Leipzig University

University of Leipzig
Universität Leipzig
Latin: Alma mater Lipsiensis
Motto	Aus Tradition Grenzen überschreiten - Crossing Boundaries out of Tradition
Established	December 2, 1409
Type	Public
Rector	Beate Schücking
Admin. staff	3,246 (2010)
Students	25,933 (summer 2010)
Location	Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
Campus	Urban
Website	www.uni-leipzig.de/

The University of Leipzig located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. Famous alumni include Goethe, Wagner, Nietzsche, Angela Merkel and multiple Nobel Prize winners in Physics, Chemistry, and Literature.

The university was founded on December 2, 1409 by Frederick I, Elector of Saxony and his brother William II, Margrave of Meissen, and originally comprised four faculties. Since its inception the university has enjoyed over 600 years of uninterrupted teaching and research.

Mission Statement

The mission, elaborated in the following principles, is both a definition and a challenge and serves as the basis of the University‘s decisions and further development.

History

Founding and development until 1900

The university was modelled on the University of Prague, from which the German-speaking faculty members withdrew to Leipzig after the Jan Hus crisis and the Decree of Kutná Hora. The Alma mater Lipsiensis opened in 1409, after it had been officially endorsed by Pope Alexander V in his Bull of Acknowledgment on (September 9 of that year). Its first rector was Johann von Münsterberg. From its foundation, the Paulinerkirche served as the university church. After the Reformation the church and the monastery buildings were donated to the university in 1544.

Former main building in front of MDR skyscraper.

During the first centuries the university grew slowly and was a rather regional institution. This changed, however, during the 19th century when the university became a world class institution of higher education and research. Until the beginning of the Second World War, the University of Leipzig attracted a number of renowned scholars and later Nobel Prize laureates. Many of the university's alumni became important scientists.During World War II, the university was kept open throughout the war even following the destruction of the university buildings. The acting rector, Erich Maschke during the war described the continuation of the university in a memo on May 11, 1945 announcing the vote for a new rector: Since 4 December 1943 a fixed determination not to abandon the University of Leipzig in the most difficult hour of its more than five-hundred-year history has bonded the professors with each other and with the students. The special task of repairing the damage caused by air attacks has now broadened out to the more general duty to save the continuity of our university and preserve its substance, at the very least its indestructible kernel, through the crisis that has now reached its fullest stage. After the destruction of most of the buildings and the majority of its libraries, this kernel is represented by the professoriate alone. This is what must be preserved as the great repository of value in the university.

The University under the German Democratic Republic

By the end of World War II, 60 per cent of the university's buildings and 70 per cent of its books had been destroyed. The university reopened on 5 February 1946, but it was affected by the uniformity imposed on social institutions in the Soviet occupation zone. In 1948, the freely elected student council was disbanded and was replaced by Free German Youth members. The chairman of the Student Council, Wolfgang Natonek, and other members were arrested and imprisoned, but the university was also a nucleus of resistance. Thus began the Belter group, with flyers for free elections. The head of the group, Herbert Belter, paid for his commitment to democracy with his life and was executed in 1951 in Moscow. The German Democratic Republic was created in 1949 and in 1953 the University was renamed by its government the Karl-Marx-University, Leipzig. In 1968, the partly damaged Augusteum, including Johanneum and Albertinum and the intact Paulinerkirche, were demolished to make way for a redevelopment of the university, carried out between 1973 and 1978. The dominant building of the university was the University Tower (now City-Hochhaus Leipzig), built between 1968 and 1972 in the form of an open book.

