Saarland University (German: Universität des Saarlandes, pronounced[univɛʁziˈtɛːtdɛsˈzaːɐ̯landəs]) is a publicresearch university located in Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland. It was founded in 1948 in Homburg in co-operation with France and is organized in six faculties that cover all major fields of science. In 2007, the university was recognized as an excellence center for computer science in Germany.
Thanks to bilingual German and French staff, the university has an international profile, which has been underlined by its proclamation as "European University" in 1950 and by establishment of Europa-Institut as its "crown and symbol" in 1951.
Nine academics have been honored with the highest German research prize, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, while working at Saarland University.
History
The entrance to Saarland University in 1948 and 2014
Saarland University, the first to be established after World War II, was founded in November 1948 with the support of the French Government and under the auspices of the University of Nancy.
At the time the Saarland found itself in the special situation of being partly autonomous and linked to France by economic and monetary union. With its combination of the German and French educational traditions and the dual languages of instruction, the university had a European perspective right from the start. Prior to the foundation of the university, clinical training courses for medical students at the state hospital, Saarland University Hospital,[4] in Homburg, Saarland, had been introduced in January 1946 and the "Centre Universitaire d'Etudes Supérieures de Hombourg" established on 8 May 1947 under the patronage of the University of Nancy. Students in certain disciplines can obtain degree certificates from both universities.
The first president of the independent university in 1948 was Jean Barriol. In the same year the university introduced the first courses in law, philosophy and languages.
In the 1950s Saarland University joined the Association of West-German Universities and accepted a new, more centralized organizational structure, and the Europa-Institut is established as a European politics and law think tank.
Organization and administration
The university is headed by a board, which includes a president and five vice presidents, responsible for planning and strategy, research and technology transfer, education, and administration and finance, respectively.[5] The president is elected by both the senate and the council in separate votes.
The senate, consisting of nine professors, three students, three academic and two administrative staff members, acts as the legislative branch.[6] Further, the university has a council which makes strategic decisions, allocates funding, and supervises the board.[7] The council's members are representatives of private companies and academic institutions including other universities, in addition to representatives of the university's professors, staff members, and students.[8]
Saarland University is known for research in Computer Science, nano technology, medicine, European relations, politics and law. The university campus and the surrounding area is home to several specialized research institutes, affiliated with various high-profile independent research societies and private companies, focused on primary and applied research.
Buildings in the university science park just outside the campus.
The university science park provides a startup incubator and a technology/research transfer environment for companies mostly focused on IT, nanotechnology and biotechnology.
Education
A view of the main campus from the nearby hills
With its numerous degree programmes and the variety of final qualifications offered (Diplom, Magister, PhD, state examinations and, increasingly, bachelor and master qualifications), Saarland University provides the broad spectrum of disciplines typical of a classical universitas litterarum. The more traditional subjects such as business administration and economics, law and medicine are just as much a part of Saarland University as the new degree programmes that have developed from modern interdisciplinary collaborations and which reflect the increasing demand for such qualifications in today's job market. Examples of these new courses include 'Biology with Special Focus on Human Biology and Molecular Biology', 'Bioinformatics /Computational Biology', 'Mechatronics Engineering', 'Micro- and Nanostructured Materials', 'Computer and Communications Technology', 'Historically-oriented Cultural Studies' and 'French Cultural Science and Intercultural Communication'.
Integrated degree courses, which can lead to the award of a joint degree, are organized by Saarland University and foreign partner universities in the fields of business administration, physics, chemistry, materials science and in the interdisciplinary programme 'Cross-border Franco-German Studies'. In the area of teacher training, Saarland University offers an integrated bilingual (French-German) course for prospective teachers of geography and history. A further distinctive feature of Saarland University is the fact that the university is able to award French degrees in subjects such as Droit, Allemand and Lettres modernes. Additional qualifications may also be obtained in numerous postgraduate courses.
The Europa-Institut is among the very few socio-economic research centers to focus primarily on European integration. Its European law and MBA in European management programmes uniquely focus on opportunities emerging from an expanding and more integrated Europe.
The university is also responsible for conducting Computer Science related courses for students enrolled in the graduate programmes of the MPI for Computer Science and MPI for Software Systems. Saarland University is one of the few universities in Germany where the entire master's programme in Computer Science is taught in English.[10]
Cooperation
Saarland University is part of the Software-Cluster, a local association of universities, research institutes and IT companies in Karlsruhe, Darmstadt, Kaiserslautern, Waldorf and Saarbrücken with the purpose of fostering business software development.[11][12]
Saarland University is recognized in several university ranking systems. In the QS World University Rankings of 2024, the institution was ranked 600th globally and 35th on a national level.[13] The university's standing was slightly higher in the ARWU World 2022 rankings, where it was positioned within the 501–600 range globally and between 32nd and 36th nationally.[14]
The main campus in Saarbrücken is just outside the city, set between picturesque hills. Cycling from the university to the city or short wander in the forest close to campus is a favorite of students and faculty.
The Hermann-Neuberger-Sportschule[16] is located next to the campus and hosts the Olympiastützpunkt Rheinland-Pfalz/Saarland that is the Olympic Training Center for Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland.
There is also a recreation center called Uni-Fit.[17]
University hospital
University hospital
The University Hospital of the Saarland (in German: Universitätsklinikum des Saarlandes or UKS) is the hospital of Saarland University in Homburg, Saarland, Germany.[18][19]
It is concentrated on a campus south of the city center, with more than 100 clinic buildings scattered across more than 200 hectares of forest. In the course of the project UKS Projekt Zukunft, which was started in 2009, numerous new buildings are being built and the clinics for internal medicine are being combined in a large building complex. Affiliated are the medical faculty of the Saarland University with about 2000 medical students, and a school center with eleven schools for health professions.
