Munster University
| Westphalian Wilhelms-University of Munster | |
|---|---|
| Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster | |
 The Schloss: the centre of administration and the symbol of the university. | |
| Established | April 16, 1780 |
| Type | Public university |
| Chancellor | Dr. Stefan Schwartze |
| Rector | Prof. Dr. Ursula Nelles |
| Admin. staff | 13,000 (As of 2004[update]) |
| Students | 40,000 (As of 2004[update]) |
| Location | Münster, Germany |
| Campus | Urban, 285 buildings (2003), yearly expenses ~ 1 billion US dollars |
| Website | http://www.uni-muenster.de/en/ |
 | |
The University of Münster is a public university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The WWU is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities. The WWU has also been successful in the German "Excellence Initiative".
With more than 40,000 students and over 130 fields of study it is Germany's third largest university and one of the foremost centers of German intellectual life. The university offers a wide range of units (e.g. Business, Geography, IT, Mathematics and many more) and several courses in English (e.g. PhD/Doctorate, Masters in Geoinformatics, Geospational Technologies or Information Systems).
The university is associated with nine Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (most prestigious as well as most-funding prize in Europe), two Nobel prize (one former student and one professor) and one Fields Medal winners as professors and many more from former students.
History
The University has its roots in the Jesuiten-Kolleg Münster, which was founded in 1588. But today's University of Münster was founded in 1780 with four faculties: Law, Health Science (Medicine), Philosophy and Theology. The ceremony of constitution was performed by Franz Freiherr von Fürstenberg. In 1805 the university was extended to the Prussian University of Westphalia. It got its current name from Emperor Wilhelm II in 1907: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (WWU).
