University of Konstanz
Leading research, excellence in teaching and studies, internationality and interdisciplinary cooperation have been features of the University of Konstanz ever since it was established as a reform university in 1966. Its clear orientation gave it a distinctive profile early on, characterized not only by high quality but also by innovation, creativity and dedicated joy in research. The consistent expansion of its strengths and innovative concepts and ideas greatly contributed to the University’s success in October 2007 with its institutional strategy „Modell Konstanz – towards a culture of creativity" within the framework of the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments. The University now belongs to the nine universities whose “Concept for the future to expand university research” is promoted by federal and state governments. In addition, the graduate school "Chemical Biology" was able to prevail in 2007. Already in the first round of the Excellence Initiative in 2006, the Cluster of Excellence „Cultural Foundations of Integration“ was approved.
The Zukunftskolleg is unique nation-wide in promoting junior scientists. With structures such as these and personal supervision, the University promotes junior scientists to develop their professional and scientific careers. The University strives to take on a top standing in Europe for young scientists.
In research, the profile of the University of Konstanz is essentially characterized by cooperation beyond the boundaries of subjects, faculties and sections. The main areas of research in the fields of natural science and technology are optics and photonics, nanophysics, chemical biology, molecular microbiology and the visualisation of large amounts of data. In the humanities and social sciences, research concentrates on neuropsychology, cultural history and linguistics, psychoeconomics, finance and econometrics as well s policy analysis and European integration, among other areas. Currently working in Konstanz two special research areas, three research groups and three graduate colleges of the German Research Society (DFG) as well as three state-supported and three university-internal research centres. The University also participates in numerous EU networks and projects. Cooperation with the Swiss canton Thurgau has brought forth two institutes located there: the Biotechnology Institute Thurgau at the University of Konstanz (BITg) and the Thurgau Institute of Economics at the University of Thurgau (TWI). Scientists at the University of Konstanz are distinguished for their research performance again and again; even the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize alone was already awarded six times to researchers in Konstanz.
The courses offered for the more than 10,000 students comprise programmes in the fields of mathematics and natural sciences, humanities as well as law, economic and administrative sciences. Many of the more than 100 programmes have an interdisciplinary orientation. In addition, there are a series of international offers such as the Master’s programme "Public Administration and European Governance", "International Studies in Sports Sciences" and "Quantitative Economics". Excellent ranking results regularly confirm the excellent quality of studies, such as the CHE University Ranking 2010/2011, the "International Student Barometer 2010" and the Graduate Interview 2008. The University is committed to a culture of continual further development and improvement of scientific teaching from research. Excellence and internationality are seen as integral elements of teaching quality with the aim to provide a reliable internationalisation of the programmes of study.
Whether equal opportunity and family support or the library that is open 24 hours a day and has a top ranking in national comparison and has been named as by the foundation ZEIT-Sitftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius as "Library of the Year 2010", or the Student Service Centre (SSZ) and the Welcome Center with its services for international visiting scientists as well as doctoral candidates – the work conditions and the services offered at the University are excellent – and Lake Constance and the Alps guarantee an excellent quality of life.
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