TU Dortmund University () is a technical university in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with over 35,000 students, and over 6,000 staff including 300 professors, offering around 80 Bachelor's and master's degree programs. It is situated in the

Ruhr area The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

, the fourth largest urban area in Europe. The university pioneered the Internet in Germany, and contributed to machine learning (in particular, to support-vector machines, and

RapidMiner RapidMiner is a data science platform that analyses the collective impact of an organization's data. It was acquired by Altair Engineering in September 2022. History RapidMiner, formerly known as YALE (Yet Another Learning Environment), was deve ...

History

The University of Dortmund (German: ''Universität Dortmund'') was founded in 1968, during the decline of the coal and steel industry in the Ruhr region. Its establishment was seen as an important move in the economic change (''Strukturwandel'') from heavy industry to technology. The university's main areas of research are the

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, engineering,

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

/teacher training in a wide spectrum of subjects,

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

, and journalism. The University of Dortmund was originally designed to be a technical university, but in 1980, it merged with the adjacent ''Pädagogische Hochschule Ruhr'' that housed mostly humanities. In 2006, The University of Dortmund hosted the 11th

Federation of International Robot-soccer Association (FIRA) is an international organisation organising competitive soccer – usually 5-a-side – competitions between autonomous robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carryin ...

(FIRA) RoboWorld Cup. The university's robot soccer team, the ''Dortmund Droids'', became vice world champion in the RoboWorld Cup 2002 and finished third in 2003. On 1 November 2007, The University of Dortmund was renamed as TU Dortmund University (Technische Universität Dortmund in German) through the adoption of a new constitution by the senate on 18 October 2007. The University is part of the cooperation program "University Alliance Ruhr", together with the

Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began ...

and the

University of Duisburg-Essen The University of Duisburg-Essen () is a public research university in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In the 2019 ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', the university was awarded 194th place in the world. It was originally ...

. On 4 April 2019, Ursula Gather, Rector of TU Dortmund University abolished the institutes for German Language and Literature as well as English and American Studies.

Campuses

Following the

Zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' (; ; capitalized in German) is an invisible agent, force, or daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. The term is usually associated with Georg W. F ...

of the late 1960s in Germany, the university was built "on the meadows" ''(auf der grünen Wiese)'' about outside of downtown Dortmund. It consists of two campuses, North and South, which, since 1984, have been linked by an automated hanging

monorail A monorail is a Rail transport, railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style ...

system, the

H-Bahn The H-Bahn (abbreviation for , German for 'hanging railway') in Dortmund and Düsseldorf (there known as "Sky train") is a driverless passenger suspension railway system. The system was developed by Siemens, who call the project SIPEM (SIemens ...

, that crosses the nature reserve between the campuses at a height of about . One of the most prominent buildings of the university is the ''Mathetower'' (Mathematics Tower), which houses the Faculty of Mathematics.

Faculties

# Faculty of Mathematics # Faculty of

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

# Faculty of

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and

Chemical Biology Chemical biology is a scientific discipline between the fields of chemistry and biology. The discipline involves the application of chemical techniques, analysis, and often small molecules produced through synthetic chemistry, to the study and m ...

# Faculty 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, ...

# Faculty of Statistics # Faculty of

Biochemical Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, ...

and

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

(BCI) # Faculty of Mechanical Engineering # Faculty of

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 ...

and Information Technology # Faculty of

Spatial Planning Spatial planning mediates between the respective claims on space of the state, market, and community. In so doing, three different mechanisms of involving stakeholders, integrating sectoral policies and promoting development projects mark the th ...

# Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering # Faculty of Business and Economics # Faculty of

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and Sociology # Faculty of

Rehabilitation Sciences Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation hospital, hospitals devoted to the rehabilitation of patients w ...

# Faculty of

Human Sciences Human science (or human sciences in the plural) studies the philosophical, biological, social, justice, and cultural aspects of human life. Human science aims to expand the understanding of the human world through a broad interdisciplinary appro ...

and Theology # Faculty of

Cultural Studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...

# Faculty of Art and Sports Sciences # Faculty of Social Sciences

Research

Over 1,000 third-party funded projects, including a range of collaborative projects, such as (transregional) Collaborative Research Centers, Research Units, Research Training Groups, a "Cluster of Excellence" and several Horizon 2020 research consortia. Nearly 300 professors teach and research at TU Dortmund University. The university is particularly known for research in its four profile areas: Materials, Production Technology and Logistics, Chemical Biology, Drug Research and Process Engineering, Modeling, Data Analysis, Modeling and Simulation and Education, Schooling and Inclusion, in which it celebrates research successes beyond disciplinary limits, and at an outstanding international level.

Faculty of Computer Science

TU Dortmund (along with the universities of Paderborn and Karlsruhe) brought the Internet to Germany in the 1980s. The first point of registration for .de-domains was at the Dortmund University Department of Computer Science in 1986. The national

Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed name service that provides a naming system for computers, services, and other resources on the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information ...

service was started in 1988. The involvement of Dortmund University employees in internet registry and administration ended in 1993. To this day, the university has registered the domain ''udo.edu'' (udo being short for Universität Dortmund), although the .edu-domain is today restricted to United States-affiliated institutions. One of the four German competency centers for machine learning (Competence Center Machine Learning Rhine-Ruhr, ML2R), is located at the TU Dortmund. The machine learning software

began at the TU Dortmund's artificial intelligence unit.

Rankings

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 ...

for 2024, the university was positioned within the 851–900 range globally, making it the 44th at the national level. Its performance in 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 ...

was relatively higher for the year 2024, landing within the 401–500 bracket globally, and ranking between 37th and 41st nationally. In the

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

(ARWU) for 2022, the university was categorized in the 901–1000 band globally, while nationally it fell within the 46th to 47th position. The university is highly ranked in terms of its research performance in the areas of

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

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 ...

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and economics.Uni-News: Handelsblatt Ranking

Honorary doctorates

Former

president of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia fro ...

was awarded an honorary doctorate from the university in 2004.

Carl Djerassi Carl Djerassi (October 29, 1923 – January 30, 2015) was an Austrian-born Bulgarian-American pharmaceutical chemist, novelist, playwright and co-founder of Djerassi Resident Artists Program with Diane Wood Middlebrook. He is best known for his ...

was awarded an honorary doctorare for his science-in-fiction in 2009.

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk (born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician and historian who has served as the prime minister of Poland since 2023, previously holding the office from 2007 to 2014. Tusk served as the president of the European Council (20 ...

President of the European Council The president of the European Council is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council on the world stage. This Institutions of the European Union, institution comprises the college of heads of state or governme ...

, was awarded an honorary doctorate on 16 December 2018 for his contribution to European politics and the debate on European values.

References

{{Authority control Universities and colleges in North Rhine-Westphalia Technische Universitäten in Germany Educational institutions established in 1968 1968 establishments in West Germany Buildings and structures in Dortmund

History

Campuses

Faculties

Research

Faculty of Computer Science

Rankings

Honorary doctorates

See also

References