After the reunification

In 1991, the University was renamed again to its original name University of Leipzig (Alma mater lipsiensis). The reconstruction of the University Library, which was heavily damaged during the war and in the GDR barely secured, was completed in 2002. In 2008 the university was able to prevail in the nationwide "Initiative of Excellence" of Germany and it was granted the graduate school "BuildMoNa: Leipzig School of Natural Sciences – Building with Molecules and Nano-objects". In addition the university was able to receive grants from the Saxon excellence initiative for the "Life" project – a project that tries to explore common diseases more effectively. Also in 2008 the "Bach Archive" was associated with the university. With the delivery of the University Tower to a private user, the university was forced spread some faculties over several locations in the city. Furthermore it redesigned its historical centre at the Augustusplatz. This action was highly controversial. In 2002 Behet Bonzio received the second prize in the architectural competition. A first prize was not awarded by the jury. A lobby with partial support of the provincial government called for the rebuilding of St. Paul's Church and Augusteum. This caused the resistance of the university leadership, the majority of the students and population of Leipzig. These disputes led to a scandal in early 2003, were the Rector Volker Bigl, and the pro-rectors resigned in protest against the government. This was further forced after severe tensions had built up because of the Saxon university treaty on the future funding of higher education. As a compromise they could agree on the implementation of a second competition, which only covered the Augustusplatz front of the university. On 24 March 2004, a jury chose the design by Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat, which was well received by almost all sides. He recalls the outer form of the St. Paul's Church and Augusteum, and abstracted the original building complex. The renovations began in the summer of 2005. In 2009 the University of Leipzig celebrates its 600th anniversary with over 300 scientific and cultural lectures and exhibitions, reflecting the role of the university's research and teaching from the beginning until today in Germany and Europe. 

Institutions

• Center for Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BBZ)
• Career Center
• German Creative Writing Program Leipzig (Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig
• Higher Education Didactics Centre
• Kustodie (Art Collection)
• Research Academy Leipzig
• Leipzig University Music
• Language Centre
• Saxon Preparatory College (Studienkolleg Sachsen)
• Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine Leipzig
• University Archive
• University Library
• University Computer Centre
• Centre for University Sport
• Centre for Advanced Studies
• Centre for Teacher Training and School Research
• Centre for Media and Communication

Faculties

Anatomy auditorium of the Faculty of Medicine

The original four facilities were the Faculty of Arts, Theology, Medicine, and Law. Today, the university comprises the following 14 faculties:

1. Faculty of Theology
2. Faculty of Law
3. Faculty of History, Art and Oriental Studies
4. Faculty of Philology
5. Faculty of Education
6. Faculty of Social Sciences and Philosophy
7. Faculty of Economics and Management (including Civil Engineering)
8. Faculty of Sports Science
9. Faculty of Medicine (with a University Hospital)
10. Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
11. Faculty of Biosciences, Pharmacy and Psychology
12. Faculty of Physics and Earth Science
13. Faculty of Chemistry and Mineralogy
14. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

The following institutes are affiliated with the university:

• Herder-Institute
• East-Asian Institute of the University of Leipzig
• Institute for Religious Studies of the University of Leipzig
• Institute for Classical Archaeology of the University of Leipzig
• Institute for International Law, European Law and Foreign Public Law (InVEA)
• Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine
• Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology

Study programmes

Study programmes: academic qualification
At the Universität Leipzig you can acquire degrees at various levels in almost all fields of academia. Most study programmes are taught in German, with the number of English and foreign-language study programmes steadily increasing. For learning German you find a variety of language courses in Leipzig. The bachelor, diploma and state examination are undergraduate degrees. They are followed by master programmes and postgraduate work.

Lifelong learning
After graduating, or perhaps during your career, the Universität Leipzig provides part-time programmes, continuing education programmes or distance study.

• Advanced Spectroscopy in Chemistry (European master programme)
• African Studies
• African Studies
• American Studies
• Ancient Oriental Studies
• Ancient Oriental Studies/Hebrew Studies
• Arabic Studies
• Archaeology of the Ancient World
• Art Education
• Art History
• Art, teaching qualification
• Biochemistry
• Biology
• Biology, teaching qualification
• Business Education and Management Training
• Business Information Systems
• Business Mathematics
• Change Management in Water Management (postgraduate programme)
• Chemical Analysis and Spectroscopy
• Chemistry
• Chemistry, teaching qualification
• Classic Antiquity, History and Literature
• Clinical Research & Translational Medicine
• Communication and Media Science
• Communication Management
• Computer Science
• Computer Science, teaching qualification
• Conference Interpreting
• Conference Interpreting in Arabic
• Content and Media Engineering
• Corporate Publishing
• Cultural Studies
• Czech, teaching qualification
• Dentistry
• East Slavic Studies
• Economic and Social Geography, with the major foci on municipal areas and Central and Eastern Europe
• Economics
• Economics and Management Science
• Economics and Management Science (Sciences Economiques)
• Egyptology
• English Language and Literature
• English, teaching qualification
• Ethics/Philosophy, teaching qualification
• Ethnology
• European Economic Integration/Central and Eastern Europe
• European Private Law
• European Studies
• French, teaching qualification
• General and Comparative Literature Studies
• Geography
• Geosciences: Environmental Dynamics and Georisks
• German as a Foreign Language
• German as a foreign language in an Arabic-German context (Ain-Shams University Cairo)
• German as a foreign language: Estudios contrastivos de lengua, literatura y cultura alemanas (University of Guadalajara, Mexico)
• German as a foreign language: Estudios contrastivos de lengua, literatura y cultura alemanas (University of Salamanca/Spain)
• German as a foreign language: Estudos interculturais de lingua, literatura e cultura alemãs at Universität Leipzig and at the Federal University of Paraná, Brazil
• German Language and Literature
• German, teaching qualification
• Global Studies
• Greek, teaching qualification
• Greek-Latin Philology
• History
• History and Theology of Christianity
• History, teaching qualification
• Indology, Tibetology and Mongolian Studies
• Insurance Management (MBA)
• International Energy Economics and Business Administration
• International Physics Studies Program
• Italian, teaching qualification
• Japanology
• Journalism
• Latin, teaching qualification
• Law
• Law of European Integration
• Legal Rights/Legal Studies, teaching qualification
• Linguistics
• Literary Writing
• Logics
• Lower Sorb
• Management Science
• Mathematics
• Mathematics, teaching qualification
• Medicine
• Medieval and Modern History
• MeteorologyMedieval and Modern History
• Mineralogy and Material Science
• Multimedia distance course in French
• Music, teaching qualification
• Musicology
• New Media Journalism
• Onomatology
• Pharmacy
• Philosophy
• Physical Geography/Geo-Ecology with major focus on geosystem analysis, methods and management
• Physics
• Physics (IPSP)
• Physics, teaching qualification
• Polish, teaching qualification
• Political Science
• Protestant Religious Knowledge, teaching qualification
• Protestant Theology
• Psychology
• Radio
• Religious Studies
• Romance Studies
• Russian, teaching qualification
• Sinology
• Slavic Studies
• Small Enterprise Promotion and Training
• Social sciences and Philosophy with the core subject of Cultural Studies, with the core subject of Political Science, with the core subject of Sociology
• Sociology
• Sorb Studies
• Sorb, teaching qualification
• Spanish, teaching qualification
• Sports Management
• Sports Science
• Sports Science - Diagnostics and Intervention
• Sports science for sports teachers and coaches from Africa, Latin America, Central Asian countries and the Caucasus
• Sports Science – Prevention and Rehabilitation
• Sports, teaching qualification
• Structural Chemistry and Spectroscopy
• Studies in Abilities and Development of Competences
• Sustainable Development
• Teaching qualification for primary schools
• Teaching qualification for special schools (master’s specific to school type)
• Teaching qualification in rehabilitation and integration (1st core subject for Bachelor Teaching qualification with the orientation on teaching in special schools)
• Teaching qualification, General
• Theatre Studies
• Toxicology and Environmental Protection
• Translation
• Translatology
• Urban Management
• Veterinary Medicine
• West Slavic Studies

Library

   

University library Bibliotheca Albertina.

The University Library of Leipzig was established in 1543. It is one of the oldest German university libraries and it serves as a source of literature and information for the University of Leipzig as well as the general public in the region. Its extensive historical and special collections are nationally and internationally recognized. The library consists of the main building "Bibliotheca Albertina" and forty branches situated near their respective academic institutions. The current stock comprises 5 million volumes and about 7,700 periodicals. Collections range from important medieval and modern manuscripts to incunabula, papyri, autographs, ostraka and coins. The Apel Codex, a manuscript of 16th century music, is currently housed in the Leipzig University library.

The University Library was founded in 1542 by Rector Caspar Borner starting with 1,000 books and around 1,500 manuscripts from the stocks of secularised monasteries.

Main reading room of the university library "Bibliotheca Albertina"

The current stock comprises over five million volumes; 5.2 million media units and around 7,200 current periodicals. Of these about 200,000 volumes are accessible in the open stacks, with 780 reading places available. In addition the library has a number of special collections, including around 8,700 manuscripts, approx, 3,600 incunabula, 16th century prints and around 173,000 autographs.In  1616 a permanent librarian was appointed, and from 1833 the University Library was open every day. It became necessary to move to a bigger building due to the great increase in the book stock, including taking over the Goethe collection from the publisher Salomon Hirzel, but in particular through the rise in printing in the 19th century. In 1891 the library moved to a new building in Beethovenstraße, which had been based on neo-Renaissance style designs by Arwed Rossbach. The new library was named “Bibliotheca Albertina” after the monarch King Albert of Saxony. The building was destroyed to a great extent in the Second World War and was barely usable until 2002, when the library building was reopened after eight years of extension and renovation. 

