University of Rostock

University of Rostock
Universität Rostock
Seal of the university
Latin: Universitas Rostochiensis
Motto
Traditio et Innovatio
Motto in English
Tradition and Innovation
TypePublic
Established13 February 1419; 607 years ago (1419-02-13)
AffiliationsEUA
DFG
DAAD
BudgetEUR 214.4 million
ChancellorJan Tamm
RectorElizabeth Prommer (907th rector)
Academic staff
1,341
Administrative staff
963
Students13,766
1,322
Location, ,
Germany

54°4′32″N 12°6′12″E / 54.07556°N 12.10333°E / 54.07556; 12.10333
Campus
  • Urban
Nobel Laureates4
ColoursBlue and Black
Websitewww.uni-rostock.de
University of Rostock's main building

The University of Rostock (German: Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Sea area, and 8th oldest in Central Europe. It was the 5th university established in the Holy Roman Empire.

The university has been associated with four Nobel laureates: Albrecht Kossel, Hans Spemann, Karl von Frisch and Otto Stern. It is a member of the European University Association. According to a ranking published by Times Higher Education in 2018, it is the most beautiful university in Germany and the fourth most beautiful university in all of Europe. The language of instruction is usually German, and English for some postgraduate studies.

Detail of the central building depicting the coat of arms of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Memorial stone to the foundation of Rostock University, quadrangle of Wittenberg University

History

1419–1919

The origins of the university date back to the Late Middle Ages, when the city of Rostock had achieved great prosperity through its membership of the Hanseatic League. The university was founded in 1419 by confirmation of Pope Martin V and thus is one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe.[citation needed]

In Germany, there are only five universities that were founded earlier, while only Heidelberg and Leipzig operated continuously since then: Heidelberg (1386), Cologne (1388/1919), Erfurt (1392/1994), Würzburg (1402/1582) and Leipzig (1409). That makes Rostock University the third oldest German university in continuous operation.[citation needed]

Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, the University of Rostock had about 500 students each year and was among the most important universities in Germany and Northern Europe at the time, with many of its students originating from the Low Countries, Scandinavia or other countries bordering the Baltic Sea.[citation needed]

In the course of political struggles and due to pressure from the church, the university moved to Greifswald in 1437 and remained there until 1443. From 1487 to 1488 teaching took place in Lübeck. A few years after the city of Rostock, the university became Protestant in 1542. Henceforth, Humanism and Lutheranism were defining characteristics of the university.[citation needed]

In the 16th century, Rostock was the first university to teach Copernicanism, which was introduced by Professor Duncan Liddel. After the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), however, for about two centuries the University of Rostock played only a regional role. After the "ownership" of the university had moved from the city to the state (Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin) in 1827, however, things changed for the better. The second half of the 19th century saw generous building activity in Rostock's alma mater and the university soon regained its old reputation amongst German universities.[citation needed]

1919 to present

On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the university, Albert Einstein and Max Planck received honorary doctorates on 12 November 1919. This made the University of Rostock the world's first institute of higher learning to award this honour to Einstein. The doctorate was not revoked during the Nazi rule in Germany (1933–1945), despite such orders by the Nazis. The reason for this remains unknown. Psychologist David Katz and professor of dentistry and dean of the medical faculty Hans Moral [de] lost their posts in 1933 among others.[citation needed]

The end of the Second World War in 1945 brought many changes. The university, now finding itself in the Soviet Zone of Germany (the later German Democratic Republic), was re-opened on 24 February 1946. The Faculty of Law was closed in 1951, a Faculty of Agriculture was introduced in 1950 and in 1951 saw the opening of a Department of Shipbuilding (renamed Faculty of Technology in 1963). The University of Rostock was the first traditional university in Germany to open a technical faculty. In 1952, the Faculty of Aviation was opened, but eventually relocated to Dresden.[citation needed]

In 1976 the university was renamed Wilhelm-Pieck-Universität after Wilhelm Pieck, the first president of the German Democratic Republic. The renaming was annulled after the German reunification.[citation needed]

