TU Dresden (, TUD), also as the Dresden University of Technology, is a public research university in Dresden, Germany. It is the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, the largest university in Saxony, and one of the 10 largest universities in Germany with 29,000 students as of 2024.
The name Technische Universität Dresden has only been used since 1961; the history of the university, however, goes back nearly 200 years to 1828. This makes it one of the oldest colleges of technology in Germany, and one of the country's oldest universities, which in German today refers to institutes of higher education that cover the entire curriculum. The university is a member of TU9, a consortium of the nine leading German Institutes of Technology. The university is one of eleven German universities which succeeded in the Excellence Initiative in 2012, thus getting the title of a "University of Excellence". The TU Dresden succeeded in all three rounds of the German Universities Excellence Initiative (Future Concept, Graduate Schools, Clusters of Excellence).
History
In 1828, with emerging industrialization, the Saxon Technical School was founded to educate
in technological subjects such as
mechanics, mechanical engineering and ship construction. In 1871, the year the
German Empire was founded, the institute was renamed the Royal Saxon Polytechnic Institute (Königlich-Sächsisches Polytechnikum). At that time, subjects not connected with technology, such as history and languages, were introduced. By the end of the 19th century the institute had developed into a university covering all disciplines. The school was named Technische Hochschule since 1919, it was given its present name, italic=no (
TU Dresden) in 1961.
Nazi Regime
Professor
Alfred Baeumler declared his Nazi views in 1932 and moved to Berlin in 1933.
The Nazi German Student Union organised a book burning at the
Bismarck tower in Dresden's Räcknitzhöhe in 1933.
[ TU Dresden reflects on its history: Critical campus tour to commemorate the book burning 90 years ago]
Professors
Victor Klemperer,
Gustav Kafka, Richard Seyfert, Hans Gehrig were expelled or forced to resign. Professor Harry Dember, as well as professors Richard von Mises and
Paul Tillich, who formerly taught at the school, had to emigrate.
GDR
Students of the university were tried in two 1959 political trials.
The third reform of universities took place in 1968.
[ Die dritte Hochschulreform 1968 an der TU Dresden]
The university integrated the Dresden College of Engineering (italic=no) in 1986.
After reunification
Upon German reunification in 1990, the university had already integrated the College of Forestry (italic=no), formerly the Royal Saxony Academy of Forestry, in the nearby small town of
Tharandt. This was followed by the integration of the
Friedrich List College of Transport (italic=no) the faculty of transport science, and the "Carl-Gustav Carus" Medical Academy (italic=no or MedAk for short), the medical faculty. Some faculties were newly founded: the faculties of Information Technology (1991), Law (1991), Education (1993) and Economics (1993).
In 2009 TU Dresden, all Dresden institutes of the Fraunhofer Society, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community and the Max Planck Society and Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, soon incorporated into the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, published a joint letter of intent with the name italic=no – Dresden Research and Education Synergies for the Development of Excellence and Novelty, which points out worldwide elite aspirations, which was recognized as the first time that all four big postgraduate elite institutions declared campus co-operation with a university.
Campus
TU Dresden is a campus university in most aspects. Some of its buildings are over a hundred years old (such as the buildings around Muenchner Platz square). The architecture of these buildings is mostly influenced by the
Art Nouveau style or the
Bauhaus (e.g. the chemistry building Fritz-Foerster-Bau). In recent years, these historic buildings have been complemented by modern buildings (e.g. the library, the main auditorium, the biochemistry department, and the life sciences building).
The main campus, as well as the medical faculty and that of computer science, are all within the boundaries of the city of Dresden. The main campus is located south of the city center, mostly in the area bordered by Nöthnitzer Straße, Fritz-Förster-Platz and Münchner Platz; the medical faculty can be found in the Johannstadt district. The faculty of forestry, formerly the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry, resides in a forest area in the nearby town of Tharandt.
Organization
TU Dresden has 17 faculties, structured into 5 schools. Most faculties are located on the main campus south of the city center, except for the Faculty of Medicine, which has its own campus near the
Elbe river East of the city center, and the Department of Forestry in
Tharandt.
Science
The School of Science comprises five faculties: Biology, Chemistry and Food Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology. The faculties are all located on the main campus. In 2006, a new research building for the biology department opened. In October 2006, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft decided to fund a new graduate school, the
Dresden International Graduate School for Biomedicine and Bioengineering and a so-called cluster of excellence
From Cells to Tissues to Therapies.
Engineering
The School of Engineering Sciences encompasses the faculties of Computer Engineering, Computer Sciences, and Mechanical Sciences and Engineering.
The school is the second largest in the university and is at the heart of the so-called Silicon Saxony in Dresden.
Humanities and Social Sciences
The School of Humanities and Social Sciences comprises the Faculty of Education, the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science, the Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies
Civil and Environmental Engineering
The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering is the largest in the TU Dresden, encompassing the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape, the Faculty of Civil Engineering, the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, the
Friedrich List Faculty of Transportation and Traffic Science, and the Faculty of Business and Economics.
Medicine
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The Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine has its own campus east of the city center near the Elbe river. The faculty has a partnership with Partners Harvard Medical International.