Museums and collections

The Egyptian Museum hosts the most important university collection of its kind in Germany, and the Museum for Musical Instruments’ collection is one of the largest in the world. The Botanical Garden is, with Padua and Sienna, the oldest in Europe. The University Art Collection (Kustodie) comprises European paintings, sculptures, works on paper as well as objects of the applied arts from the High Middle Ages into the present. In many ways, the collection reflects six hundred years in the history of Germany’s second oldest university.

University collections are distinguished by the fact that, in addition to the classic museum tasks of collecting, conserving, making the collections accessible and presenting them, they are also used for teaching and research, enabling students to handle the pieces as they learn about them. Despite the modern means of transferring knowledge using audiovisual methods, teaching, learning and researching using actual objects from collections should not be dismissed for many subject areas.

Museums and collections

• Egyptian Museum
• Museum of Classical Antiquities
• Botanical Garden
• Kustodie (Art Collection of the University)
• Geological-Paleontological Collection
• Anatomy Teaching Collection
• Pathology Teaching Collection
• History of Medicine Collection
• Mineralogical and Petrographic Collection
• Museum of Musical Instruments
• Prehistoric and Protohistoric Collection
• Special Collections of the University Library

 Campus

The university's urban campus comprises several locations. All in all, the university is spread across 38 locations in Leipzig. The university's buildings in the center of Leipzig underwent substantial reconstruction since 2005; the new university's main building being drafted by Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat. The estimated total cost for the renovation project is 140 million euro. The new buildings are going to be completed in 2009/2010, just in time for the university's 600th anniversary celebrations.
Besides the faculties and other teaching institutions, there are several other bodies that serve the university: the University Library, a university archive and administration, numerous museums (e.g. the Museum for Music Instruments and the Museum of Ancient Egypt) and the university hospital. The university's Leipzig Botanical Garden was established in 1542 and it is the second oldest botanical garden in Europe. The University's Musical Instrument Museum includes one of the world's three surviving pianos built by Bartolomeo Cristofori, the piano's inventor. Five other Cristofori instruments are included in the Museum's collections.

Academics

Today, the university has 14 faculties. With over 29,000 students, it is Saxony's second-largest university. There are now more than 150 institutes and the university offers 190 study programs leading to Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees, Staatsexamen, Diplom and Ph.D.s of which nearly all are tuition-free. Arguably, the Faculty of Medicine is the university's most renowned faculty.
The university offers a number of courses in English and other foreign languages and there are several programs allowing foreign students to study abroad at the university. Current exchange partner universities include the University of Arizona, University of Oklahoma, University of Houston, University of Alberta, Ohio University and University of Edinburgh among others. Traditionally contacts to universities in Eastern Europe and the Far East are strong as well, e.g. there are cooperations with leading institutions like Lomonosov University  (Moscow) and Renmin University (Beijing).There is a variety of International Master's programs: American Studies, Global Studies, SEPT (MBA in SME Promotion) and one Bachelor/Master's/Ph.D. program (International Physics Studies Program) taught in English. American Studies Leipzig is one of the most distinguished programs of its kind in Europe. In the last three years alone, it has been awarded three prestigious international professorships: The Fulbright-Leipzig Chair for American Studies, the DAAD Professorship for American and International Studies, and the Picador Guest Professorship for Literature. It is also the home of aspeers:emerging voices in american studies, a graduate-level peer-reviewed scholarly journal for American studies. Erasmus Mundus Global Studies on the other hand, is an interdisciplinary, research-based Master offered by a consortium of five European universities: University of Leipzig, the London School of Economics, University of Vienna, University of Wroclaw and Roskilde University. Since 2008 the university is also home to one of Germany's few Confucius Institutes. The Institute is based on an agreement of June 2006 between the university administration and representatives of the Chinese Embassy to establish a Confucius Institute in cooperation with the Renmin University and the "National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language".

