The Technische Universität Darmstadt (official English name Technical University of Darmstadt, sometimes also referred to as Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly known as TU Darmstadt, is a

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 key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

in the city of

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

, Germany. It was founded in 1877 and received the right to award doctorates in 1899. In 1882, it was the first university in the world to set up a chair in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. In 1883, the university founded the first faculty of electrical engineering and introduced the world's first degree course in electrical engineering.History of the department of Electrical Engineering: (German) In 2004, it became the first German university to be declared as an autonomous university. TU Darmstadt has assumed a pioneering role in Germany.

Computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

mechatronics Mechatronics engineering, also called mechatronics, is the synergistic integration of mechanical, electrical, and computer systems employing mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering and computer engineering, and also ...

business informatics Business informatics (BI) is a discipline combining economics, the economics of digitization, business administration, accounting, internal auditing, information technology (IT), and concepts of computer science. Business informatics centers arou ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and many more courses were introduced as scientific disciplines in Germany by Darmstadt faculty. The

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

, the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

and the Technische Universität Darmstadt together form the Rhine-Main-Universities (RMU). TU Darmstadt is a member of TU9, a network of the most notable German '' Technische Universitäten'' (universities of technology) and of the EU-supported European University Alliance Unite! (University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering). TU Darmstadt is a location of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and seat of the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence. TU Darmstadt is a member of the Darmstadt-based ATHENE-Center, the largest research institute for applied

cybersecurity Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

in Europe. The university is located in the IT cluster Rhine-Main-Neckar, the "Silicon Valley of Germany". Graduates of TU Darmstadt include Nobel Prize winners, entrepreneurs, managers, billionaires and politicians. , the university is associated with 4

Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

and 3

Wolf Prize in Physics The Wolf Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Mathematics, Medicine and Arts. The ...

laureates. For several years, TU Darmstadt has been one of the universities with the most top managers in the German economy. The university is currently among the top 3.Michael Proft. (2018). 7. DAX-Vorstands-ReportKlaus Hansen. (2019). 8. DAX-Vorstands-Report The graduates include Oliver Zipse, Peter Grünberg,

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( ; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization and later as the first pre ...

and John Tu.

History

On 10 October 1877, Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, elevated the ''Polytechnische Schule'' to

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...

zu Darmstadt and thereby raised the status of this educational institution to that of a university so that the ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' (a school leaving certificate from German Gymnasium schools qualifying for university admission or matriculation) became a requirement for admissions. In 1899, the ''Technische Hochschule Darmstadt'' was granted the right to award doctorates.

Early beginnings

The University's history is varied: its early phases began with the ''Höhere Gewerbeschule'' (Higher Trade School), which was founded in 1836 and received its own building near the 'Altes Pädagog' on Kapellplatz in 1844, followed by the ''Technische Schule'' (Technical School) in 1864 and the ''Großherzoglich Hessische Polytechnische Schule'' (Grand Ducal Hessian Polytechnic) in 1868. At that time, heated discussions were continually held in political circles on the issue as to whether such a poor state as the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...

n could afford a technically oriented higher educational institution, or even a polytechnic. After the foundation of ''Technische Hochschule Darmstadt'' in 1877, student numbers kept on being so low that in the years from 1881 to 1882 there were long debates in public about closing down the university. In this difficult situation, the local government and the university made the courageous decision to set up the first chair of

worldwide. Thus the Faculty of Electrical Engineering came into being as the sixth faculty of the ''Technische Hochschule Darmstadt'', which was a novelty in academia, because until then no other university had had such a faculty. This forward-looking higher education policy paved the way for Darmstadt to take up a leading position in the rapidly developing field of electrical engineering, which in turn led to a continuously rising number of students, so that the closure of the university never was demanded again.

First steps as a university

In 1895, new buildings were opened in Hochschulstrasse: the ''Altes Hauptgebäude'' (the 'Old Main Building' of the University) and an institute building directly opposite. During the two decades before the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, all disciplines of the university underwent diversification and expansion. New disciplines such as paper making and cellulose chemistry were introduced, and as early as 1913 a Chair of

Aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

and Flight Mechanics was set up. Meanwhile, the political climate had become stormier, and a growing political polarization exploded in Darmstadt over the question of foreign students. The ''Technische Hochschule Darmstadt'' had an extraordinarily large number of foreign students. In 1906, for instance, as many as three-quarters of the electrical engineering students were from abroad, mainly from states of eastern Europe. After the

there was an urgent need for reform of the education system at ''Technische Hochschule Darmstadt'', which was seen as a prerequisite for meeting the requirements of a modern industrial society. Intense discussions were held on the aim of extending the curriculum beyond the purely technical education in order to prepare the engineer for his leading role in society. A concrete step in this direction was taken in 1924, when the 'General Faculty', which until then had combined all the non-technical subjects, was divided into a Department of Mathematics and Natural Science and a Department of Cultural Studies and Political Science. Moreover, the measures taken to provide students with knowledge outside their own field of study included the upgrading of Economics and the creation of professorships in political science, history of technology and sociology.

During World War II

Like other academic institutions in Germany, TU Darmstadt suffered an exodus of scholars following the rise of the Nazi regime in 1933. Most notably, Gerhard Herzberg, the 1971 Nobel laureate in chemistry, was dismissed from TU Darmstadt in 1934 because his wife was Jewish and emigrated with his family to Canada. On the night of 11/12 September 1944, eighty per cent of the city, including many of the university's buildings, were destroyed during a bomb attack. For a short period in 1945, parts of the TH Darmstadt may have been closed by decree of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

before it was reopened in 1946. The electrical engineering department remained continuously functional, doing work under contract with the U.S. Army to build components of the V-2 guidance system. "But we have to be careful how we word this production order because we don't want the Russians to know that we are cranking up the V-2 system." In spite of the difficult post-war situation, university staff and students alike managed to settle down to university work in the severely damaged buildings, which had to be used as a makeshift solution.