External funding increased by 83 % between 2005 and 2010 alone and currently is above 65 million euros per year. Over 500 million Euros have been invested in the university infrastructure since 1991, reaching 750 million euros by 2015. The numbers of young people from Germany and of international students who choose Rostock as a place to study are increasing every year. As of today [when?], students from at least 99 different countries have studied at Rostock. In 2007, the University of Rostock reorganized its research capacities into three profile lines: Life, Light & Matter, Maritime Systems, and Aging of Individuals and Societies. In 2010, a fourth profile was added, called Knowledge – Culture – Transformation.[citation needed]

Organization and structure

Like many continental European universities, the University of Rostock is divided into academic faculties (German: Fakultät). Those can be sub-divided into academic departments (German: Institut) and chairs (German: Lehrstuhl).[citation needed]

Faculties

It is divided into the following nine faculties:

  • Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
    • Plants and Soil
    • Ecology and (Coastal)-Landscape
    • Biomass, Aqua and Livestock Sciences
  • Faculty of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
    • Institute of Computer Science
    • Institute for Visual and Analytic Computing
    • Institute of Electrical Engineering
    • Department of Computational Engineering
  • Faculty of Law
    • Department of Law
    • International Commercial Law
    • International Business Administration
  • Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Marine Technology
    • Mechanical Engineering
    • Marine Technology
    • Mechatronics
    • Biomedical Technology
  • Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
    • Institute of Biology
    • Institute of Chemistry
    • Institute of Mathematics
    • Institute of Physics
  • Interdisciplinary Faculty
    • Department of Life, Light and Matter
    • Department of Maritime Systems
    • Department of Knowledge – Culture – Transformation
    • Department of Ageing of Individuals and Society
  • Faculty of Medicine
    • Albrecht Kossel Institute for Neuroregeneration
    • General Medicine
    • Dental Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Medical Biotechnology
    • Informatics in Medicine and Gerontology
    • Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology
    • Experimental Surgery
    • History of Medicine
    • Immunology
    • Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
    • Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
    • Medical Biology
    • Medical Genetics
    • Medical Microbiology
    • Medical Psychology and Sociology
    • Pathology
    • Pharmacology and Toxicology
    • Physiology
    • Proteome Center Rostock
    • Forensic Medicine
    • Transfusion Medicine
    • Institute of Experimental Gene Therapy and Tumor Research
    • Cell Biology
  • Faculty of Theology
    • Institute of Image Theory
    • Institute of Text and Culture
  • Faculty of Humanities
    • Institute of General and Social Pedagogy
    • Institute of Educational Psychology Rosa and David Katz
    • Institute for School Pedagogy and Educational Research
    • Institute for Elementary School Pedagogy
    • Institute for Special Education Development and Rehabilitation
    • Institute for Vocational Education
    • Institute for English/American Studies
    • Institute for German Studies
    • Institute for Romance Studies
    • Heinrich Schliemann Institute of Classical Studies
    • Historical Institute
    • Institute for Media Research
    • Institute of Philosophy
    • Institute of Sports Science
    • Wossidlo Research Center for European Ethnology/Folklore
    • Moritz Schlick Research Center
    • Uwe Johnson Research Center
    • Research and Documentation Center of the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on the History of Dictatorships in Germany
  • Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences
    • Institute of Business Administration
    • Institute of Marketing and Services Research
    • Institute of Sociology and Demography
    • Institute of Political and Administrative Sciences
    • Institute of Economics

Facilities

Rostock University Library

Michaeliskloster, part of the Rostock University Library (Special Historical Library Collections)

The Rostock University Library consists of 3 divisional libraries and several specialized libraries provides scientific literature and information for research, education and study. The university statistics shows about 3 million physical volumes recorded in the catalogue. It provides access to electronic journals (EZB) and specialized databases (DBIS). The library possesses large special collections of culturally historical and scientifically historical old books. In the Patents and Standards Centre (PNZ), all DIN norms and regulations as well as the VDI guidelines are provided. Moreover, the library also contains the university archive and the art treasure collection.

Rostock Student Services

The Rostock Student Services (German: Studentenwerk Rostock) provides accommodation for newly arrived international students who plan to study at the University of Rostock and the Rostock University of Music and Theatre. International students, who have not lived or studied in Germany, are considered for a Starter Package service. However, short-time students and students on a programme (ERASMUS; Sokrates) are given a low priority.