Rankings

The university is ranked 2nd in Germany, 20th in Europe and 105th in the world by the web-based Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. (A ranking evaluating the university's scientific online publications.) The 2010 ARWU-Ranking sees the university in the 201-300 tier of world universities and within the top 25 in Germany. In respect to university sports Leipzig has constantly been ranked among the German top 10 in various disciplines over the past decades.

 Research

Research Academy

The Research Academy Leipzig is the umbrella organisation for all structured doctoral qualification programmes at the University of Leipzig. It aims at providing the best possible conditions for the advancement of young researchers.

News

• Transferable Skills Programme
• Scholarships of the doctoral programmes of the Research Academy
• DAAD "Welcome to Africa" - Call for Applications
• Intensive Language Course German - 10 to 29 September 2012
• Young Researchers Grant of the Utrecht Network
• Summer Term Offers of Kompetenzschule and Transferable Skills Programme
• Photo exhibition "Dissertation Stories"
• E-Learning courses at the University Computer Centre
• Campus Licence for Software MindManager
• Citavi - Campus Licence extended

DAAD "Welcome to Africa" Call for Applications

Under the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) program “Welcome to Africa”, annual funding will be made available for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral students for the study period from 2012 to 2015.
For PhD candidates financial support will be provided for one or three months research stays at the universities of Stellenbosch, South Africa; Yaoundé, Cameroon; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The DAAD funding will be available through the Institute of African Studies, the international MBA program “Small Enterprise Promotion and Training” (SEPT), the Global and European Studies Institute, the Centre for Area Studies and the Research Academy Leipzig.
Application deadline for the winter term 2012/2013 is 30 June 2012.

Intensive Language Course German - 10 to 29 September 2012

Intensive Language Course for International Researchers, Doctoral Candidates and Students - 10 to 29 September 2012

• You are working as a researcher or doctoral candidate at the University of Leipzig or other Leipzig research institutions and would like to efficiently broaden your command of German?
• You wish to study in Germany, plan to do research work with an academic institution in Germany and want to aquire a command of the German language or improve your command of the language before your work starts?

The language course “RESEARCH, STUDY AND LIVE IN LEIPZIG“ at interDaF e.V. at Herder-Institut is the right one for you. During this approx. three-week course, you will develop your language competence in small groups and you will get to know Germany better.
Course fee: 495.00 €

Young Researchers Grant of the Utrecht Network

The University of Leipzig is member of the consortium Utrecht Network.
There are currently five Utrecht Network Young Researchers Grants of 1 to 6 months for students on the Master's or PhD level available for individually organised mobility at one of the network's partner universities.
Application Deadline: 31 October 2012

Summer Term Offers of Kompetenzschule and Transferable Skills Programme

Please finde here the summer term programme of the Komptenzschule ELSYS and the Transferable Skills Programms of the Research Academy Leipzig.

Competition "Understanding science"

Doktoranden und Postdocs! Könnt ihr reden und schreiben? Befasst ihr euch mit dem Thema Umwelt?

Dann macht mit bei "Wissenschaft verstehen"! Für jede gültige Einsendung gibt's ein Jahresabo vom Spektrum-Verlag und die Chance auf Preise im Gesamtwert von 8.000 Euro!
2012 findet der Wettbewerb "Wissenschaft verstehen" zum vierten Mal statt – in diesem Jahr erstmals in Kooperation mit der Zeitschrift "Spektrum der Wissenschaft". Das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung - UFZ und der Verein der Freunde und Förderer des UFZ rufen wieder junge Nachwuchswissenschaftler/innen im deutschsprachigen Raum dazu auf, sich mit ihren Dissertationen zu bewerben.Mitmachen kann, wer sich im Rahmen seiner Dissertation mit der Thematik „Umwelt“ auseinandersetzt oder auseinandergesetzt hat – egal ob im naturwissenschaftlichen oder sozialwissenschaftlichen Bereich. Vorausgesetzt, ihr arbeitet bereits ein Jahr an eurer Dissertation oder habt diese vor maximal zwei Jahren abgeschlossen. Bewerbungsschluss ist am 31. Mai 2012. Alle wichtigen Informationen und die genauen Ausschreibungsbedingungen findet ihr unter www.ufz.de/wissenschaft-verstehen/. Wir freuen uns auf eure populärwissenschaftlichen Texte!

