Technische Universität Darmstadt

History

On 10 October 1877 Ludwig IV, Großherzog von Hessen und bei Rhein (Grand Duke of Hessen), named the Polytechnic School Technische Hochschule zu Darmstadt (Darmstadt Polytechnic) and thereby raised the status of this educational institution to that of a university so that the Abitur (diploma from German secondary school qualifying for university admission or matriculation) became the basis for admission. In 1899 the TH Darmstadt was granted the right to award doctorates.

Early beginnings

The University's history is varied: its early phases began with the Höhere Gewerbschule (Higher Trade School), which was founded in 1836 and received its own building near the 'Altes Pädagog' on Kapellplatz in 1844, followed by the Technische Schule (Technical School) in 1864 and the Großherzoglich Hessische Polytechnische Schule (Grand Ducal Hessian Polytechnic) in 1868. At that time, heated discussions were continually held in political circles on the issue as to whether such a poor state as the Grand Duchy of Hessen could afford a technically oriented higher educational institution, or even a polytechnic. After the foundation of the TH Darmstadt in 1877, student numbers kept on being so low that in the years from 1881 to 1882 there were long debates in public about closing down the University. In this difficult situation, the local government and the University made the courageous decision to set up the first chair of electrical engineering worldwide. Thus the School of Electrical Engineering came into being as the sixth faculty of the TH Darmstadt, which was a novelty in academia, because until then no other polytechnic or university had had its own Faculty of Electrical Engineering. This forward-looking higher education policy paved the way for Darmstadt to take up a leading position in the rapidly developing field of Electrical Engineering, which in turn led to a continuously rising number of students, so that the closure of the TH Darmstadt never was demanded again.

First steps as a university

In 1895 new buildings were opened in Hochschulstrasse: the 'Alte Hauptgebäude' (the 'Old Main Building' of the University) and an institute building directly opposite. During the two decades before the World War I, all disciplines of the university underwent diversification and expansion. New disciplines such as Paper Making and Cellulose Chemistry were introduced, and as early as 1913 a Chair of Aeronautics and Flight Mechanics was set up.

Meanwhile, the political climate had become stormier, and a growing political polarization exploded in Darmstadt over the question of foreign students. The TH Darmstadt had an extraordinarily large number of foreign students. In 1906, for instance, as many as three quarters of the Electrical Engineering students were from abroad, mainly from states of eastern Europe.

After the World War I there was an urgent need for reform of the education system at the TH Darmstadt, which was seen as a prerequisite for meeting the requirements of a modern industrial society. Intense discussions were held on the aim of extending the curriculum beyond the purely technical education in order to prepare the engineer for his leading role in society. A concrete step in this direction was taken in 1924, when the 'General Faculty', which until then had combined all the non-technical subjects, was divided into a Department of Mathematics and Natural Science and a Department of Cultural Studies and Political Science. Moreover, the measures taken to provide students with knowledge outside their own narrow field of study included the upgrading of Economics and the creation of professorships in Political Science, History of Technology and Sociology.

Restart after WW II

On the night of 11/12 September 1944, eighty per cent of the city, including many of the university's buildings, were destroyed during a bomb attack. For a short period in 1945 parts of the TH Darmstadt may have been closed by decree of the Allies before it was reopened in 1946. The electrical engineering department remained continuously functional, doing work under contract with the U.S. Army to build components of the V-2 guidance system. "But we have to be careful how we word this production order because we don't want the Russians to know that we are cranking up the V-2 system." In spite of the difficult post-war situation, university staff and students alike managed to settle down to university work in the severely damaged buildings, which had to be used as a makeshift solution.

As early as 1947 the TH Darmstadt played host to the first 'Internationaler Kongress für Ingenieurausbildung - IKIA' (International Congress on Engineering Education), at which the participants discussed the moral responsibility of the technical intelligentsia and of the scientific elite in politics and society. In view of the disastrous consequences of the war, the participants (with the exception of the Americans,who had already contracted with THD faculty to continue weapon development), committed themselves henceforth to do research and teaching in engineering and scientific disciplines solely for the peaceful development of mankind.

