Large parts of the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Sciences are located at FAU Campus Erlangen South. A Cabinet resolution has been passed stipulating that in future all areas of the Faculty of Engineering should be consolidated in our campus in the south of Erlangen, which is to be extended accordingly. After taking a close look at the situation, we have drawn up a master plan for FAU Campus Erlangen South that details the various functions and uses of the extended campus that will house the entire Faculty of Engineering in future. We have taken a three-pronged approach involving making more intense use of our existing premises, adding on adjacent plots currently owned by the state and acquiring further premises (from the Siemens campus).
FAU Campus Erlangen South, master plan
The master plan for site development was completed in 2021. It shows how the additional areas can be integrated into FAU Campus Erlangen South as it stands at present, leading to one joint high-tech campus. It describes our guiding vision, projects for the future and landmarks. The master plan sets out the planned transformation process in terms of location, functional connections and timescales. In 2023, an addendum and guidelines on climate action and climate change adaptation were added.
The master plan is already being implemented successively:
Work has continued on making more intense use of our existing premises now that the Erlangen Center for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP – 2022) has begun operations. Two new timber frame lecture hall buildings were completed and opened for use at the end of 2023. Plans for the new Chemistry buildings are already far advanced. The first preparatory measures for the actual construction work have already been started and are now underway. Construction work on the new Technical Chemistry building formally started in early 2024, and the topping out ceremony was celebrated in 2025.
In 2023, a further milestone for the development of FAU Campus Erlangen South was reached with the purchase of an area measuring 105,000 square meters from the Siemens Campus. In the meantime, before work starts on making this space available to the Faculty of Engineering, some of the acquired office space is currently being used to house the Executive Board and University Administration during the renovation of the Schloss building. Information on the relocation of University Administration (intranet)
Many other projects will be required in future to continue with our successful transformation process. A project that is of significance not only for FAU but also for the region and Germany as a whole:
New building for a North Bavarian High-Performance Computing Center at FAU
In close collaboration with the Leibniz Computing Center, the Erlangen National High-Performance Computing Center (NHR@FAU) and the Erlangen Regional Computing Center (RRZE) at FAU are to be extended and transformed into a high-performance computing center especially for the universities in northern Bavaria. This will allow IT services to be consolidated across regional boundaries. Plans based on modern energy efficiency and sustainability concepts are in place for a new building consisting of three modules. In addition to a computing building and an initial office building for high-performance computing and machine-oriented services, a third module – approved by the Free State of Bavaria and already in the planning stages as a joint project – is planned for offices currently located at the Erlangen Regional Computing Center (RRZE). It is hoped that the first new building will start operations by 2030 at the latest.