A large pool of knowledge

Perhaps not all roads lead to Duisburg-Essen. But a lot of them. Because the UDE attracts inventors and technicians, number jugglers and word artists. We research and teach in order to develop sustainable designs and solutions for our constantly changing society.

With our eleven faculties, we can draw on a large pool of knowledge and find answers to questions like these: What can a sustainable energy supply look like? How does globalization change our lives? What can we do to better diagnose diseases and cure them with new methods and active ingredients? What opportunities do new materials offer for industry and our everyday lives? Which paths lead to a successful education that can stand up to international comparison?

The UDE offers established and aspiring scientists an environment in which they can develop and advance progress. In the research alliances and numerous projects of the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the EU, we conduct excellent basic and application-oriented research. We have internalised the idea of teamwork, but at the same time we create room for manoeuvre. Because outstanding results are often based on the achievements of individual researchers.

Above all, however, research at the UDE does not take place in a vacuum. We deliberately dovetail research and teaching very closely. Researchers at the University of Duisburg-Essen share their findings directly with their students. In this way, we create a large internal knowledge network in which everyone can and should participate.

Because the brightest minds need incentives so that they can continue on their path to the UDE in the future. And we need the brightest minds.

Promoting young talent

On the way up: In recent years, we have continuously improved our research results - and now rank among the strong research universities in Germany.

In doing so, we focus above all on young scientists. The opportunity for a junior professorship is great for promising talents at the UDE. In Emmy Noether research groups, too, our young women scientists have been making a name for themselves since 2008 - and have already won us several Heinz Maier Leibnitz Prizes.

Of course, talents also need role models. Someone like Prof. Dr. Marc Levine, who was one of the first four Alexander von Humboldt Professors to come to Duisburg-Essen in 2009. Or our UDE scientists, who have so far been funded by the European Research Council with a European Research Council Grant (ERC Grant). Or our committed UDE researchers who have been appointed to DFG Review Boards.

Profile priorities

Nanosciences

Nanotechnology makes it possible to discover - and use - new properties in materials that have supposedly been known for a long time. At the Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen (CENIDE), scientists form an interdisciplinary network of creative minds that promotes interdisciplinary cooperation and helps bridge the gap between basic academic research and industrial implementation.

Biomedical Sciences

The profile focus "Biomedical Sciences" at the UDE links basic research in the natural sciences at the Essen Campus with clinical research at the University Hospital in Essen.

Urban Systems

In one of Europe's largest conurbations, engineering, economics, natural and social scientists are looking at the future of urban systems and working on viable concepts for the sustainable development of human living space in the context of structural change.

Transformation of Contemporary Societies

The profile focus "Change in Contemporary Societies" primarily analyses the phenomena of order formation in a world without borders - that is, cultural, social, political and economic dynamics that lead to the abolition, shifting or redefinition of national borders.

Water Research

Under the leadership of the Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), water experts from the natural and engineering sciences, medicine and the social sciences, together with colleagues from the UA Ruhr and associated institutes as well as partners from industry, are addressing the question: How can we succeed in ensuring that water and sanitary facilities are available to all people and that this precious resource is managed sustainably?