FAU research and teaching especially practice-oriented
Latest CHE ranking shows nationwide top positions
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has again received top marks from the CHE (Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung; Centre for Higher Education). In a special analysis of the CHE University Ranking called ‘Diversity in excellence’, FAU came out as the top institution especially with regard to the practice-orientation of nearly all examined subjects, thus making it the Germany-wide leader in this category – before TU München and the University of Frankfurt. Mathematical and science subjects were the focus of almost all analyses.
‘FAU is a research institution but at the same time it is an important partner of the industry. The ranking results show this very clearly,’ says FAU Vice President Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger. ‘Our diverse and very successful co-operations ensure that research results are transferred into practice quickly – and students, too, benefit from this, as they are familiarised with the academic foundations as well as practical applications during their studies.’
According to the CHE, FAU is especially practice-oriented in its scientific research and teaching: the University received the highest grades in as many as seven of the subjects examined, namely biology, geography, earth sciences, human medicine, computer science, physics and dentistry. The subjects biology, pharmaceutics and physics scored points with the third-party funding they attracted from the private sector and the number of invention disclosures. Chemistry, too, was given excellent ratings in the category invention disclosures. Earth sciences were given top grades for third-party funding from the private sector. Geography, mathematics, human medicine and dentistry achieved very good scores in the category of third-party private sector funding. Computer science also received top grades in this category and excellent evaluations by students with regard to the vocational orientation of the courses offered.
Research in the subjects biology, human medicine, physics, sports and dentistry was also given top rankings. Physics achieved especially good results for the amount of third-party funding and the numbers of publications and doctorates per year. Dentistry received top grades in the categories third-party funding, publications and doctorates (absolute and relative). Human medicine scored with the number of annual publications and doctorates. The subject of biology achieved a top rank for citations per paper. Sport sciences is among the best-ranking subjects with regard to third-party funding.
The CHE attests to the excellent student-oriented quality of the subject of geography: students gave especially positive assessments for support, courses offered and study conditions.
Physics is among the top-ranked subjects with regard to internationality. This subject was given excellent assessments by its students for the support offered to students going abroad.
The special analysis ‘Diversity in excellence’ is based on the 2012/13 CHE University Ranking, which was evaluated according to the criteria research, internationality, practice-orientation and student-orientation. For the special analysis, the CHE compared 83 universities in the subjects biology, chemistry, earth sciences, geography, human medicine, computer science, mathematics, nursing science, pharmaceutics, physics, sports/sport sciences and dentistry.
The detailed results of the special analysis ‘Diversity in excellence’ are available for download here: www.che.de/vielfaeltige-exzellenz
Further information:
Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger
Phone: +49(0)9131 85 26662
joachim.hornegger@fau.de