Zeppelin University (German: ''Zeppelin Universität'', ZU) is a small and highly selective private

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 ...

on the shores of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Lak ...

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

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 ...

. The university is accredited by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

and belongs among the best universities in Germany. The university was established in 2003 and is known for its

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...

character as well as for its sophisticated method of selecting students. It is named after the German general and airship constructor

Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (german: Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin; 8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships. His name soon became synonymous with airships a ...

, whose

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

is a prominent financier of the university.

Campus

Zeppelin University has two campuses in

: the ''LakeCampus'' at the shores of

, and the nearby ''ZF Campus'', which was completed in 2015. The ZF Campus was funded by a donation of 20 million Euro from

ZF Friedrichshafen ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, originally ''Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen'', and commonly abbreviated to ZF (ZF = "Zahnradfabrik" = "Cogwheel Factory"), is a German car parts maker headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south- ...

. Both campuses are modern, designed by well-known architects, and contain

classroom A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...

lecture hall A lecture hall (or lecture theatre) is a large room used for instruction, typically at a college or university. Unlike a traditional classroom with a capacity normally between one and fifty, the capacity of lecture halls is usually measured i ...

s, offices,

cafeteria A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or sch ...

s, a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

, a fitness studio and a co-working wing for students. In 2018 the ZF Campus was named one of four new exceptional constructions in Germany by the

German Architecture Museum The German Architecture Museum (german: Deutsches Architekturmuseum, links=no) (DAM) is located on the Museumsufer in Frankfurt, Germany. Housed in an 18th-century building, the interior has been re-designed by Oswald Mathias Ungers in 1984 as ...

. The university was also awarded with the ''"Deutscher Hochschulbaupreis 2018"'' by the
Deutsche Universitätsstiftung
''

Rankings

Zeppelin University is a small and exclusive private university and offers fewer programs than traditional universities in Germany. Because it is relatively new and small, it typically goes unranked in international comparisons. In the most reputable German ranking, the CHE, the Zeppelin University achieved the best result of all German universities in the political science/social sciences for its teaching offerings and general study situation in 2021/22. In the previous year, the bachelor's and master's degree programs of the ZU in economics ranked first among all German universities in the CHE ranking, together with Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. In the CHE Ranking 2018/2019, the Bachelor's and Master's programs of the ZU in Politics, Administration & International Relations were among the best-ranked in Germany. In the CHE Ranking 2017/2018, ZU was ranked among the top 3 German universities for the Bachelor's and Master's programs in Economics. In 2015/2016, the Center for Higher Education Development ranked Zeppelin University's Master's program in Political Science as the third-best among all German universities. In the CHE Ranking 2014/15, the ZU's bachelor's degree programs in Economics, Cultural and Communication Studies, and Political and Administrative Science occupied positions in the top group among German universities. The ranking particularly lauds the supervision ratio, study situation, subject selection, and students' intellectual freedom. In 2014/15 CHE Master's University Ranking, Zeppelin University's Master's program in Economics and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz formed the top group among Germany's universities. In the ''Handelsblatt Karriere'' magazine, in edition 07/08 dated 27 April 2007, Zeppelin University appeared in a university ranking for the first time. Its economics program reached eighth place in the german-speaking area back then.

Academic profile

The university offers 16 Bachelor's and Master's tracks, including executive Master's education. Students can graduate with the academic degree of

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

and a consecutive or non-consecutive

Master of Arts 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 ...

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

. Zeppelin University only offers four years undergraduate study programs. One year is intended to be used as a "Humboldt year", a one-year research project at a partner university. To enable this, the university's academic calendar closely mirrors international academic calendars.

Partner universities

Zeppelin University has partnerships with around 85 universities, some of which are: *

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university'' Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

Copenhagen Business School Copenhagen Business School (Danish'': Handelshøjskolen i København'') often abbreviated and referred to as CBS (also in Danish), is a public university situated in Copenhagen, Denmark and is considered one of the most prestigious business scho ...

University of Twente The University of Twente (Dutch: ''Universiteit Twente''; , abbr. ) is a public technical university located in Enschede, Netherlands. The university has been placed in the top 170 universities in the world by multiple central ranking tables. I ...

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the ...

Maastricht University Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; nl, Universiteit Maastricht) is a public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities. In 2021, 22,383 students studied at ...

Tuition fees and scholarships

Tuition Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

for undergraduate programs in the nominal study period of four years cost between 36,720 to 42,000 euro. For postgraduate programs, the tuition costs between 13,320 and 23,160 euros for the two-year program. Students not in receipt of a scholarship are offered low-interest loans by '' Sparkasse'' ''Bodensee.'' More than two-thirds of students avail of such loans. Alternatively, students can apply for grants from ''ZU-Bildungsfonds''.

Selection process

Applicants are selected by the university in a two-step selection process: after a detailed written application, in which the first round of selection is made, candidates are invited to an assessment day (''Pioneers Wanted''). Candidates go through several interviews with professors, students,

alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

, and external reviewers. Written tests are also featured. Candidates have to complete a group project which is presented to the assessment committee. The university's selection procedure is considered sophisticated, and not just because its methods differ from those of other universities. It does not just use

numerus clausus ''Numerus clausus'' ("closed number" in Latin) is one of many methods used to limit the number of students who may study at a university. In many cases, the goal of the ''numerus clausus'' is simply to limit the number of students to the maximum ...

(which is widely used in Germany), but instead tries to find students who—beyond having the required academic qualifications— also fit the university's character. The university's undergraduate acceptance rate is lower than 10%, and its graduate acceptance rate is about 16%.

Engagement and student projects

There are some 59 student groups and projects, such as groups affiliated with political parties (''LHG, Jusos, RCDS''), a debating club (''Soapbox''), the Club of International Politics (''CIP''), a Model United Nations group (MUN), which also organizes ''LakeMun'', entrepreneurial groups, a cultural club which also organizes a music festival at the university (''SeeKult''), a student medical service (ZUFA), a film group, several bands and many more – some of them are even known nationally (''RockYourLife'', for example). A student radio station ''Welle20'' went on air in 2008. In the last few years new initiatives have emerged for example the "ZUtaten" career fair, or the student consulting group "Whyknot". There is also an ERASMUS group named "International Student Group" and the "Hochschulsport" club which organises several sport activities such as volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, rowing, etc.

Research institutes

The Zeppelin University has various integrated interdisciplinary research institutes, which are partly funded by donations. These include the ''Leadership Excellence Institute Zeppelin'' (LEIZ), which is supported by the ''Karl Schlecht Stiftung'', the ''Friedrichshafener Institut für Familienunternehmen'' (Institute for family business), the ''Forschungszentrum für Verbraucher, Markt und Politik'' (a research institute for consumers, markets and politics), and the ''European Center for Sustainability Research'' supported by

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. ...

and

Rolls-Royce Power Systems Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG is a German company owned by Rolls-Royce Holdings with holdings in engine manufacturing brands and facilities. The company previously traded, from 2006 to 2014, as Tognum AG. Prior to 2006, the core company – MTU ...

References

External links

* {{authority control 2003 establishments in Germany Educational institutions established in 2003 Friedrichshafen Political science education Public administration Public policy schools Schools of international relations Universities and colleges in Baden-Württemberg