1. Technical Science as Ethical and Cultural Task. 2. Present State and Tendencies of Development in Engineering Education Throughout the World. 3. Selection of Students and Social Problems.

The speech delivered by Dr. James R. Newman, Director of American Military Government of Hessen, however, made NO mention of such a commitment, while stating that:

"An interchange of these [past experience], together with ideas and methods of education along engineering lines, will aid greatly, not only in the reconstruction of battle torn countries, but also in the bringing about of a universal understanding and mutual respect, and the charity which have prevented the understanding, the tolerance, the respect, and the charity so necessary for the peace, happiness, and contentment that is the dream of every human being on this earth."

The post-war period of reconstruction was largely based on a major development programme in the 1960s, by means of which universities and the state reacted to the continuously rising numbers of students. Since almost no land was available in the city centre for new construction projects, the decision was taken in 1963 to use the 'Lichtwiese' (a former airfield on the outskirts of the city) as a site for building extensions to the TH. Thus in the late 1960s and in the early 1970s numerous buildings, including a new student cafeteria, were erected there and ultimately became the university's second campus.

University reforms in the 1970s

After 1968 the university reform, having been initiated by the student movement, was beginning to take shape both at a national and a regional level. It aimed at creating clear university structures and the involvement of all university members in decision-making processes. In 1970 the 'Hessisches Hochschulgesetz' (Higher Education Laws of the Federal State of Hessen) came into force. These gave the TH Darmstadt, along with other Hessian universities and polytechnics, a new structure based on the introduction of a presidential statute and a unified administration as well as the subdivision of the University structure into schools.

In the mid 1970s there was another rapid rise in student numbers. Staff development, however, lagged far behind, resulting in inevitable restrictions on admission imposed either by the central government or by the University. Regardless of the staff's heavy workload, the TH Darmstadt managed to set the course for the future, as evidenced by the School of Information Science, established in 1974, the 'Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Technikforschung – ZIT' (Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies on Technology), founded in 1987, and the School of Materials Science, established in 1989. This School, which offers a new course of studies has been housed in a new building on the Lichtwiese since 1996.

Renaming

By the end of the 20th century, the TH Darmstadt had had the legal status of a university, and had been offering a correspondingly wide range of subjects, for over a hundred years. For these reasons, and also with the objective of sharpening public awareness of the university's status at home and abroad, the TH Darmstadt was renamed Technische Universität Darmstadt (also its official English name is Technische Universität Darmstadt albeit often called Darmstadt University of Technology) on 1 October 1997. This name change was partly prompted by misunderstandings that had occurred in English-speaking countries, where 'Technische Hochschule' had often been mistakenly transliterated as 'Technical High School', providing a totally misleading connotation.

Autonomy and TUD Law

On 1 January 2005 the first version of the TUD Law applied making TU Darmstadt the first public German university to be given administrative autonomy. New administrative structures were put into place, and their success is being evaluated. For instance, the university can now autonomously administer its budget and buildings. Also, the university can hire professors and negotiate their salaries by itself. Formerly this was done by the State of Hessen. The TUD law in its current state has legal force up to 31. December 2014.

Academic profile

The close cooperation between science and economy is an indispensable prerequisite for success. For that reason students are encouraged to learn how to put scientific ideas and principles into effect and to demonstrate in their essays and dissertations how to tackle, analyse and solve problems, e.g. in the areas of industrial processes and practices.

Research projects at the University are initiated and financed to a large extent by industrial and commercial concerns. Moreover, the University's successful collaboration with local companies is also based on a twofold strategy: the appointment of distinguished scientists and engineers to the post of professor at the University and the University's commitment to management development in companies.