Post World War II

As early as 1947, ''Technische Hochschule Darmstadt'' hosted the first ''Internationaler Kongress für Ingenieurausbildung'' (International Congress on Engineering Education), at which the participants discussed the moral responsibility of the technical intelligentsia and of the scientific elite in politics and society. In view of the disastrous consequences of the war, the participants (with the exception of the Americans, who had already contracted with THD faculty to continue weapon development), committed themselves henceforth to do research and teaching in engineering and scientific disciplines solely for the peaceful development of mankind. # Technical Science as Ethical and Cultural Task. # Present State and Tendencies of Development in Engineering Education Throughout the World. # Selection of Students and Social Problems. The speech delivered by James R. Newman, Director of American Military Government of Hessen, however, made no mention of such a commitment, while stating that: "An interchange of these ast experience together with ideas and methods of education along engineering lines, will aid greatly, not only in the reconstruction of battle torn countries, but also in the bringing about of a universal understanding and mutual respect, and the charity which have prevented the understanding, the tolerance, the respect, and the charity so necessary for the peace, happiness, and contentment that is the dream of every human being on this earth." The post-war period of reconstruction was largely based on a major development programme in the 1960s, by means of which universities and the state reacted to the continuously rising numbers of students. Since almost no land was available in the city centre for new construction projects, the decision was taken in 1963 to use the 'Lichtwiese' (a former airfield on the outskirts of the city) as a site for building extensions to the ''Technische Hochschule''. Thus in the late 1960s and in the early 1970s numerous buildings, including a new student cafeteria, were erected there and ultimately became the university's second campus.

University reforms in the 1970s

After 1968 the university reform, having been initiated by the student movement, was beginning to take shape both at a national and a regional level. It aimed at creating clear university structures and the involvement of all university members in decision-making processes. In 1970 the ''Hessisches Hochschulgesetz'' (Higher Education Law of the Federal State of

Hessen Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

) came into force. These gave ''Technische Hochschule Darmstadt'', along with other Hessian universities, a new structure based on the introduction of a presidential statute and a unified administration as well as the subdivision of the university structure into departments. In the mid 1970s, there was another rapid rise in student numbers. Staff development, however, lagged far behind, resulting in inevitable restrictions on admission imposed either by the central government or by the University. Regardless of the staff's heavy workload, the TH Darmstadt managed to set the course for the future, as evidenced by the School of Information Science, established in 1974, the ''Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Technikforschung'' (Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies on Technology), founded in 1987, and the Department of Materials Science, established in 1989. This department has been housed in a new building on the Lichtwiese since 1996.

Renaming

By the end of the 19th century, ''Technische Hochschule Darmstadt'' had been granted the legal status of a university, and had been offering a correspondingly wide range of subjects. For these reasons, and also with the objective of sharpening public awareness of the university's status at home and abroad, ''Technische Hochschule Darmstadt'' was renamed ''Technische Universität Darmstadt'' (which is also its official English name albeit often called ''Darmstadt University of Technology'') on 1 October 1997. This name change was partly prompted by misunderstandings that had occurred in English-speaking countries, where ''

'' had often been mistakenly transliterated as 'Technical High School', providing a totally misleading connotation.

Autonomy and TU Darmstadt Law

On 1 January 2005, the first version of the ''TU Darmstadt Law'' applied making TU Darmstadt the first German public university to be given administrative autonomy. New administrative structures were put into place, and their success is being evaluated. For instance, the university can now autonomously administer its budget and buildings. Also, the university can hire professors and negotiate their salaries by itself. Formerly this was done by the State of Hessen. The status of autonomy also allows TU Darmstadt to invest in business start-ups. The Technische Universität Darmstadt is the only German university that has legally committed itself to guarantee their students good studying conditions. The TU Darmstadt law in its current state has legal force up to 31 December 2020.

The university as a pioneer

In 1882, the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt was the first university in the world to set up a chair for

and founded the first faculty for it in 1883. The first chair holder was Erasmus Kittler. In the same year the university introduced the world's first course of study in electrical engineering. In 1913, the university set up the first chair for aviation and aircraft technology in Germany. The TH Darmstadt set up the first chair for scientific policy in 1951. The first chair holder was

Eugen Kogon Eugen Kogon (2 February 1903 – 24 December 1987) was a German historian and Nazi concentration camp survivor. A well-known Christian opponent of the Nazi Party, Kogon was arrested more than once and spent six years at Buchenwald concentration ...

. He is considered one of the founders of

in Germany. The TH Darmstadt shaped the subject of corporate governance in Germany. In 1973, the university established the first chair for management control system in Germany. The first chair holder was Péter Horváth, founder of Horváth & Partners. In Germany, the beginnings of

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

go back to the Institute for Practical Mathematics of the TH Darmstadt, which the mathematician Alwin Walther built in early 1928. In 1956, the first programming lectures and internships in Germany were offered at the TH Darmstadt. Due to the reputation that the TH Darmstadt had at the time in computer science research, the first international congress on computer science held in German-speaking countries took place in October 1955 at the TH Darmstadt. Robert Piloty, professor at the TH Darmstadt, developed the computer science courses in Germany. In 1968, the TH Darmstadt introduced a first degree course in computer science and in 1975 the first degree course in business informatics.

Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

as a scientific field in Germany and Europe was founded by Wolfgang Bibel, professor of intellectics at TU Darmstadt. He set up a research group for artificial intelligence at the TH Darmstadt in 1988. In 1996, the first chair in Germany for renewable energies was set up at TH Darmstadt and staffed with . In 2004, it became the first German university to be declared as an autonomous university.

