Biology, Computer Science, Math, Medicine and Sports for excellent programs and support in the early stages of starting at Essen-Duisburg.
In the European Commission funded U-Multirank system the university as a whole was ranked as "excellent" in the research categories "External research income", "Top cited publications", "Post-doc positions", in the knowledge transfer categories "Income from private sources", "Spin-offs" and "Publications cited in patents". In the category international orientation Essen-Duisburg was rated "excellent" for their "International academic staff".

Notable people

Alumni

Notable alumni of the university include: