The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...
in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. It is Germany's
sixth-oldest university in continuous operation.
Originally
established in Ingolstadt in 1472 by
Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut, the university was moved in 1800 to
Landshut
Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also ...
by
King Maximilian I of Bavaria when the city was threatened by the French, before being relocated to its present-day location in Munich in 1826 by
King Ludwig I of Bavaria
en, Louis Charles Augustus
, image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg
, caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825
, succession=King of Bavaria
, reign =
, coronation ...
. In 1802, the university was officially named Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität by King Maximilian I of Bavaria in honor of himself and Ludwig IX.
LMU is currently the second-largest university in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
in terms of student population; in the 2018/19 winter semester, the university had a total of 51,606 matriculated students. Of these, 9,424 were freshmen while international students totalled 8,875 or approximately 17% of the student population. As for operating budget, the university records in 2018 a total of 734,9 million euros in funding without the university hospital; with the university hospital, the university has a total funding amounting to approximately 1.94 billion euros.
As of 2020, the University of Munich is associated with
43 Nobel laureates. Among these were
Wilhelm Röntgen
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (; ; 27 March 184510 February 1923) was a German mechanical engineer and physicist, who, on 8 November 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays or Röntgen rays, an achie ...
,
Max Planck,
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematis ...
,
Otto Hahn and
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
.
Notable alumni, faculty and researchers include
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...
,
Rudolf Peierls,
Josef Mengele,
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
,
Walter Benjamin
Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist.
An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish ...
,
Joseph Campbell,
Muhammad Iqbal,
Marie Stopes
Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist and campaigner for eugenics and women's rights. She made significant contributions to plant palaeontology and coal classificati ...
,
Wolfgang Pauli
Wolfgang Ernst Pauli (; ; 25 April 1900 – 15 December 1958) was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after having been nominated by Albert Einstein, Pauli received the Nobel Prize in Physics ...
,
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
,
Max Horkheimer,
Karl Loewenstein,
Carl Schmitt,
Gustav Radbruch,
Ernst Cassirer,
Ernst Bloch and
Konrad Adenauer. LMU has recently been conferred the title of "University of Excellence" under the
German Universities Excellence Initiative, and is a member of
U15 as well as the
LERU
The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is a consortium of European research universities.
History and overview
The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is an association of research-intensive universities. Founded in 200 ...
. In
university rankings, the university is consistently placed among the best universities in Germany.
History
1472–1800
The university was founded with papal approval in 1472 as the
University of Ingolstadt
The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law, and medicine, all o ...
(foundation right of
Louis IX the Rich), with faculties of philosophy, medicine, jurisprudence and theology. Its first rector was
Christopher Mendel of Steinfels, who later became
bishop of Chiemsee
The Bishopric of Chiemsee was a Roman Catholic diocese. While based on the islands of the Chiemsee in Bavaria, Germany, most of its territory lay in the County of Tyrol, Austria. The bishopric ceased to be a residential see in 1808. and accordi ...
.
In the period of
German humanism, the university's academics included names such as
Conrad Celtes
Conrad Celtes (german: Konrad Celtes; la, Conradus Celtis (Protucius); 1 February 1459 – 4 February 1508) was a German Renaissance humanist scholar and poet of the German Renaissance born in Franconia (nowadays part of Bavaria). He led the ...
and
Petrus Apianus. The theologian
Johann Eck
Johann Maier von Eck (13 November 1486 – 13 February 1543), often anglicized as John Eck, was a German Catholic theologian, scholastic, prelate, and a pioneer of the counter-reformation who was among Martin Luther's most important int ...
also taught at the university. From 1549 to 1773, the university was influenced by the
Jesuits
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
and became one of the centres of the
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
. The Jesuit
Petrus Canisius served as rector of the university.
At the end of the 18th century, the university was influenced by the
Enlightenment, which led to a stronger emphasis on
natural science
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
.
1800–1933
In 1800, the Prince-Elector Maximilian IV Joseph (the later
Maximilian I, King of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
) moved the university to
Landshut
Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also ...
, due to French aggression that threatened Ingolstadt during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
. In 1802, the university was renamed the Ludwig Maximilian University in honour of its two founders,
Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria and
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria. The Minister of Education,
Maximilian von Montgelas, initiated a number of reforms that sought to modernize the rather conservative and Jesuit-influenced university. In 1826, it was moved to
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
, the capital of the
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...
. The university was situated in the
Old Academy
The Academy (Ancient Greek: Ἀκαδημία) was founded by Plato in c. 387 BC in Athens. Aristotle studied there for twenty years (367–347 BC) before founding his own school, the Lyceum. The Academy persisted throughout the Hellenistic ...
until a new building in the
Ludwigstraße
The Ludwigstraße in Munich is one of the city's four royal avenues next to the Brienner Straße, the Maximilianstraße and the Prinzregentenstraße. Principal was King Ludwig I of Bavaria, the avenue is named in his honour. The city's grande ...
was completed. The locals were somewhat critical of the number of Protestant professors Maximilian and later Ludwig I invited to Munich. They were dubbed the "Nordlichter" (northern lights) and especially physician
Johann Nepomuk von Ringseis
Johann Nepomuk von Ringseis (16 May 1785 – 22 May 1880) was a German physician born in Schwarzhofen, Oberpfalz.
He received his education at the University of Landshut, where he was a student of Andreas Röschlaub (1768-1835). Afterwards he fu ...
was quite angry about them.
In the second half of the 19th century, the university rose to great prominence in the European scientific community, attracting many of the world's leading scientists. It was also a period of great expansion. From 1903, women were allowed to study at Bavarian universities, and by 1918, the female proportion of students at LMU had reached 18%. In 1918,
Adele Hartmann
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...
became the first woman in Germany to earn the
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...
(higher doctorate), at LMU.
During the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
, the university continued to be one of the world's leading universities, with professors such as
Wilhelm Röntgen
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (; ; 27 March 184510 February 1923) was a German mechanical engineer and physicist, who, on 8 November 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays or Röntgen rays, an achie ...
,
Wilhelm Wien
Wilhelm Carl Werner Otto Fritz Franz Wien (; 13 January 1864 – 30 August 1928) was a German physicist who, in 1893, used theories about heat and electromagnetism to deduce Wien's displacement law, which calculates the emission of a blackbod ...
,
Richard Willstätter,
Arnold Sommerfeld
Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld, (; 5 December 1868 – 26 April 1951) was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and mentored many students for the new era of theoretic ...
and
Ferdinand Sauerbruch.
1933–1945
During the
Third Reich, academic freedom was severely curtailed. In 1943 the
White Rose group of anti-Nazi students conducted their campaign of opposition to the National Socialists at this university. The university stripped the nazi-opposition fighter Kurt Huber of his position and his doctorate at the time of his arrest.
1945–present
The university has continued to be one of the leading universities of
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...
during the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
and in the post-reunification era. In the late 1960s, the university was the scene of protests by radical students.
Today, the University of Munich is part of 24 Collaborative Research Centers funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and is host university of 13 of them. It also hosts 12 DFG Research Training Groups and three international doctorate programs as part of the Elite Network of Bavaria, an educational policy concept of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
for the promotion of gifted pupils and students in the higher education sector. It attracts an additional 120 million euros per year in outside funding and is intensively involved in national and international funding initiatives.
LMU Munich has a wide range of degree programs, with 150 subjects available in numerous combinations. 15% of the 45,000 students who attend the university come from abroad.
In 2005, Germany's state and federal governments launched the
German Universities Excellence Initiative, a contest among its universities. With a total of 1.9 billion euros, 75 percent of which comes from the federal state, its architects aim to strategically promote top-level research and
scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholars ...
. The money is given to more than 30 research universities in Germany.
The initiative will fund three project-oriented areas:
graduate school
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree.
The organization and ...
s to promote the next generation of scholars, clusters of excellence to promote cutting-edge research and "future concepts" for the project-based expansion of academic excellence at universities as a whole. In order to qualify for this third area, a university had to have at least one internationally recognized academic
center of excellence and a new graduate school.
After the first round of selections, LMU Munich was invited to submit applications for all three funding lines: It entered the competition with proposals for two graduate schools and four clusters of excellence.
On Friday 13 October 2006, a blue-ribbon panel announced the results of the Germany-wide Excellence Initiative for promoting top university research and education. The panel, composed of the
German Research Foundation
The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
and the German Science Council, has decided that LMU Munich will receive funding for all three areas covered by the Initiative: one graduate school, three "excellence clusters" and general funding for the university's "future concept".
In January 2012, scientists at the Ludwig Maximilian University published details of the most sensitive listening device known so far. This has led to the college being inducted into the Guinness book of world records.
In September 2018, the Munich public prosecutor's office investigated against a vice president of the university on suspicion of unfaithfulness. The vice president should have claimed "excessive travel expenses". In the following year, veterinary students reported that the LMU violated animal welfare. According to them, the LMU keeps pigs in tight grid boxes, so that some animals showed scratches, bumps and respiratory diseases from lying down. Students who report these circumstances told that they been threatened with the deregistration of the university. In the beginning of 2020, the LMU locked around 80 students in a room who wanted to discuss under the topic "Climate Burns, University Burns" why universities are doing research for companies that are harmful to the
climate
Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...
.
Campus
LMU's institutes and research centers are spread throughout Munich, with several buildings located in the suburbs of
Oberschleissheim and
Garching
Garching bei München (''Garching near Munich'') or Garching is a town in Bavaria, Germany, near Munich. It is the home of several research institutes and university departments on its campus. It became a city on 14 September 1990.
Location
The ...
as well as
Maisach
Maisach is a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, in Bavaria, Germany.
Maisach is the largest municipality in the Fürstenfeldbruck district. It is situated north of Fürstenfeldbruck, and northwest of Munich. It is served by a ...
and
Bad Tölz
Bad Tölz (; Bavarian: ''Däiz'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany and the administrative center of the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district.
History
Archaeology has shown continuous occupation of the site of Bad Tölz since the retreat of the gla ...
. The university's main buildings are grouped around Geschwister-Scholl-Platz and Professor-Huber-Platz on
Ludwigstrasse, extending into side streets such as Akademiestraße, Schellingstraße, and Veterinärstraße. Other large campuses and institutes are located in
Großhadern (
Klinikum Großhadern),
Martinsried (chemistry and biotechnology campus), the Ludwigsvorstadt (Klinikum Innenstadt) and in the
Lehel (
Institut am Englischen Garten), across from the main buildings, through the
Englischer Garten
The ''Englischer Garten'' (, ''English Garden'') is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Bavaria, stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), later Coun ...
.
The university's main building is situated in
Geschwister-Scholl-Platz and the university's main campus is served by the
Munich subway's
Universität station.
Great Assembly Hall (Große Aula)
The große Aula is located in the university main building at Ludwigstraße in Munich. The Aula was constructed as part of the main building by
Friedrich von Gärtner and completed in 1840. The hall is situated in the first
floor
A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...
and extends to the second floor.
The Aula was not destroyed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and, thus, is one of few usable pre war venues in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
. The Aula was used for the first performances of concerts after the war. Furthermore, it was venue for the constituent assembly of the state of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
, where the current Bavarian constitution was enacted.
Today, the Aula hosts mainly concerts, talks and lectures.
Academics
Fields of study
Despite the
Bologna Process which saw the demise of most traditional academic-degree courses such as the ''
Diplom
A ''Diplom'' (, from grc, δίπλωμα ''diploma'') is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, ...
'' and ''
Magister Artium
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
'' in favour of the more internationally known
Bachelors
A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". ().
Etymo ...
and
Masters system, the University of Munich continues to offer more than 100 areas of study with numerous combinations of majors and minors.
In line with the university's internationalisation as a popular destination for tertiary studies, an increasing number of courses mainly at the graduate and post-graduate levels are also available in English to cater to international students who may have little or no background in the German language. Some notable subject areas which currently offer programmes in English include various fields of
psychology
Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...
,
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...
as well as
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit."
Having a business name does not separ ...
and
management
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activitie ...
.
Faculties
The university consists of 18 faculties which oversee various departments and institutes. The official numbering of the faculties and the missing numbers 06 and 14 are the result of breakups and mergers of faculties in the past. The Faculty of Forestry Operations with number 06 has been integrated into the
Technical University of Munich
The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied science, applied and Natural sci ...
in 1999 and faculty number 14 has been merged with faculty number 13.
* 01 Faculty of
Catholic Theology
Catholic theology is the understanding of Catholic doctrine or teachings, and results from the studies of theologians. It is based on Biblical canon, canonical Catholic Bible, scripture, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by ...
* 02 Faculty of
Protestant Theology
* 03 Faculty of
Law
* 04 Faculty of
Business Administration
Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
* 05 Faculty of
Economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...
* 07 Faculty of
Medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
* 08 Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine
Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
* 09 Faculty for History and the Arts
* 10 Faculty of
Philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...
, Philosophy of Science and Study of Religion
* 11 Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
* 12 Faculty for the Study of Culture
* 13 Faculty for Languages and Literatures
* 15 Faculty of
Social Sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
* 16 Faculty of
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
,
Computer Science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
and
Statistics
Statistics (from German: '' Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, indust ...
* 17 Faculty of
Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...
* 18 Faculty of
Chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
and
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
* 19 Faculty of
Biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...
* 20 Faculty of
Geosciences
Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four sphe ...
and
Environmental Sciences
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physi ...
Research centres
In addition to its 18 faculties, the University of Munich also maintains numerous research centres involved in numerous cross-faculty and transdisciplinary projects to complement its various academic programmes. Some of these research centres were a result of cooperation between the university and renowned external partners from academia and industry; the
Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, for example, was established through a joint initiative between LMU Munich and the
Deutsches Museum
The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...
, while the Parmenides Center for the Study of Thinking resulted from the collaboration between the
Parmenides Foundation and LMU Munich's Human Science Center.
Some of the research centres which have been established include:
*
Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM)
*
Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN)
*
Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health
*
Nanosystems Initiative Munich
The Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) is a German research cluster in the field of nano sciences. It is one of the excellence clusters being funded within the German Excellence Initiative of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
The cluster jo ...
(NIM)
*
Parmenides
Parmenides of Elea (; grc-gre, Παρμενίδης ὁ Ἐλεάτης; ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Elea in Magna Graecia.
Parmenides was born in the Greek colony of Elea, from a wealthy and illustrious family. His date ...
Center for the Study of Thinking
*
Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society
Tuition and fees
Universities in Bavaria do not charge tuition fees. Instead, a semester fee and a mandatory off-hours public transportation semester ticket (for the
Munich Transport and Tariff Association
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, MVV) have to be paid. A full network pass is optionally available. This mixed model is the result of several years of negotiations to allow students to get an affordable semester ticket despite the high costs of regular tickets in Munich. The current package was accepted by an overwhelming majority of 86.3% of students across all Munich universities in 2012 and introduced in the 2013 winter term.
Rankings
LMU Munich is ranked as follows:
*The
Times Higher Education Ranking 2022 ranks LMU Munich 2nd in Germany, and 33rd in the world.
* In 2022,
QS World University Rankings
''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for th ...
ranks LMU Munich 59th overall in the world and 2nd in Germany.
* The Shanghai Jiao Tong University's
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...
ranks LMU Munich 2nd nationally and 57th in the world as of 2022
* The Best Global Universities Ranking of the ''
U.S. News & World Report'' ranks LMU Munich 1st nationally and 47th in the world as of 2022
* In November 2018
Expertscape recognized it as one of the top ten institutions in the world in
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of pancr ...
*In 2018 and 2019, the LMU took 1st place based on the number of
DAX board of management members.
[Michael Proft. (2018). 7. DAX-Vorstands-Report][Klaus Hansen. (2019). 8. DAX-Vorstands-Report] The top 3 universities in 2019 were the LMU Munich, the
RWTH Aachen and the
Technische Universität Darmstadt.
*According to the funding report of the
German Research Foundation
The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
(DFG) of 2018, which breaks down the grants from 2014 to 2016, LMU Munich ranked 10th among German universities in the
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...
and
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of s ...
s, 6th in the
life sciences
This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, th ...
and 10th in
natural science
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
s. In
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
, it is not among the top 40. The approvals were normalised to the size of the university. In a competitive selection process, the DFG selects the best research projects from researchers at universities and research institutes and finances them. The ranking is thus regarded as an indicator of the quality of research.