The University offers a wide range of subjects, not only in the traditional fields of natural and engineering sciences, but also in those of social and human sciences, which was one of the main reasons for renaming the TH Darmstadt 'Technische Hochschule Darmstadt' in the autumn of 1997. The subjects of these major areas of human knowledge add to the teacher training for the teaching profession both at secondary schools and vocational schools and furthermore make Industrial Engineering as taught in Darmstadt an attractive course of study. The creation of new degree courses leading to bachelor's and master's degrees is also based on these academic standards and follows the European standardization of academic education.

Faculties and courses of study

There are 13 departments and 5 fields of study. which all together offer about 100 courses of studies. The fields of study offer interdisciplinary degree courses in which students take lectures in multiple departments. The University, as its title suggests, offers degree courses in the fields of electrical, mechanical and civil engineering, architecture, computer science, mathematics and the natural sciences. It also offers courses in economics, law, history, politics, sociology, psychology, sport science and linguistics (This list is not intended to be exhaustive). It also offers degree courses for teaching positions at German vocational schools and Gymnasiums. However, there are no degree courses offered in medicine.

The Departments (with number of the department):

Architecture (15)

Civil Engineering and Geodesy (13)

Biology (10)

Chemistry (7)

Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (18)

History and Social Sciences (2)

Human Sciences (3)

Computer Science (20)

Mechanical Engineering (16)

Materials and Earth Sciences (11)

Mathematics (4)

Physics (5)

Law and Economics (1)

Fields of Study:

Computational Engineering

Energy Science and Engineering

Information Systems Engineering

Mechanics

Mechatronics

Research

The principle of the indivisibility of teaching and research is common to all German universities. Mention must be made, however, that research at the TU Darmstadt has had a long and particularly successful tradition to date. Thus research is being carried out at more than two hundred institutes as well as at the Zentrum für Wissenschaftliches Rechnen - DZWR (Centre of Scientific Computing), where the focus is on interdisciplinary work, and at the Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Technikforschung - ZIT (Centre of Interdisciplinary Studies of Technology). Moreover, at the TU Darmstadt there are several Sonderforschungsbereiche - SFB (collaborative research units) as well as several Graduiertenkollegs (programmes of lectures for postgraduates planned and run by experienced members of the University's research and teaching staff), all of whom profit from financial support and expert advice provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - DFG (National Science Council). In the Mathematics Department, the theory of Formal concept analysis has been developed with an extensive on-going programme and annual conferences.

The scientific infrastructure provided by the University has attracted a considerable number of national and international research institutions to the Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt (Darmstadt - City of Science), who on their part collaborate with the TU Darmstadt on many projects. Among them are, for example, the Deutsche Kunststoffinstitut - DKI (German Institute of Plastics Materials), the Technologiezentrum Darmstadt - TZD of the Deutsche Telekom (Research and Technology Institute of the Deutsche Telekom), the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung - GSI (Heavy-Ion Research Institute) at Wixhausen, the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology SIT ( collaboration in the Center for Advanced Security Research Darmstadt - CASED), the European Space Operations Centre - ESOC, the European Organization for Meteorological Satellites - EUMETSAT, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics. The collaboration with the University ranges from joint research projects to bearing joint responsibility for decisions taken at managerial level of the scientific institutions.

TU Darmstadt is involved in the German Excellence Initiative. This initiative sponsored the Cluster of Excellence Smart Interfaces (2007-2014), the Graduate School of Computitional Engineering and the Graduate School of Excellence Energy Science and Engineering. TU Darmstadt is also partially involved with the Cluster of Excellence Normative Orders, based at Goethe University Frankfurt.

Research profile

In July 2010, TU Darmstadt defined five Research Clusters which characterize its research profile. Together with the Research Foci they are supposed to emphasise the research activities at TU Darmstadt.