Research Centers
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Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed) – former Cluster of Excellence
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– former Cluster of Excellence
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Dendro-Institute Tharandt at the TU Dresden
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The European Institute for Postgraduate Education at TU Dresden (italic=no)
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The European Institute of Transport (italic=no)
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The Hannah Arendt Center for Research on Totalitarianism (italic=no)
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Center for Media Culture (italic=no)
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Center for Research on Mechanics of Structures and Materials (italic=no)
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School of International Studies
Research
The TU Dresden benefits from the strong research tradition in microelectronics and transport sciences in the Dresden area, but also from the establishment of new research fields such as Biotechnology.
Biotechnology and medical technology
The university has established a strong partnership with the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in molecular bioengineering. As part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft has decided to fund the Cluster of Excellence "From Cells to Tissues to Therapies: Engineering the Cellular Basis of Regeneration" (now ), as well as a new graduate school, the "Dresden International Graduate School for Biomedicine and Bioengineering" with about 300 PhD students.
The CRTD together with the Biotechnology Center (BIOTEC) and the Center for Molecular Bioengineering (B CUBE) are part of the Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering (CMCB) as central scientific unit of the TU Dresden.
Magnetism and material sciences
The
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft funds research in the area of electromagnetic flow influence in metallurgy, artificial crystal formation and electrochemistry. Other research is done on the
Meissner effect and artificial fibers (textile).
Micro and nanotechnology
Silicon Saxony is the biggest cluster of the microelectronics industries in Europe. TU Dresden is incorporated in this network with three departments of the faculties of Electrical Engineering and Sciences. Together with the Fraunhofer Center for Nano-electronic technologies (CNT), it represents one of the leading universities in the field of nanotechnology. There is also a research cooperation with some semiconductor fields of
TU Freiberg. In May 2012 the Helmholtz-Kolleg NANONET was founded.
Transport
The university has a partnership with the Fraunhofer-Institut for Transport and Infrastructure systems to research on IT-systems for public transport in Dresden.
Business and Economics
In partnership with TU Dresden, the Ifo Institute of Economic Research (Ifo Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung e.V.) is researching the economic development in Eastern Germany.
The university belongs to a consortium of European Universities offering the Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctoral Programme IT4BI-DC for Business Intelligence.
Other research areas
The
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft supports the university in many areas and TU Dresden cooperates closely with renowned research institutes such as Fraunhofer Society, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community and Max Planck Society.
Neuromorphic computing facility
TU Dresden received a grant of eight million euro from the EU's Human Brain Project to build the second generation SpiNNaker computer called spincloud.
Rankings
TU Dresden is recognized in several university ranking systems. According to the QS World University Rankings for 2024, the university is ranked 246th globally and 16th nationally.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2024 places the institution at 161st globally and 16th within the nation.
In the ARWU World Rankings for 2023, the university's position is in the 201–300 range globally, and between 10th and 19th place nationally.
According to the 2019 QS Engineering and Technology Ranking the university ranked 113th worldwide and 5th in Germany.
The Eduniversal Business Schools ranking ranks the university's Faculty of Business and Economics with 3 out of 5 palmes of excellence.
International cooperations
As one of the first universities in Germany it has opened a branch in
Hanoi,
Vietnam offering a Master's course in
mechatronics. It also maintains close partnerships with leading universities around the world, e.g. Boston University, Georgetown University, Harvard Medical School, Tongji University and POSTECH.
Student life
General
Out of 2024's 29,000 students, 27% were enrolled in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 25% studied Engineering Sciences, 12% Natural Sciences and Mathematics, 11% Medicine, and 10% Humanities and Social Sciences. The remaining 15% of students were enrolled in teacher training programs
In the 2022-2023 cohort, roughly 45% of the student body originated from Saxony, 20% (6,626) from other Eastern German federal states, 18% (4,306) from the Western German federal states, and 17% (3,442) from other countries.
Of the students from Saxony, the cohort was roughly evenly split between students from Dresden (14.7%), the Dresden metro area (15.5%), and from other parts of Saxony (14.5%).
The origin of the students is based on the location where the A-level exams have been completed.
International students
In 2024, 20% of the student body was represented by international students from 128 different countries.
The school participates in the
Erasmus program. The language of instruction for most courses is German, with the exception of the university's 26 English-language degrees. To prepare for admissions to the university, many foreign students attend German language courses at the university-affiliated language school TUDIAS-Sprachschule.
The university's International Office is responsible for handling international applications and has information for prospective students.
A number of activities for international students facilitates their integration and help students to find new friends. Most notably the Erasmus-Initiative TU Dresden offers many group activities throughout the semester which are open to all students (not only to Erasmus participants). A student-run program, the LinkPartnerProgramm matches every interested international student with a German student, to help them with questions arising during the first weeks, be it regarding course registration or any other issue students might have.
Leisure activities
Sports are popular among the TUD students, with 871 courses in over 60 different sports at the Dresden University Sports Center.
With thirteen student clubs, Dresden is considered the unofficial student club capital of Germany.