''One Munich Strategy Forum''
The LMU and the
Technical University of Munich
The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied science, applied and Natural sci ...
have come together to work on "One Munich Strategy Forum", with a €2.5 million fund from the state of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
.
Munich International Summer University (MISU at LMU Munich)
The Munich International Summer University (MISU at LMU) is the Summer University by the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), which takes place annually in Munich and depending on the course also involves stays at different European cities. MISU at LMU Munich invites international students to attend short-term programs at the LMU Munich in order to progress academically even in winter or summer breaks at their home university. MISU hereby offers two course formats: On the one hand German Language classes are held at different times over the year. On the other hand, MISU offers 16 subject-specific
Summer Schools and Winter Schools covering a wide range of academic fields. Around 1000 students from nearly 90 countries joined MISU short-term programs in 2019.
History
Germany has a long tradition of hosting summer programs for international students. The LMU Munich organised its Summer University for the first time in 1927. Labelled as ''Sommerkurse für Ausländer'' (''Summer Courses for Foreigners'') the Summer University ran annually until 1934 and primarily consisted of German Language courses for international students. After a longer intermittence period, LMU's Summer University resumed as ''Internationaler Münchner Sommer'' (''International Summer in Munich''). Since then the number of courses has increased and the range of subject-specific
Summer Schools was extended to further academic disciplines. From 2008 onwards LMU's Summer University operates under the name Munich International Summer University (MISU).
Objectives
A central aim of MISU is to boost the interntationality of the LMU Munich in terms of research and teaching. Compared to semester-based
student exchange programs
A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or university study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions.
A student exchange program may involve international travel, but do ...
, short-term programs such as Summer Schools have the advantage for international students to receive a very intensive and concise insight into the research areas and campus at the LMU Munich. MISU hereby has the objective to combine excellent academic education with extra-curricular activities. Participants are thus not only supervised intensively by established researchers on selected topics but are also introduced to the history, culture and politics of Munich, Bavaria and Germany. Moreover, the Summer University allows the LMU Munich to intensify cooperation with international partner universities. MISU's short-term programs therefore strengthen the LMU's international visibility as one of the highest ranked universities in Europe. Having attended MISU courses, students might consider pursuing a postgraduate study or a doctoral degree at the LMU Munich in the future. Participants who fulfilled all course requirements are awarded with graded certificates and ECTS credits in line with the
European Credit Transfer System.
Courses
MISU offers two course formats: subject-specific summer academies and German Language Classes.
MISU's summer academies are subject-specific courses that either introduce students to new topics or upgrade students' knowledge on research areas in academic fields of interest. The summer academies are designed and organized in close cooperation with LMU's faculties and researchers. Most of the summer academies are open for students of different academic backgrounds and levels. Interdisciplinary seminars bring the advantage that students may exchange information beyond their respective academic fields and may hence learn from each other about new perspectives. The number of participants per course is limited in order to ensure intensive supervision and student interactions in class. Most of the summer academies do not only take place in Munich but also provide for academic and culturally motivated stays in other European cities. The following academic disciplines are covered by MISU summer academies.
* Economics, Business and Communication (
Electronic media,
Management accounting,
Analytics
Analytics is the systematic computational analysis of data or statistics. It is used for the discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data. It also entails applying data patterns toward effective decision-making. It ...
)
* Social Sciences (
European studies,
Middle Eastern studies)
* Law (
Law of Germany,
European Union Law
European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...
,
International law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
)
* Medicine (
Oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...
,
Neurology
Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...
,
Medical research)
* Natural Sciences (
Quantum Optics,
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the science, scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a Multidisciplinary approach, multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, an ...
)
MISU's German Language Courses are open for students all over the world. Courses are geared towards the aim to teach the German language in its academic, social and cultural context in order to ensure that students advance their language skills while also improving their knowledge on Germany. Therefore, MISU offers Language courses for all levels – basic, intermediate and advanced – at different times of the year. The Federal Republic of Germany offers scholarships for these purposes through the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD).
* Summer
German Language
German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
Courses
* Study Preparation Courses
* Specialized Courses for Advanced Learners
Notable alumni and faculty members
The alumni of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich played a major role in the development of
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...