Academic profile

Growth in the student population

Following is the growth in the student population of TU Darmstadt: ImageSize = width:800 height:300 PlotArea = left:70 right:40 top:20 bottom:20 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify Colors = id:gray1 value:gray(0.9) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:28000 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:7000 start:0 gridcolor:gray1 PlotData = bar:1907 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1476 width:15 text:1,476 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1927 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:2363 width:15 text:2,363 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1964 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:5012 width:15 text:5,012 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1980 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:12004 width:15 text:12,004 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2000 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:16403 width:15 text:16,403 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2024 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:24293 width:15 text:24,293 textcolor:red fontsize:8px

Departments

Typical for a university of technology, ten out of its 13 academic departments (, FB) are in engineering,

natural science Natural science or empirical 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 ...

s, and mathematics, while three departments are in the

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

and the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

. The departments (with number of the department) are: *Department of Law and Economics (FB1) *Department of History and Social Sciences (FB2) *Department of Human Sciences (FB3) *Department of Mathematics (FB4) *Department of Physics (FB5) *Department of Chemistry (FB7) *Department of Biology (FB10) *Department of Materials and Earth Sciences (FB11) *Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (FB13) *Department of Architecture (FB15) *Department of Mechanical Engineering (FB16) * Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (FB18) * Department of Computer Science (FB20)

Fields of study

There are five fields of study (''Studienbereiche''), which offer

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

degree courses in which students take lectures in multiple departments: * Computational engineering * Energy science and engineering * Information systems engineering * Mechanics * Mechatronics TU Darmstadt offers about 100 courses of study. Beyond bachelor's and master's degrees, it also offers degree courses for teaching positions at German vocational schools and the secondary schools known as gymnasiums.

Research profile

TU Darmstadt defined three major research fields: * Energy and Environment (E+E) * Information and Intelligence (I+I) * Matter and Materials (M+M). Each of these research fields cover several, focused Profile Topic which are taken to shape the academic reputation of TU Darmstadt.

Research

At TU Darmstadt there are several '' Sonderforschungsbereiche'' (SFB, collaborative research units) as well as several ''

Graduiertenkolleg Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelo ...

's'' (graduate schools) that are funded by

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft The German Research Foundation ( ; 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 Germany. In 2019, the DFG had a funding bu ...

. The university has attracted a considerable number of national and international research institutions to the ''Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt'' (Darmstadt – City of Science). Among them are: * GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (GSI) * * Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD * Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability * European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) * European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellite (EUMETSAT). * ATHENE * German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence * (hessian.AI) TU Darmstadt collaborates with these research institutes on a broad basis. For instance, TU Darmstadt and GSI agreed on a strategic partnership, which includes collaboration in the establishment of the FAIR Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research. The

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

has set up a research laboratory at TU Darmstadt, ESA_LAB@TU Darmstadt. It is the first research laboratory the

has set up at a German university. In 2018, TU Darmstadt has won the competition of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and is building an Institute for Manufacturing together with 50 partners including

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

, KUKA, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

. There will be an EIT Manufacturing Innovation Hub at the university. TU Darmstadt is involved in the German Excellence Initiative. This initiative sponsored the Cluster of Excellence Smart Interfaces (2007–2014), the Graduate School of Computational Engineering and the Graduate School of Excellence Energy Science and Engineering. TU Darmstadt is also partially involved with the Cluster of Excellence Normative Orders, based at

.Excellence Initiative
TU Darmstadt Website. Visited 15 April 2015

Cooperation with companies

The Technische Universität Darmstadt maintains several research collaborations with companies and research institutions. These include, for example: * PRORETA, a research collaboration with

Continental AG Continental AG, commonly known as Continental and colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational automotive parts manufacturing company. Headquartered in Hanover, Lower Saxony, it is the world's third- largest automotive supplier and the fo ...

, whose goal is to develop driver assistance systems that avoid traffic accidents. * With

Merck Group The Merck Group, branded and commonly known as Merck, is a German Multinational corporation, multinational science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt, with about 60,000 employees and a presence in 66 countries. The group include ...

there is a long cooperation, especial in Chemistry and material science. There is also a ''Merck Lab'' in cooperation with the chemistry department. *

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

Collaborative Research Institute for Secure Computing (ICRI-SC), a joint institute of the Technische Universität Darmstadt and Intel, which deals with the security of

system-on-a-chip A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with memory, input/output, and dat ...

platforms. It is the first Intel collaborative research center for IT security outside the USA. * Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Collaborative Autonomous & Resilient Systems (ICRI-CARS), a joint institute of the Technische Universität Darmstadt and Intel to study the security, privacy and safety of autonomous systems that collaborate with each other. * SAP Research, a cooperation with the software manufacturer SAP, which conducts research in various fields. TU Darmstadt is also a member of the Competence Center for Applied Security Technology (CAST), the largest corporate network for cybersecurity in German-speaking countries.

Strategic partnerships

The Technical University distinguishes between strategic alliances, a cooperative lab and a TU Darmstadt cooperation institute in strategic partnerships. TU Darmstadt maintains strategic alliances with the companies Merck,

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...

Robert Bosch GmbH Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch (styled BOSCH), is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 188 ...

and

. Cooperative Labs are research laboratories that are operated together with the partner and, as a rule, on the grounds of TU Darmstadt. The labs conduct joint and interdisciplinary research into a defined but broad subject area. Together with Merck, TU Darmstadt operates the Merck Lab, which has been investigating novel inorganic composite materials since 2006 that are suitable as printable components for electronic applications. Selected strategic partnerships can also receive the status of a TU Darmstadt cooperation institute from the university management. Since 2012, the first TU Darmstadt cooperation institute has been the DB Schenker Lab, whose goal is to expand joint research in the fields of transport and logistics and to additionally create relevant offers in the fields of teaching, training and university marketing.

Knowledge transfer and business start-ups

TU Darmstadt has the innovation and start-up center HIGHEST (Home of Innovation, GrowtH, EntrepreneurShip and Technology Management). HIGHEST supports the development of a business model, the identification of suitable funding programs, networking with mentors, companies and investors, offers lectures and seminars on the subject of innovation and entrepreneurship and provides contact persons. In addition, there are labs at TU Darmstadt on various subject areas in which one can experiment or simply exchange ideas. The autonomy status also enables TU Darmstadt to participate in business start-ups with its own funds. In a competition, TU Darmstadt was honoured by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as a founding university. The university is regarded as a role model when it comes to making start-up processes fast, simple and transparent. Since 2013, 95 knowledge- and technology-based companies have been founded in the vicinity of TU Darmstadt. The Startup & Innovation Day takes place once a year, where startups from the founding scene of the Rhine-Main-Neckar region present their innovations from a wide variety of areas and development stages. For cooperation with companies, TU Darmstadt set up a collaboration with Hessenmetall, the regional association of the machinery, electronic and automotive industry.

