University of Konstanz

University of Konstanz
German: Universität Konstanz
Established	1966
Type	Public
Chancellor	Jens Apitz
Rector	Prof. Dr. Ulrich Rüdiger
Students	more than 10,000
Location	Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Affiliations	German Excellence Universities, EUA
Website	http://www.uni-konstanz.de/

A view of the University of Konstanz campus

The University of Konstanz (German: Universität Konstanz) is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was founded in 1966, and the main campus on the Gießberg was opened in 1972. As one of nine German Excellence Universities today University of Konstanz is counted among Germany's most prestigious institutions of higher learning^{[citation needed]}. The University is consistently ranking among the top 200 Universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (194th, as of 2011) .

Over 10,000 students from close to 100 countries are enrolled at the university, while over 130 links to European partner universities and numerous exchange programmes facilitate global networking. All in all students can choose from more than 100 degree programs. It is particularly well known for its political science and law departments as well as for its mathematics, computer science, biology and psychology programmes. The sports programme at Konstanz University is among the best nationwide. Moreover, Konstanz University cooperates with a large number of foreign universities such as Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, the University of British Columbia, University College Cork, and the University of Zurich. Its library is open 24 hours a day and has more than two million books.^{[citation needed]}

History

In 1965 the founding committee of the university developed the concept of a reform university with new forms of study and teaching, a central administration and central facilities for technology, computers and language training. New forms of self-administration replaced traditional university structures. In 1966 the university began its work in a wing of today's Inselhotel, formerly a Dominican monastery. Professor David Daube, Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford, gave the inaugural lectures.

The beginning was makeshift - in the middle of Sonnenbühl on the edge of the town quarter Petershausen on the right side of the Rhine, with only a handful of professors and a few dozen students. Starting in 1967, today's campus was developed through individual construction projects on the hill known as the Gießberg. Until today, the university has continued to be structurally altered and expanded. In 2007 the University joined the national Exzellenzinitiative competition and succeeded in becoming Germany's smallest and youngest University of Excellence.

Campus

The campus is located on the Gießberg, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the center of the city.

The university was planned as a place of life and learning, in which the new forms of research and teaching should be reflected in the architectural style. Dense construction, short paths, the absence of large auditoriums in exchange for a large number of seminar rooms, as well as the variety of work, traffic, and quiet areas, are all part of the architectural concept. In addition, there was the idea of creating lasting "Kunst am Bau" (structural art) accents, so that the building of a desolate concrete landscape could be avoided in an effective manner.^{[citation needed]}

Organization

These are the 3 faculties into which the university is divided:

• Faculty of Sciences
• Faculty of Humanities
• Faculty of Law, Economics and Politics

Rankings

As of 2011 the university is ranked 194th in the world (11th in Germany) by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. As of 2007, the university has been designated as an elite German "University of Excellence".

Points of interest

• Botanischer Garten der Universität Konstanz, the university's botanical garden

See also

• List of colleges and universities
• Konstanz

External links

• University of Konstanz Website (German) (English)
• Article about the university