Heidelberg University, founded in 1386, is Germany’s oldest university and one of the strongest research universities in Europe. Its successes in both rounds of the Excellence Initiative, a competition to promote top-level research, and in international rankings prove Heidelberg’s excellent reputation and leading role in the scientific community. In terms of educating students and promoting promising young academics, Heidelberg relies on research-based teaching and an outstanding, well-structured training for doctoral candidates. Heidelberg University is a comprehensive university, offering the full spectrum of disciplines in the humanities, law and the social sciences alongside the natural and life sciences, including medicine. It aims to strengthen the individual disciplines and to further interdisciplinary cooperation as well as to carry research results over into society and industry. Research at the university is focused on four major interdisciplinary fields, the molecular and cellular basis of life, structure and pattern formation in the material world, cultural dynamics in globalised worlds and self-regulation and regulation: individuals and organisations. Heidelberg also draws its strength from its cooperation with numerous local non-university research institutions. Heidelberg University is tied into a worldwide network of research and teaching collaborations. Exchange programmes have been established with more than 400 universities worldwide. Heidelberg’s marked global interconnectedness is also evidenced by its 19 university partnerships and several international research training groups.
The ancient university was founded by Rupert I, one of the Holy Roman Empire's Prince-Electors, and it is associated with 11 German and foreign heads of state. In 1890, a natural sciences faculty was added. Today, it has 12 faculties, with more than 13,300 employees, and offers degree programmes in 100 disciplines to around 31,000 students.
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