High-performance computer

The Technische Universität Darmstadt is one of the few German universities that have a high-performance computer. The high-performance computer Lichtenberg is named after

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (; 1 July 1742 – 24 February 1799) was a German physicist, satirist, and Anglophile. He was the first person in Germany to hold a professorship explicitly dedicated to experimental physics. He is remembered for his p ...

and has a computing power of about 1 PetaFLOPS. For comparison, the currently fastest high-performance computer

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

owns 148.6 PetaFLOPS (). In 2015 Lichtenberg was listed in the

TOP500 The TOP500 project ranks and details the 500 most powerful non-distributed computing, distributed computer systems in the world. The project was started in 1993 and publishes an updated list of the supercomputers twice a year. The first of these ...

at rank 410. In 2017, TU Darmstadt received 15 million euros from the federal government and state for the expansion of the Lichtenberg high-performance computer, the Lichtenberg II. This should have more than twice the power. Lichtenberg II will be used especially in the field of

computational engineering Computational Engineering is an emerging discipline that deals with the development and application of computational models for engineering, known as Computational Engineering Models or CEM. Computational engineering uses computers to solve eng ...

, which is a profile topic of TU Darmstadt. TU Darmstadt is also a member of the Competence Center for High Performance Computing in Hessen (HKHLR), an association of the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, the Justus Liebig University Giessen, the Philipps University Marburg, the

University of Kassel The University of Kassel () is a university founded in 1971 located in Kassel, Hessen, in central Germany. As of February 2022 it had about 25,000 students and about 3300 staff, including more than 300 professors. A special unit (Studienkoll ...

and the Technische Universität Darmstadt. Each of the members has a high-performance computer. As a voting member TU Darmstadt represents Hessian interests in the Gauß-Allianz, the union of all supercomputers at the state level in Germany.

Robotics

The Technische Universität Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt) is also internationally known for its robot research. The search and rescue robot Hector (Heterogeneous Cooperating Team Of Robots), developed by the department of computer science, competed in the Rescue Robot League 2014 of

RoboCup RoboCup is an annual international robotics competition founded in 1996 by a group of university professors (including Hiroaki Kitano, Manuela M. Veloso, Itsuki Noda and Minoru Asada). The aim of the competition is to promote robotics and AI ...

, the oldest and world's largest competition for intelligent robots in various application scenarios, and won the first place. The robot Hector won 1st place in the category ''Best in Class Autonomy'', the most intelligent robot, in the Rescue Robot League in the years from 2012 to 2015 and 2018 to 2019. In 2015, a team around Oskar von Stryk competed in the

DARPA Robotics Challenge The DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) was a prize competition funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Held from 2012 to 2015, it aimed to develop semi-autonomous ground robots that could do "complex tasks in dangerous, degraded, ...

. The team made it to the final with two robots in two different teams Hector and ViGIR. Team Hector competed with the robot Johnny 05 and Team ViGIR with the robot Florian. In 2017, the Argonaut robot, developed by a team led by Stryk, won the ARGOS Challenge for intelligent inspection robots on oil and gas platforms, which the company

Total S.A. TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and is one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas explorat ...

had launched. The prize was half a million euros. Argonaut is a variant of Taurob tracker and the first fully autonomous, mobile inspection robot for oil and gas plants. In 2018, Hector competed at the World Robot Summit in Tokyo in the ''Plant Disaster Prevention Challenge'' and won 1st place. The research team of Stryk has been building the German Rescue Robotics Centre since 2018. File:Team ViGIR Robot Florian DARPA Robotics Challenge 2015 2.jpg, Robot Florian at the DARPA Robotics Challenge 2015 File:Roboter Johnny 05 DARPA Robotics Challenge 2015 compressed.jpg, Robot Johnny 05 at the DARPA Robotics Challenge 2015 File:Argonaut robot entering the ARGOS Challenge competition site, March 2017.jpg, Robot Argonaut at the ARGOS Challenge File:RoboCup Rescue robot Hector from Darmstadt at 2010 German open.jpg, Hector UGV identifies a victim using a probabilistic world model, based on information from heterogeneous sensors.

Campuses

The university, with 164 Buildings and an area of property of , is concentrated at three campuses, Inner City, Lichtwiese and Botanical Garden. But individual facilities can be found in other parts of Darmstadt and in Griesheim, a neighboring town.

Inner City Campus

This campus lies very central in Darmstadt and is easily reachable by

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

and bus from every part of the city. The departments located here are Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (FB18), History and Social Sciences (FB2), Human Sciences (FB3), Computer Science (FB20), Mathematics (FB4), Physics (FB5) and Law and Economics (FB1). File:Robert-Piloty-Gebäude, TU Darmstadt.jpg, Robert Piloty Building, Department of Computer Science, 2006 File:TU Darmstadt S103 ErhoehtVonS208.jpg, Altes Hauptgebäude of TU Darmstadt, 2008 File:Hochschulstraße TU Darmstadt.jpg, Kantplatz, Darmstadt, 2007 File:Schloss Darmstadt Ansicht vom Marktplatz.jpg, Darmstadt former Ducal Palace, now part of TU Darmstadt, with market square File:Campusplatz TU Darmstadt.jpg, Campus Square, Inner City Campus of TU Darmstadt, with

University Library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution, which supports the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are an es ...

and sculpture "Büste" by Franz Bernhard File:Karo5 Eingangsgebaeude Verwaltungsgebaeude TU Darmstadt.jpg, Main Entrance and Administrative Building, City Campus TU Darmstadt 2018

Campus Lichtwiese

The Lichtwiese lies in the eastern part of Darmstadt. It is reachable by bus, tram and a nearby train station. The departments located here are Architecture (FB15), Civil Engineering and Geodesy (FB13), Chemistry (FB7), Mechanical Engineering (FB16) and Materials and Earth Sciences (FB11). File:TU Darmstadt MensaLichtwiese.jpg, Canteen at Campus Lichtwiese, 2007 File:TU Darmstadt L101 MaschinenbauZahnrad.jpg, Giant gear in front of the mechanical engineering building, 2007 File:TU Darmstadt L301.jpg, Department of Architecture, 2007 File:TU Darmstadt L201.jpg, Institute of Materials Science, TU Darmstadt Lichtwiese Campus File:TU Darmstadt Hörsaal-Medienzentrum-Campus-Lichtwiese.jpg, Lecture Halls and Library Building at Lichtwiese Campus

Botanical garden

The Botanical Garden of TU Darmstadt is located near the Lichtwiese Campus and the Department of Biology (FB10) is located here as well. With additional buildings of the Department of the Materials and Earth Sciences (FB11) and parts of the faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (h_da) it makes for an additional smaller campus. File:Botanischer Garten der TU Darmstadt - IMG 7032.JPG, Greenhouse, 2009 File:Campus Botanischer Garten der TU Darmstadt, Juni 2015.jpg, Botanical Garden Campus of TU Darmstadt

Griesheim

Since 2005, TU Darmstadt owns the August Euler Airfield, Germany's oldest airfield, for scientific purposes. It is named after its founder

August Euler August Euler (20 November 1868 – 1 July 1957) was a pioneer German aviator, aircraft constructor and the holder of the first German pilot's license, issued in 1909. After the First World War, he became German Secretary of State for Air, un ...

, a pioneer aviator. The airfield is not only used to start planes, but also to conduct research on topics where wide spaces are needed, for example driver assistance systems and

automotive lighting Automotive lighting is functional exterior lighting in vehicles. A motor vehicle has lighting and signaling devices mounted to or integrated into its front, rear, sides, and, in some cases, top. Various devices have the dual function of illumin ...

are being tested here. Located near the airfield are the

wind tunnel A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...

s of TU Darmstadt. File:Griesheim (ZCS - EDES) AN2005697.jpg, August Euler Airfield, 2011

Internationality

With 18% (2017), the percentage of international students at TU Darmstadt is clearly higher than the average of German universities of 13% (2017/18). TU Darmstadt maintains partnership agreements with over 300 universities in 53 countries world-wide, which enable students to come to TU Darmstadt and to go abroad within their course of studies. For example, the Technische Universität Darmstadt has partnerships with the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its main camp ...

Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1981, it is also the second oldest autonomous university in the country. The university is organised across numerous colleges and schools, includi ...

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

and

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

. With Tongji University Shanghai,

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

and Graz University of Technology, TU Darmstadt has developed strategic partnerships. The Technische Universität Darmstadt has been awarded the title "European University" by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. Together with 6 other European technical universities, TU Darmstadt has formed the allianc
UNITE! (University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering)
The aim of the project is to create a trans-European campus, to introduce trans-European curricula, to promote scientific cooperation between the members and to strengthen knowledge transfer between the countries. The alliance includes

Aalto University Aalto University (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economic ...

, the

Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest technical university. Since 2018, KTH consist ...

, the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble, the

Polytechnic University of Turin The Polytechnic University of Turin (, abbreviated as PoliTO) is the oldest Italian Public university, public Institute of technology, technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban ...

, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...

. The university offers international (English-language) Master's programs and a broad range of

double degree Joint degrees are academic qualifications awarded through integrated curricula often jointly coordinated and delivered by multiple higher education institutions, sometimes across different countries. Graduates may receive a single qualification ...

programs. The Joint Master Programme "International Cooperation in Urban Development (Mundus Urbano)" is offered together with Université Pierre Mendès-France, International University of Catalonia, and Universita degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata as part of the

Erasmus Mundus The European Union's Erasmus Mundus programme (named after Erasmus, the Renaissance scholar) aims to enhance quality in higher education through scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students f ...

programme of the

. TU Darmstadt is a member of the Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research.

Student life

Activities

TU Darmstadt offers various recreational sports courses and operates three sports halls, a sports stadium including various fields, a swimming pool, and a fitness studio. TU Darmstadt won the university competition of the German Olympic Sports Confederation for the third time in succession and has since been awarded the title of the most athletic university in Germany. There are manifold accredited student groups, ranging from the

Formula SAE Formula SAE is a student design competition organized by SAE International (previously known as the Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE). The competition was started in 1980 by the SAE student branch at the University of Texas at Austin after ...

TU Darmstadt Racing Team (DART), TU Darmstadt Space Technology (TUDSaT), Akaflieg Darmstadt, and

Chaos Computer Club The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) is Europe's largest association of Hacker (computer security), hackers with 7,700 registered members. Founded in 1981, the association is incorporated as an ''eingetragener Verein'' in Germany, with local chapters ...

to a theater group, an orchestra, and the campus radio AudioMax. The annual

job fair A job fair, also commonly referred to as a job expo or career fair or career expo, is an event in which employers, recruiters, and schools give information to potential employees. Job seekers attend job fairs to speak face-to-face with potential ...

''konaktiva'', which connects approximately 10,000 students with potential employers, is organized by volunteer students.

Students' representation

Students at TU Darmstadt are represented by the students' parliament (''Studierendenparlament'', StuPa), which is elected annually and in turn elects the General Students' Committee (''Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss'', AStA). The AStA is the students' government and engages in university politics and provides social and economic counseling for students. Moreover, it runs the café ''60,3qm'' ("60.3 square meters"), a beer garden and a club in the Ducal Palace, a store for office supplies, and a bicycle garage. In addition to the regular university curriculum, students can attend various non-credit courses held by students and coordinated by the AStA. Complementing the General Students' Committee, which represents all students enrolled at TU Darmstadt, the students of each department (''Fachschaft'') are represented by an elected students' council (''Fachschaftsrat''). Students of the ''Fachschaft'' participate in a number of committees of their department, such as the department's council (''Fachbereichsrat''), which consists of professors, students, academic staff and administrative staff.

Legends

Since the 1970s, the fictitious student Fritz Filter passed numerous examinations at the Department of Architecture before graduating with a ''

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from ) 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, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

'' degree in 2004. His thesis featured the design of the department building. Fritz Filter turned in multiple further architecture theses since then.

Housing

According to a survey determined in 2016, students in Darmstadt paid an

arithmetic mean In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( ), arithmetic average, or just the ''mean'' or ''average'' is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The collection is often a set of results fr ...

of 348 euros a month for rent, heat and utilities. With the German average being 323 euros at the time, this made Darmstadt the ninth most expensive city for students in Germany. This value only includes students who live alone, are not married and are pursuing their first degree. In 2016, on national average, approximately 20% lived with their parents, 12% lived in a hall of residence, 1% were lodgers, 30% were sharing a flat with others, 17% were living alone and 21% were sharing a flat with their partner. There are about 2600 beds in 10 halls of residence offered by the state-run student affairs organization Studierendenwerk Darmstadt for students of TU Darmstadt and the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.

Reputation and ranking

In the

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

of 2024, the university secured a global ranking of 246, making it the 15th top university nationally. According to the

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

for the year 2024, it was placed within the 251–300 range globally and ranked between 25th and 31st in the national context. Furthermore, in the 2023 ARWU World Rankings, it fell within the 401–500 category on a global scale, while its national position varied between 25th and 31st. For several years, TU Darmstadt has been one of the universities with the most top managers in the German economy. The university ranks currently number one. In total nine board members of DAX listed companies have studied there. On average, graduates receive the second-highest salary of all public universities in Germany in the first two years of their careers. In the latest ''Humboldt-Ranking'' of the

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation () is a foundation that promotes international academic cooperation between scientists and scholars from Germany and abroad. Established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is funded by t ...

, TU Darmstadt takes first place in engineering. According to the research report 2018 of the

German Research Foundation The German Research Foundation ( ; 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 Germany. In 2019, the DFG had a funding bud ...

(DFG), which breaks down the grants for the period 2014 to 2016, TU Darmstadt received the highest grants of any German university in the field of

and the fourth highest grants in engineering. In a competitive selection process, the DFG selects the best research projects from researchers at universities and research institutes and finances them. According to ''CSRankings'', a ranking that makes it possible to evaluate the scientific achievements of universities in individual areas of computer science, TU Darmstadt is the leading university in Europe in the fields of

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...

IT security Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

and software engineering. In the fields of

artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...

computer vision Computer vision tasks include methods for image sensor, acquiring, Image processing, processing, Image analysis, analyzing, and understanding digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical ...

and

computational linguistics Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the computational modelling of natural language, as well as the study of appropriate computational approaches to linguistic questions. In general, computational linguistics ...

, the university ranks second among European universities and first among German universities. It is one of the top 10 universities in Europe in all scientific fields of computer science. CSRankings is one of three rankings that are recognized according to the criteria of the Computing Research Association (CRA). The CRA has defined four criteria: rankings should be based on "good" (clean and curated) data, the data should be transparent and available, and the methodology should be based on objective criteria. CSRankings aims to reflect the quality of research by relating the contributions of universities in selective conferences to the size of the university. This methodology should be less susceptible to manipulation than the measurement of citation. The methodology is transparent and accessible. In the university ranking 2018 of the German business magazine

Wirtschaftswoche ''Wirtschaftswoche'' is a German weekly business news magazine published in Germany. ''Wirtschaft'' means “economy” (including business), and ''Woche'' is “week”. History and profile For many years, ''Wirtschaftswoche'' was published ...

, TU Darmstadt is considered to be the best university for

. In

industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

the university secures the 3rd place. In mechanical engineering and

TU Darmstadt ranks 4th. In the ''Research Ranking of the Association for Information Systems'', TU Darmstadt ranks 16th in business informatics worldwide, 3rd in Europe after the

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 ...

and

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...

and 1st in Germany. According to the ''Stepstone salary report for graduates 2017'', TU Darmstadt graduates earn the highest salary in engineering and information technology in Germany compared to graduates of other German universities. In the '' QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2019'', TU Darmstadt ranked 3rd in Germany, 22nd in Europe and 78th in the world. According to ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

'', TU Darmstadt is among Europe's most innovative universities in 2019.

Notable faculty and alumni

Nobel laureates

, who studied, taught and researched at the TH/TU Darmstadt: * Peter Grünberg, physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics (2007) *

Horst Ludwig Störmer Horst Ludwig Störmer (; born April 6, 1949) is a German physicist, Nobel laureate and emeritus professor at Columbia University. He was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Daniel Tsui and Robert Laughlin "for their discovery ...

, physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics (1988) * Gerhard Herzberg, chemist, physicist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1971) *

Hermann Staudinger Hermann Staudinger (; 23 March 1881 – 8 September 1965) was a German organic chemist who demonstrated the existence of macromolecules, which he characterized as polymers. For this work he received the 1953 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He is also ...

, chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1953) Taught at TH/TU Darmstadt through

Emanuel Merck Lectureship The Emanuel Merck Lectureship was founded in 1992 by Technische Universität Darmstadt and Merck KGaA located in Darmstadt, Germany. The lectureship aspires to enlighten scientists and students at Technische Universität Darmstadt, as well as Merck ...

: * Frances H. Arnold, chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (2018) * Harold Kroto, chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1996) *

Jean-Marie Lehn Jean-Marie Lehn (born 30 September 1939) is a French chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Donald Cram and Charles Pedersen in 1987 for his synthesis of cryptands. Lehn was an early innovator in the field of supramo ...

, chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1987) *

Manfred Eigen Manfred Eigen (; 9 May 1927 – 6 February 2019) was a German biophysical chemist who won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on measuring fast chemical reactions. Eigen's research helped solve major problems in physical chemistry and ...

, chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1967) Other Nobel laureates are associated with the university: *

Gerhard Ertl Gerhard Ertl (; born 10 October 1936) is a German physicist and a Professor emeritus at the Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin, Germany. Ertl's research laid the foundation of modern sur ...

, chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (2007) * K. Alex Müller, physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics (1987) * Karl Ziegler, chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1963) *

Otto Hahn Otto Hahn (; 8 March 1879 – 28 July 1968) was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the field of radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and discoverer of nuclear fission, the science behind nuclear reactors and ...

, chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1944) * Carl Bosch, chemist, engineer and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1931) *

Richard Willstätter Richard Martin Willstätter FRS(For) HFRSE (, 13 August 1872 – 3 August 1942) was a German organic chemist whose study of the structure of plant pigments, chlorophyll included, won him the 1915 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Life Willstätter wa ...

, chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1915)

Business

* John Tu, founder of

Kingston Technology Kingston Technology Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, sells and supports flash memory products, other computer-related memory products, as well as the HyperX gaming division ( ...

and billionaire * Vikram Lal, founder of

Eicher Motors Eicher Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive company that manufactures motorcycles and commercial vehicles, headquartered in New Delhi. Eicher is the parent company of Royal Enfield, a manufacturer of middleweight motorcycles. ...

and billionaire * Peter Schnell, founder of

Software AG Software GmbH, trading as Software AG, is a German multinational software corporation that develops enterprise software for business process management, integration, and big data analytics. Founded in 1969, the company is headquartered in Darmstad ...

* Enis Ersü, founder of ISRA VISION AG * Péter Horváth, founder of Horváth & Partners * Detlev Riesner, founder of QIAGEN * Hans Dieter Pötsch, chairman of the board of management and chairman of the supervisory board of Porsche SE * Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG * Christoph Franz, chairman of Hoffmann-La Roche AG * Carsten Kratz, managing director and senior partner of the

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the "Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three large ...

* Marcus Kuhnert, member of the executive board and chief financial officer of Merck of Merck * Kai Beckmann, member of the executive board and CEO performance materials of Merck * Tobias Meyer, member of the board of management of

Deutsche Post AG Deutsche Post AG (), trading as DHL Group, is a German multinational package delivery and supply chain management company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is one of the world's largest courier companies. The postal division, Deutsche Post, ...

* Nicolai Setzer, member of the executive board of

* Werner Steinmüller, member of the executive board of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

Wolfgang Bernhard Wolfgang Bernhard (born 3 September 1960) is a former member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG. He served as the former President and COO of Chrysler from 2000 to 2004. Early life Bernhard was born Wolfgang Ayerle on 3 September 1960 in B� ...

, former member of the board of management of

Daimler AG Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacturers. Daimler-B ...

* Hans Demant, former chairman of Adam Opel GmbH * Karl-Friedrich Rausch, member of the executive board of

Deutsche Bahn AG (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

* Bert Rürup, former chairman of the German Council of Economic Experts * Udo Steffens, former president and CEO Frankfurt School of Finance & Management * Klaus-Dieter Vöhringer, former CEO of

DaimlerChrysler AG Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a Germany, German Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is o ...

* Andreas Georgi, former member of the Board of Management of Dresdner Bank AG * Walter Siepmann, industrialist and majority owner of Siepmann

Historical personalities

, first president of Israel * Karl Plagge, recognized as one of the

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

Jovanka Bončić-Katerinić Jovanka Bončić-Katerinić ( sr-Cyrl, Јованка Бончић-Катеринић; 5 July 1887 – 27 December 1966) was a Serbian and then Yugoslav architect who worked in the interwar period. Born in Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Bončić-Kater ...

, first woman to obtain an engineering degree in Germany *

Günter Behnisch Günter Behnisch (12 June 1922 – 12 July 2010) was a German architect, born in Lockwitz, near Dresden. During the Second World War he became one of Germany's youngest submarine commanders. Subsequently, Behnisch became one of the most prominent ...

, architect of the

Olympiastadion (Munich) Olympiastadion () is a stadium located in Munich, Germany. Situated at the heart of the '' Olympiapark München'' in northern Munich, the stadium was built as the main venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics. During the Olympics 70,824 tickets—in ...

* Edmund Collein, east German architect and town planner * Wolfgang Rösch, vicar general of the Diocese of Limburg * Franz-Josef Kemper, Olympic medalist * Gerhard Hennige, Olympic medalist *

Josef Ganz Josef Ganz (1 July 1898 – 26 July 1967) was a Jewish-German car designer born in Budapest, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Hungary). Early years Josef Ganz was born on 1 July 1898 into a Jewish family living in Budapest, then the second-larges ...

, Jewish automotive engineer and father of the original "

Science

* Marcus Rohrbach, computer scientist and Alexander von Humboldt Professorship of the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Stiftung (2024) * Angela Yu, cognitive scientist and Alexander von Humboldt Professorship of the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Stiftung (2021) * Ulrike Kramm, chemist and winner of the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis (2020) * Marc Alexa, computer scientist and winner of the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis (2003) * Harald Rose, physicist and laureate of the

(2011) * Maximilian Haider, physicist and laureate of the

(2011) * Peter Grünberg, physicist and laureate of the

(2007) *

Georg Cantor Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor ( ; ; – 6 January 1918) was a mathematician who played a pivotal role in the creation of set theory, which has become a foundations of mathematics, fundamental theory in mathematics. Cantor establi ...

, creator of

set theory Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies Set (mathematics), sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory – as a branch of mathema ...

* Ernst Schröder, mathematician and known for his monumental lectures on the algebra of logic *

Lothar Collatz Lothar Collatz (; July 6, 1910 – September 26, 1990) was a German mathematician, born in Arnsberg, Province of Westphalia, Westphalia. The "3''x'' + 1" problem is also known as the Collatz conjecture, named after him and still unsolved. The Col ...

, mathematician and known for the still unsolved 3''x'' + 1 problem * William Prager, mathematician and known for Drucker–Prager yield criterion * Karl Hessenberg, known for the

Hessenberg matrix In linear algebra, a Hessenberg matrix is a special kind of square matrix, one that is "almost" triangular. To be exact, an upper Hessenberg matrix has zero entries below the first subdiagonal, and a lower Hessenberg matrix has zero entries above ...

* Erwin Kreyszig, applied mathematician and distinguished author, having written the textbook Advanced Engineering Mathematics, the leading and most famous textbook for civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering undergraduate engineering mathematics. * Carl Adam Petri, mathematician and inventor of the

Petri nets A Petri net, also known as a place/transition net (PT net), is one of several mathematical modeling languages for the description of distributed systems. It is a class of discrete event dynamic system. A Petri net is a directed bipartite grap ...