Performing arts ensembles
Among the many groups at the TU Dresden are four major ensembles. These four include the theater group italic=no, which has a small ensemble directed by professionals, and the folk dance group italic=no which is dedicated to reviving regional styles of dance. The last two groups are the largest by far and these are the university choir and the university orchestra, both having student and non-student members of all ages. In 1997 a part of the university orchestra branched off into a chamber ensemble, becoming the italic=no, and since it consists almost exclusively of students the ensemble rehearses and performs only during the academic year. Each of these major ensembles performs an average of one to four times per semester. These performances often take place in Saxony but also occasionally internationally.
Funding
The university is currently developing new strategies to make itself more independent from state funding and decision-making. The TU Dresden is third strongest successful university in Germany in terms of third-party funding, highlighting its ability to secure funding from industry partners.
In 2004, 3,564 projects were financed with 104.1 million Euros from outside sources (other than state funds). It has one of the highest shares of income by industry partnerships.
Points of interest
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Botanischer Garten der Technischen Universität Dresden, the university's botanical garden
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Forstbotanischer Garten Tharandt, the university's historic arboretum
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Archives of the university
Notable people
Honorary doctors
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1905 Wilhelm von Siemens – Industrialist
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1906 Ferdinand von Zeppelin – Lieutenant general and airship pioneer
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1928 Heinrich Rickert – Philosopher
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1928 Fredrik Ljungström – Engineer, inventor
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1981 Konrad Zuse – Civil engineer and computer scientist who built the world's first programmable computer
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1987 Karl Reinisch – Engineer
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1989 Kurt A. Körber – Entrepreneur who founded Körber Group
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1990 Günther Landgraf – Physicist, rector of TU Dresden from 1990 to 1994
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1995 Václav Havel – Writer, dissident and first president of the Czech Republic
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1999 Kofi Annan – Former United Nations Secretary-General
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2002 Walter Kohn – Physicist, recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Honorary senators
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1997 Günther Landgraf – Rector of TU Dresden 1990–1994
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2000 Günter Blobel – Recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Faculty
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Manfred von Ardenne – Physics
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Heinrich Barkhausen 1911–1953 (not continuously) – Communications technology. Discoverer of the Barkhausen jumps, a manifestation of domain wall movement in magnets.
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Alfred Baeumler 1924–1933 – Nazi-philosopher and educationalist
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Kurt Beyer – Civil engineering
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Manfred Buchroithner — Cartography
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Adolf Busemann – Aerodynamics
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Carl Gustav Carus – Medicine
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Gerhard Fettweis – Engineering
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Klaus Fuchs – Nuclear technology, soviet spy
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Hanns Bruno Geinitz – Geology
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Gustav Kafka 1923–1934 – Psychology
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Victor Klemperer 1920–1935 – Professor for romance studies; He wrote "LTI", an analysis of the Nazi's language, and detailed dairies during the Nazi time.
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Richard Kroner 1924–1928 – Philosopher (Religion)
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Luise Krüger – Athlete
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Günther Landgraf – Physics, first freely elected rector of TUD
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Nikolaus Joachim Lehmann 1921–1998 – Mathematician, professor, first lectures in informatics in the East Germany 1967
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Wilhelm Gotthelf Lohrmann – Astronomer, Geodete
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Richard von Mises – Mathematician, professor for hydro- and aerodynamics
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Maria Reiche – (1903–1988) – mathematician, archaeologist, and technical translator has studied in this university.
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Roland Scholl 1918–1934 – Chemist; director of the institute for organic chemistry
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Wilhelm Steinkopf 1919–1940 – Chemist
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A. Francis Stewart b. 1956 - biochemist and emeritus senior professor
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Paul Tillich 1925–1929 – Philosopher (religion)
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Gustav Zeuner – Engineer
Alumni
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Afroz Ahmad
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Carl Theodor Albrecht – Surveyor
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Fritz Bleyl – (Architecture) Architect and painter of expressionism
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Kwong-Chai Chu (朱光彩) – Chinese hydraulic engineer who received his CIE (Chinese Institute of Engineers) Award in 1947
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Carl Enckell – (Mechanical Engineering) Finnish politician
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Erik von Frenckell – (Engineering) a sports administrator, member of IOC and vice president of FIFA
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Steffen Heidrich – (Business Management) Former footballer
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Rudolph Hering – (Civil Engineering)
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Katja Kipping – Chairwoman of German Left Party
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Max Littmann – (Civil engineering) Architect
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Ingrid Mertig – materials scientist and institute professor
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Reimund Neugebauer – (Mechanical Engineering) Designated President of Fraunhofer Society
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Theodor Pallady – Romanian painter
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Evgeny Paton – (Engineering) Ukrainian
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Ernst Otto Schlick – (Engineering) Shipbuilding engineer
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Herbert Seifert – Mathematician
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Johannes Paul Thilman – (Science of Culture) Composer
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Stanislaw Tillich – (Mechanical Engineering) Minister-President of Saxony
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Eckhard Platen – Mathematician
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Oliver Wehner – Politician
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Jan Józef Werewka – Information scientist
Footnote
External links