Photo Exhibition "Dissertation Stories"

Since the beginning of December 2011 the photo series "Dissertation Stories" is exhibited in the Research Academy's premises in Burgstraße 21, 1st floor.

The idea for the photo competition goes back to an initiative of the Doctoral Students Representatives of the Research Academy (RA-Doc) at the end of 2010 and the Research Academy gladly joined the project as co-organizer. All PhD candidates of the University of Leipzig were invited to present their PhD project or their ideas on doing a PhD by means of a single photograph.  The most convincing results are presented in a permanent photo exhibition titled “Dissertation Stories” in the Research Academy’s premises.

E-Learning courses at the University Computer Centre

The Universiyt Computer Centre offers members of the University

Campus Licence for MindManager Software

Die Universität Leipzig hat eine Campuslizenz der Software MindManager erworben. Jede Mitarbeiterin und jeder Mitarbeiter kann sich über das URZ kostenfrei einen Lizenzschlüssel bestellen.

Jeder Studierende und Promovierende kann sich beim deutschen Vertriebshändler kostenfrei einen Lizenzschlüssel bestellen (Immatrikulationsnachweis erforderlich).

Citavi - Campuslizenz verlängert

Literaturverwaltung und Wissensorganisation

Die Research Academy beteiligt sich gemeinsam mit der Universitätsbibliothek und dem Universitätsrechenzentrum an einer Campuslizenz der Softwareanwendung Citavi Literaturverwaltung und Wissensorganisation.

Studierende und Mitarbeiter der Universität Leipzig können ab sofort mit einer Emailadresse der Universität Leipzig (*@*.uni-leipzig.de) unter folgender URL persönliche Lizenzschlüssel anfordern: http://www.citavi.com/uni-leipzig

Die zuvor installierte freie Version des Programms wird durch Eingabe des Lizenzschlüssels für 1 Jahr freigeschaltet. Damit können eigene Literaturdatenbanken mit mehr als 100 Einträgen verwaltet werden. Nach Ablauf eines Jahres muss erneut ein Lizenzschlüssel angefordert und eingegeben werden. Andernfalls können eigene Literaturdatenbanken mit mehr als 100 Einträgen nicht mehr erweitert werden.

Mit der persönlichen Lizenz können Sie die Vollversion von Citavi mit zwei Installationen (z.B. Arbeitsplatz und Laptop oder per USB-Stick) nutzen.

Collaborative Research Projects and Centres

Please find information about collaborative top-level research at the University of Leipzig below.

• Collaborative Research Centres
• Excellence Initiative: Graduate Schools
• International Max Planck Research Schools
• Research Training Groups
• Research Units
• Priority Programmes
• Competence Centres

Collaborative Research Centres

Collaborative Research Centres are institutions established at universities for a period of up to 12 years that enable researchers to pursue an outstanding research programme, crossing the boundaries of disciplines, institutes, departments and faculties. They facilitate scientifically ambitious, complex, long-term research by concentrating and coordinating the resources available at a university.
SFB 586 - Difference and Integration: Interaction Between Nomadic and Settled Forms of Life in the Civilisations of the Old World 
SFB 610 - Variations in Protein Conformation: Cell Biological and Pathological Relevance 
SFB 762 - Functionality of Oxidic Interfaces
TRR 67 - Functional Biomaterials for Controlling Healing Processes in Bone and Skin –from Material Science to Clinical Application

Excellence Initiative: Graduate Schools

Graduate schools play a key role in developing internationally competitive centres of top-level research and scientific excellence in Germany. They serve as an instrument of quality assurance in promoting young researchers and are based on the principle of training outstanding doctoral students within an excellent research environment. Graduate schools thus offer ideal conditions for doctoral students within a broad scientific area and, as integrative institutions with international visibility, they encourage students to be active members of their academic and social communities. As a result, graduate schools will extend far beyond DFG Research Training Groups and differ from them substantially.

GSC 185: Leipzig School of Natural Sciences – Building with Molecules and Nano-objects
The graduate school is integrated as a class into the Research Academy Leipzig.

International Max Planck Research Schools

The International Max Planck Research Schools - in cooperation between Max Planck Institutes and the University - are centers of scientific excellence in innovative and interdisciplinary research areas which strive to advance junior scientists and researcher.
Mathematics in the Sciences
The Leipzig School of Human Origins
Neuroscience of Communication: Function, Structure and Plasticity
The International Max Planck Research Schools are integrated as classes into the Research Academy Leipzig.

Research Training Groups

Promotion of Young Researchers
Research Training Groups are established to promote young researchers. They are funded by the DFG for a period of up to nine years. Their key emphasis is on the qualification of doctoral researchers within the framework of a focused research programme and a structured training strategy.

• GK 597: Analysis, Geometry and Interaction with Natural Sciences
• IGK 1056: International Research Training Group: Diffusion in Porous Materials
• GK 1097: INTERNEURO – Interdisciplinary Approaches in Cellular Neuroscience
• GK 1182: Function of Attention in Cognition
• GK 1261: Critical Junctures of Globalization
• GK 1553: Religious Nonconformism and Cultural Dynamics
• Integrated Research Training Group “Protein Science”
• Integrated Research Training Group "Matrix Engineering"

All research training groups are integrated in the graduate centres of the Research Academy Leipzig.

Research Units

A Research Unit is made up of a team of outstanding researchers working together on a research project which, in terms of thematic focus, duration and finances, extends beyond the funding options available under the Individual Grants Programme. Research Units provide the staff and material resources required for carrying out intensive, medium-term cooperative projects (generally six years). Research Units often contribute to establishing new research directions.

• FOR 718: Analysis and Stochastics in Complex Physical Systems
• FOR 742: Grammar and Processing of Verbal Arguments
• FOR 748: Neuronal and Glial P2 Receptors; Molecular Basis and Functional Significance
• KFO 152: Atherobesity: Adipose Tissue and Vasculature
• FOR 877: From Local Constraints to Macroscopic Transport
• Emmy Noether Programme: Pathways of law in ethnically mixed societies.
• Resources of experience in Poland-Lithuania and its successor states

Priority Programmes

A particular feature of the Priority Programme is the nationwide cooperation between its participating researchers. The DFG Senate may establish Priority Programmes when the coordinated support given to the area in question promises to produce particular scientific gain.

• Priority Programme 1294: Atmospheric and earth system research with the "High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft" (HALO)  
• Priority Programme 1448:  Adaptation and Creativity in Africa - Technologies and Significations in the Production of Order and Disorder

Competence Centres

Third-party funded Competence Centres

• Center for Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BBZ)
• Centre for Area Studies (CAS)
• Integrated Research and Treatment Centre (IFB) “Adiposity Diseases‟
• Innovation Centre for Computer Assisted Surgery (ICCAS)
• Interdiscipinary Centre for Bioinformatics (IZBI)
• Centre for Clinical Trials (KSL)
• Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine (TRM)
• Leipzig Research Centre for Modern Diseases (LIFE)  (previously: Leipzig Interdisciplinary Research Cluster of Genetic Factors, Clinical Phenotypes and Environment)

Centres

• Centre for the Study of Religion (CSR)
  Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies (FraGes)
  Centre for Advanced Study (ZHS)
  Centre of International Economics (ZiW)
  Centre for Teacher Training and School Research (ZLS)
  Magnet Resonance Centre (MRZ)
  Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research Leipzig (IZKF)
  Centre for Environmental Medicine and Environmental Epidemiology

Research Promotion

On this and the following pages you will find information on third-party funding, on consultancy offered by the Research Service and the application process. You can also download application forms.
If you have any questions on research funding, please get in touch with one of the contacts on the right.

PhD

A PhD can be done in all subjects that are offered at the Universität Leipzig. Admission as a PhD candidate to the appropriate faculty is subject to the Doctoral Regulations of the University Faculties (documents in German only).
Additionally, it is possible to do postgraduate studies, or to do a PhD in structured international PhD programmes (such as Graduate School, Research Training Groups, International Max Planck Research Schools) at the  Research Academy Leipzig. The Research Academy is the umbrella organisation for all structured doctoral qualification programmes at the Universität Leipzig. It aims at providing the best possible conditions for the advancement of young researchers.
Status of PhD candidates at the Universität Leipzig:
We recommend that PhD candidates enrol with the University in order to receive official student status. Approx. one third of all PhD candidates are also enrolled as PhD students, which allows them specific student amenities (this does not apply to health insurance though).
You can do your PhD as a scholarship holder, part of the University research staff, or financed otherwise.