Currently there are 5 Research Clusters:

Smart Interfaces - Thermo-Fluids and Combustion Engineering

New Materials

Matter and Radiation Science

Integrated Product- and Production Technology

Future Internet

Current Research Foci are:

Computational Engineering

Urban Research

Adaptronic

International life

With 17,4% (2011), the percentage of foreign students at the TU Darmstadt is clearly higher than the average of German universities of 11,14% (Wintersemester 2011/2012), though at times, especially early in its history, almost a quarter of its students were foreigners, especially from Eastern Europe.

Scientific co-operation on a contractual base is maintained with more than 65 partner universities all over the world.

The University also offers the Joint Master Programme "International Cooperation and Urban Development (Mundus Urbano)" as part of the Joint Master Courses and Doctorates, part of the Erasmus Mundus programme of the European Commission.

The European Credit transfer system ECTS has been introduced for almost all courses of study.

The student group AEGEE Darmstadt e.V., formerly IDEA and part of the European student organisation AEGEE, provides a programme for all incoming international Students of the University. Activities like Hiking, Climbing and ways to learn the language are organised by this group.

Knowledge transfer

In order to put innovative ideas and research results more quickly into effect the Innovationsgesellschaft Darmstadt mbH (Darmstadt Society for Innovations, Ltd) was founded. The founder-members involved in drawing up the project of a Technologie- und Innovationszentrum - TIZ (Centre of Technology and Innovation), which was completed in spring 1999, consist of the TU Darmstadt, the City of Darmstadt, the Darmstadt Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Administrative district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, the Sparkasse Darmstadt (Darmstadt savings bank) and the Sparkasse Dieburg (Dieburg savings bank), the Fachhochschule Darmstadt(Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences), and the Zentrum für Graphische Datenverarbeitung - ZGDV (Computer Graphics Center). The Center's infrastructure enables young entrepreneurs to rent business premises and to benefit from a consultancy service not only in matters of introducing new technologies but also in matters of accountancy and law at prices that are within their means.

In the meantime a number of young scientists, former students and researchers at the TU Darmstadt who have made up their mind to become independent businessmen, use the TIZ in Darmstadt as their base. Offering this form of knowledge and technology transfer, the University contributes to the economic development of Southern Hesse.

Locations

The University, with 140 Buildings and an area of property of 600 acres, is concentrated at the two campuses, Inner City and Lichtwiese. But individual facilities can be found in other parts of Darmstadt and in Griesheim, a neighboring town.

Inner City Campus

This campus lies very central in Darmstadt and is easily reachable by Tram and Bus from every part of the city. The departments located here are Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (18), History and Social Sciences (2), Human Sciences (3), Computer Science (20), Mathematics (4), Physics (5) and Law and Economics (1).

Campus Lichtwiese

The Lichtwiese lies in the eastern part of Darmstadt. It is reachable by bus and a nearby train station. The departments located here are Architecture (15), Civil Engineering and Geodesy (13), Chemistry (7), Mechanical Engineering (16) and Materials and Earth Sciences (11).

Botanical garden

The Botanical Garden of the TU Darmstadt is located near the Lichtwiese Campus and the department of Biology (10) is located here as well. With additional buildings of the department of the Materials and Earth Sciences (11) and parts of the faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (h_da) it makes for an additional smaller campus.

Griesheim

Since 2005 TU Darmstadt owns the August-Euler-Airfield for scientific purposes, it is named after its founder August Euler, a pioneer aviator. The airfield is not only used to start planes, but also to conduct research on topics where wide spaces are needed, for example driver assistance systems and automotive lighting are being tested here. Located near the airfield are the Wind tunnels.

TIZ Darmstadt

The TIZ Darmstadt, which is short for Technologie- und Innovationszentrum Darmstadt (Centre for Technology and Innovation Darmstadt) is a science Park in Darmstadt. It is located west of the main station in the Europaviertel or Weststadt. TIZ Darmstadt owns 13,000 square metres of office space with the total space being 18,000 square metres; 111 companies currently rent offices there.