.
Max Planck, the founder of
quantum theory and Nobel laureate in
Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...
in 1918, was an alumnus of the university. Founders of
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...
such as
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematis ...
,
Wolfgang Pauli
Wolfgang Ernst Pauli (; ; 25 April 1900 – 15 December 1958) was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after having been nominated by Albert Einstein, Pauli received the Nobel Prize in Physics ...
, and others were associated with the university.
Most recently, to honor the Nobel laureate in
Chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
Gerhard Ertl, who worked as a professor at the University of Munich from 1973 to 1986, the building of the
Physical Chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistica ...
was named after him.
Pakistani philosopher and poet Sir
Muhammad Iqbal, regarded as the "Poet of the East" and "The Thinker of Pakistan", earned his
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...
degree from the Ludwig Maximilian University,
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
in 1908. Working under the guidance of
Friedrich Hommel, Iqbal published his doctoral thesis in 1908, entitled ''
The Development of Metaphysics in Persia
''The Development of Metaphysics in Persia'' is the book form of Muhammad Iqbal's PhD thesis in philosophy at the University of Munich submitted in 1908 and published in the same year. It traces the development of metaphysics in Persia from the ...
''.
The
anti-Nazi resistance
White Rose was based in this university.
File:Pope Benedict XVI 2.jpg, Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...
was a student and professor at LMU Munich
File:Roentgen2.jpg, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen received the Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
in 1901
File:Theodor Haensch.jpg, Theodor W. Hänsch received the Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
in 2005
File:Otto Hahn (Nobel).jpg, Otto Hahn received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
in 1944
File:Bundesarchiv Bild183-R57262, Werner Heisenberg.jpg, Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematis ...
received the Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
in 1932
File:Max Planck 1933.jpg, Max Planck received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918
File:Hans Bethe.jpg, Hans Bethe received the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics
File:Thomas Mann in 1926.jpg, Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
-winning novelist Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
was a student at LMU Munich
File:Karl Jaspers 1946.jpg, Karl Jaspers
Karl Theodor Jaspers (, ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspe ...
was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher
File:Iqbal in 1931.jpg, Philosopher, Persian and Urdu poet Sir Muhammad Iqbal studied philosophy at LMU Munich
File:Hans-Werner Sinn 17Jan2008 .jpg, Hans-Werner Sinn, professor of economics at LMU Munich
File:Dean Blake Van Leer.jpg, Blake Ragsdale Van Leer
Blake Ragsdale Van Leer (August 16, 1893 – January 23, 1956) was an engineer and university professor who served as the fifth president of Georgia Institute of Technology from 1944 until his death in 1956.
Early life and education
Van Leer was ...
, United States Army officer and president of Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part ...
File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F078072-0004, Konrad Adenauer.jpg, Konrad Adenauer was Chancellor of Germany
The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...
from 1949 to 1963
File:Valdas Adamkus 16072008.jpg, Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania 1998–2003 and 2004–2009
File:Bertolt-Brecht.jpg, Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
, poet, playwright and theatre director
File:Max Weber 1894.jpg, The sociologist Max Weber
Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas p ...
was a professor at LMU Munich
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-0313-507, Rudolf Hess.jpg, Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...
was the Deputy Führer of National Socialist Germany from 1933 to 1941
File:Josef Mengele, Auschwitz. Album Höcker (cropped).jpg, Josef Mengele was a Schutzstaffel
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe ...
(SS) officer
File:Hermann Göring - Röhr.jpg, Hermann Göring was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0630-504, Heinrich Brüning.jpg, Heinrich Brüning served as Chancellor of Germany
The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...
during the Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
from 1930 to 1932
File:DPAG 2009 Theodor Heuss.jpg, Theodor Heuss served as the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany
The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...
See also
*
Education in Germany
*
List of forestry universities and colleges
*
List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)
*
List of universities in Germany
Notes
References
External links
*
360° Panorama at the Ludwig Maximilian UniversityMunich International Summer University (MISU at LMU Munich)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich
Universities and colleges in Munich
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
Educational institutions established in 1826
1826 establishments in Bavaria
Tourist attractions in Munich
Historicist architecture in Munich
Universities established in the 19th century