Sigurd Hofmann Sigurd Hofmann (15 February 1944 – 17 June 2022) was a German physicist known for his work on superheavy elements. Biography Hofmann was born in Böhmisch Kamnitz, Nazi Germany (now Česká Kamenice, Czech Republic) on 15 February 1944. He d ...

, physicist and discoverer of the chemical elements darmstadtium ( Ds,

atomic number The atomic number or nuclear charge number (symbol ''Z'') of a chemical element is the charge number of its atomic nucleus. For ordinary nuclei composed of protons and neutrons, this is equal to the proton number (''n''p) or the number of pro ...

110), roentgenium ( Rg, 111) and

copernicium Copernicium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Cn and atomic number 112. Its known isotopes are extremely radioactive, and have only been created in a laboratory. The most stable known isotope, copernicium-285, has a half-life of ap ...

( Cn, 112) * Peter Armbruster, physicist and discoverer of the elements 107 ( bohrium), 108 (

hassium Hassium is a synthetic element, synthetic chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Hs and atomic number 108. It is highly radioactive: its most stable known isotopes have half-life, half-lives of about ten seconds. One of its isotopes, Hs ...

), 109 ( meitnerium), 110 ( darmstadtium), 111 ( roentgenium) and 112 (

) * Hans Busch, pioneer of electron optics and laid the theoretical basis for the

electron microscope An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing it ...

. * Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Managing Director of the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research and the

GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research The GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research () is a federally and state co-funded heavy ion () research center in Darmstadt, Germany. It was founded in 1969 as the Society for Heavy Ion Research (), abbreviated GSI, to conduct research on a ...

* Wolfgang Bibel, one of the founders of the research area of

in Germany and Europe * Ottmar Edenhofer, lead author of the reports published by the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World Met ...

which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (2007) * Mohan Munasinghe, vice-chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (2007) * Andreas Dreizler, mechanical engineer and Leibniz Prize laureate (2014) * Rainer Waser, electrical engineer and Leibniz Prize laureate (2014) * Lutz Raphael, historian and Leibniz Prize laureate (2013) * Jürgen Eckert, engineer and Leibniz Prize laureate (2009) * Jürgen Rödel, material scientist and Leibniz Prize laureate (2009) * Johannes Buchmann, computer scientist, mathematician and Leibniz Prize laureate (1993) * Randolf Menzel, zoologist and Leibniz Prize laureate (1991) * Thomas Weiland, physicist and Leibniz Prize laureate (1988) * Wolfram Saenger, biochemist and Leibniz Prize laureate (1988) * Bernd Giese, chemist and Leibniz Prize laureate (1987) * Frank Steglich, physicist and Leibniz Prize laureate (1986) * Eric Bodden, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis laureate (2014) * Stefan Roth, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis laureate (2012) * Christina Thiele, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis laureate (2010) * Torsten Granzow, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis laureate (2008) * Nicole Deitelhoff, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis laureate (2008) * Carsten Bolm, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis laureate (1991) * Alexandre Obertelli, Alexander von Humboldt Professorship of the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Stiftung (2019) * Johann Dietrich Wörner,

Director General of the European Space Agency The Director General of the European Space Agency is the highest-ranked official of the European Space Agency (ESA), a space agency formed by the collaboration of prominent European nations. ELDO Secretaries General ESRO Directors General ...

* Kurt H. Debus, rocket scientist and first

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...

director * Robert Piloty, pioneer of computer engineering and one of the founding fathers of computer science courses in Germany * Peter Mertens, one of the founding fathers of

courses in Germany * Marc Baldus, physicist and professor of structural biology at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

* Hanns-Peter Boehm, chemist and a pioneer of

graphene Graphene () is a carbon allotrope consisting of a Single-layer materials, single layer of atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, honeycomb planar nanostructure. The name "graphene" is derived from "graphite" and the suffix -ene, indicating ...

research * Sabine Brunswicker, professor for digital innovation and the Founder and Director of Research Center for Open Digital Innovation (RCODI) * Friedrich Dessauer, pioneer of X-ray technology *

Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky Mikhail Osipovich Dolivo-Dobrovolsky (; or ''Michail Ossipowitsch Doliwo-Dobrowolski''; – ) was a Russian-born engineer, electrician, and inventor of Polish-Russian origins, active in the German Empire and also in Switzerland. After study ...

, inventor of the three-phase electrical motor * José Luis Encarnação, inventor of the

Graphical Kernel System The Graphical Kernel System (GKS) is a 2D computer graphics system using vector graphics, introduced in 1977. It was suitable for making line and bar charts and similar tasks. A key concept was cross-system portability, based on an underlying coo ...

* Paul Friedländer, chemist * Kurt Hohenemser,

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

and pioneer in helicopter design * Karl Küpfmüller, electrical engineer * El Lissitzky, architect and designer * Ernst May, architect and city planner of New Frankfurt * Ernst Neufert, architect * Gustav Niemann, mechanical engineer * Fritz von Opel rocket pioneer * Frank Schimmelfennig, political scientist * Bernhard Schlink, former judge and writer ( The Reader) * Ernst Schröder, mathematician * Gerhard M. Sessler, inventor of the

electret microphone An electret microphone is a microphone whose diaphragm forms a capacitor (historically-termed a ''condenser'') that incorporates an electret. The electret's permanent electric dipole provides a constant charge on the capacitor. Sound wave ...

* Thomas Sieverts, architect and urban planner * Rudolf Wille, mathematician *

Hermann Zapf Hermann Zapf (; 8 November 1918 – 4 June 2015) was a German type designer and calligrapher who lived in Darmstadt, Germany. He was married to the calligrapher and typeface designer Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse. Typefaces he designed include ...

, typeface designer ( Palatino,

Optima Optima is a Humanist sans-serif, humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf and released by the D. Stempel AG foundry, Frankfurt, West Germany in 1958. Though classified as a sans-serif, Optima has a subtle swelling at the terminals s ...

, Zapfino) * Eduard Zintl, chemist and discoverer of the Zintl phase * Gustaf Wrede, engineer and politician

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Darmstadt University of Technology Buildings and structures in Darmstadt Universities and colleges in Hesse Universities in Germany Universities and colleges established in 1877 Engineering universities and colleges in Germany 1877 establishments in Germany