1998 the city of Darmstadt, Technische Universität Darmstadt, the Industrie- und Handelskammer and Sparkasse Darmstadt founded the "Innovationsgesellschaft Darmstadt mbH". In 2009 the company was converted into the TIZ Darmstadt GmbH. In this year Karin Rech took over management from her predecessor Heiner Stöcker. Since early 2012 the Technische Universität Darmstadt is the only associate of TIZ Darmstadt GmbH.

Location: 49.87137°N 8.62442°E / 49.87137; 8.62442 (TIZ Darmstadt)

Housing

A survery determined that in Sommersemester 2009 students in Darmstadt paid an arithmetic mean of 321 Euros a month for rent, heat and utilities. With the German average being 281 Euros. Making Darmstadt the sixth most expensive city for students in Germany. This value only includes students not living at home, not married and pursuing their first degree (referred to as "normal student" in the survey). In this semester, on national average, 23.4% lived with their parents, 12.4% lived in a Hall of residence, 1.6% were Lodgers, 25.8% were sharing a flat with others, 17.2% were living alone and 19.9% were sharing a flat with their partner. (figures rounded)

There are 2740 beds in 14 halls of residence offered by the "Studentenwerk Darmstadt"(student union). The HEAG Wohnbau GmbH rents out 369 student-rooms in 4 buildings Note that both previously mentioned institutions do not exclusively offer housing to TU Darmstadt students, but to other students as well. The Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences is another big institution in Darmstadt (with a second campus ins Dieburg) with about 11000 students.

Notable faculty and alumni

Marc Baldus (born 1967), physicist, expert in NMR spectroscopy

Günter Behnisch (1922–2010), architect (Olympic Stadium (Munich))

Hanns-Peter Boehm (born 1928), chemist and a pioneer of graphene research

Kurt H. Debus (1908–1983), rocket scientist and first Kennedy Space Center director

Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky (1862–1919), inventor of the three-phase electrical motor

Paul Friedländer (1857–1923), chemist

Josef Ganz (1898–1967), Jewish automotive engineer, father of the original "Volkswagen"

Peter Grünberg (born 1939), physicist, discoverer of the Giant magnetoresistance effect, Nobel laureate (2007)

Gerhard Hennige (born 1940), Olympic medal winner

Gerhard Herzberg (1904–1999), chemist, physicist and Nobel laureate (1971)

Kurt Hohenemser (1906-2001), aerospace engineer and pioneer in helicopter design

Franz-Josef Kemper (born 1945), sociologist and track-and-field athlete

Karl Küpfmüller (1897–1977), electrical engineer

El Lissitzky (1890–1941), architect and designer

Ernst May (1886–1970), architect and city planner (New Frankfurt)

Ernst Neufert (1900–1986), architect

Gustav Niemann (1899–1982), mechanical engineer

Fritz von Opel (1899–1971), rocket pioneer

Carl Adam Petri (1926–2010), inventor of the Petri nets

Karl Plagge (1897–1957), Righteous Among the Nations

William Prager (1903-1980), Applied Mathematician

Wolfgang Rösch (born 1959), priest, vicar general of Limburg

Bert Rürup (born 1943), former chairman of the German Council of Economic Experts

Frank Schimmelfennig (born 1963), political scientist

Bernhard Schlink (born 1944), former judge and writer (The Reader)

Ernst Schröder (1841–1902), mathematician

Gerhard M. Sessler (born 1931), electrical engineer and inventor of the electret microphone

Thomas Sieverts (born 1934), architect and urban planner

John Tu (born 1940), co-founder of Kingston Technology

Chaim Weizmann (1874–1952), chemist and first president of Israel

Rudolf Wille (born 1937), mathematician

Hermann Zapf (1918–2015), typeface designer (Palatino, Optima, Zapfino)

Eduard Zintl (1898–1941), chemist and discoverer of the Zintl phase

Partner universities

List retrieved in 2012.