Postgraduate Studies

Postgraduate studies are subject to the individual study regulations of each faculty. Applications for acceptance into a postgraduate programme must be submitted to the Postgraduate Studies Commission by February 26 for admission in the Summer Semester and August 30 for admission in the Winter Semester. The completion of a Master's Degree with above-average marks is a prerequisite for admission into postgraduate studies.Postgraduate students may apply for an academic stipend from the Landesgraduiertenförderung (in German) as soon as they are accepted into a programme. The Postgraduate Studies Commission determines how the stipends will be rewarded. Stipend recipients will usually teach a tutorium for bachelor's students after their first year of study.

Excellence Initiative of the Federal and State Governments

The Universität Leipzig belongs to the 35 universities throughout Germany that were successful in the first programme phase of the Excellence Initiative. The Graduate School "Leipzig School of Natural Sciences - Building with Molecules and Nano-objects (BuildMoNa)" has emerged as one of the leading research and training institutions in the field of the development of new, intelligent materials. The successful School will file a renewal proposal.
The established Leipzig Research Forum for coordinating and facilitating the cooperation between the University and the numerous non-university research institutes in Leipzig as well as the Research Academy Leipzig as the umbrella body for all structured doctoral training programmes provide ideal conditions for implementing these research projects.

People associated with the University of Leipzig

 List of University of Leipzig people

University of Leipzig has produced many notable individuals. Some famous people affiliated with Leipzig include:

• C. F. W. Walther was the first President of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and its most influential theologian.
• Johann Wolfgang Goethe, German poet and polymath
• Michelle Bachelet, first female President of Chile between 2006 and 2010
• Angela Merkel, first female German Chancellor
• Felix Bloch, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics
• Gustav Hertz, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics
• Julius Edgar Lilienfeld, Jewish Austro-Hungarian Physicist, inventor of the transistor
• Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher
• Richard Wagner, German composer
• Wilhelm Wundt, German psychologist, founded the first formal laboratory for psychological research
• Gustav Theodor Fechner, German psychologist, founder of Psychophysics
• Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher and writer
• Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician, Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor
• Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German polymath
• Ferdinand de Saussure, linguist, founder of structuralism
• Bartel Leendert van der Waerden, Dutch mathematician
• Maximilian von Frey, physiologist, inventor of the esthesiometer
• Zhar Lestin, Kaliningradian (Russian) mathematician
• Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and rector of the university

Radio

The local radio station of the University is "mephisto 97.6" and is receivable in the Leipzig area on FM 97.6 MHz and is also fed into the cable network of Leipzig at 93.6 MHz (both on a shared frequency with radio "R.SA"). It can be received Monday to Friday from 10 to 12am and 6 to 8pm. Therefore it can be received by over a million people in the broadcasting area.

Alumni-work at Universität Leipzig

The Alumni-work at the University has been built up in accordance with a development concept since 1997, and internationally implemented since 1998 through the interdisciplinary project “Leipzig Alumni International”, which focuses on international alumni.Since 2007 there has also been a central contact and service point for all alumni and the numerous alumni initiatives – the Alumni office. The interdisciplinary network is being promoted using a variety of ideas. Membership in the Universität Leipzig Alumni network is free of charge. If anybody later decides to support it with their expertise or financially, they do this voluntarily. There has already been an astonishing response to the alumni programme.Since the start of the programme in June 2007, more than 10,000 alumni have expressed interest in keeping in contact with their former university. And more names are being added every day. There are more than 150,000 alumni of Universität Leipzig worldwide, many of whom are now well-known in public life; as well as Chancellor Angela Merkel and ex-foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and the Polish Ambassador to Germany Marek Prawda studied in Leipzig.

Alumni and students of Universität Leipzig

Aims
Reciprocal contact and exchange of experiences is promoted with a wide range of offers. The aim is to maintain the connection with each other and our common Alma Mater – for a lifetime. So an enduring network has developed between the University and its former students, and is of benefit to both sides. Remaining in contact with your own university therefore offers many advantages – for the former students, current students and for the University.

Opportunities for alumni

• both a professional and social network
• strengthening contacts from your student days and making new contacts
• staying up to date with current research and teaching and the development of the University
• passing on practical knowledge, experiences and tips to students
• obtaining qualified students and graduates for graduate work, placements and jobs

Alumni are potential ambassadors and advocates for Universität Leipzig. Your experience gives us new inspiration with regard to improving research, teaching and university culture.

Photo of University