Rostock University Hospital

The university operates a hospital, which has several teaching and research institutes. Among those are the Albrecht Kossel Institute for Neuroregeneration.[citation needed]

Points of interest

The Rostocker Pfeilstorch, on display at the Institute of Zoology

Academic profile

Rankings

University rankings
Overall – Global & National
QS World 2024 761–770 40–41
THE World[citation needed]
ARWU World 2023 501–600 32–36
QS Europe[citation needed]
QS Employability[citation needed]
THE Employability[citation needed]

According to the 2024 QS World University Rankings, the university is globally positioned in the 761–770 range, while it ranks 40–41st nationally. On the other hand, the 2023 ARWU World rankings place the institution in the 501–600 category globally and 32–36th at the national level.

ARWU ranked University of Rostock among 101–150 in Chemistry in the world in 2014. In 2014, the CWTS Leiden Ranking ranked University of Rostock in the world as 269th in Natural Sciences, 336th in Life Sciences, 463rd in Medical Sciences, 449th in Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering, and 245th in Cognitive Science. According to the University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP), Rostock University was ranked 224th worldwide in Chemistry in 2014.

The CWTS Leiden Ranking ranked University of Rostock as 405th in 2014.

In 2014, the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) ranked University of Rostock as 481st in the world.

According to the University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP), Rostock University was ranked as 34th in Germany and 428th in the world in 2014.

Research

In recent years, the University of Rostock has undergone significant conceptual and organisational changes, which included the bundling of competences and research activities in the interdisciplinary, cross-faculty departments of the Interdisciplinary Faculty. Scientific priorities of the faculties have improved by including the interdisciplinary-based research units: Collaborative Research Centres, Research Training Groups, and Research Units.

The university cooperates with several independent research centres. Among those:[citation needed]

Partner universities

Although cooperation and student exchanges are possible with many more institutions, the university has signed cooperation agreements with the following international universities:

Notable alumni and faculty

Honorary doctorate certificate of Rostock University to Albert Einstein in 1919

The University History Research Center publishes the Catalogus Professorum Rostochiensium (CPR), a freely accessible online catalogue that attempts to include all professors at the University of Rostock from 1419 to the present. Each entry documents a professor's biographical data and scientific achievements and is linked with further digitized resources such as photographs or handwritten documents. The project has not yet been finished.[citation needed]

In nearly six centuries numerous notable students and professors have had ties with the university, for instance:[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek". Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (in German). Leipzig and Frankfurt, Germany. Archived from the original on 28 November 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  2. ↑ "Search". Internet Archive.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Die Universität in Zahlen: Ausgabe 2016" (PDF) (in German). University of Rostock. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "Neue Rektorin für die Universität Rostock".
  5. ↑ "University – University of Rostock". www.uni-rostock.de. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  6. ↑ "Universität Rostock". Top Universities. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  7. 1 2 "University of Rostock | University Info | 0 Masters in English - Mastersportal.com". www.mastersportal.com. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  8. ↑ Prague (1348), Kraków (1364), Vienna (1365), Pécs (1367), Heidelberg (1386), Cologne (1388), Leipzig (1409), Rostock (1419).
  9. ↑ "The 10 most beautiful universities in Europe". The Student. Times Higher Education. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  10. ↑ Stillman Drake, Galileo at Work: His Scientific Biography (Dover Publications, 1978), p. 36.
  11. ↑ "Rostock University Library, University Archive". Archived from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "Rostock University Library, Patents and Standards Centre". Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Rostock University Library". Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "Studentenwerk Rostock, Starter Package". Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "Universitätsklinikum Rostock". University of Rostock. 2011. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  16. 1 2 "QS World University Rankings 2024". QS World University Rankings. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  17. 1 2 "2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities". Academic Ranking of World Universities. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  18. ↑ "Academic Ranking of World Universities in Chemistry – Shanghai Ranking".
  19. ↑ "University of Rostock – UniversityRanking.ch".
  20. ↑ "URAP Chemical Sciences Ranking 2014, Germany". Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  21. ↑ "CWTS Leiden Ranking 2014".
  22. ↑ "University of Rostock". Center for World University Rankings 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  23. ↑ "URAP Ranking 2014, Germany". Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  24. ↑ "Research at the University of Rostock". Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  25. ↑ "Catalogus Professorum Rostochiensium". Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
  26. ↑ Kuepper, Hans-Josef. "Albert Einstein – Honours, prizes and awards". Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2011.