photo: britta hüning the year 2019
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The year 2019
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People25,170 Students (of which 7,955 female)
4,221 first-semester undergraduate students
2,827 first-semester Master’s students
248 male professors (of which 18 assistant professors)
64 female professors (of which 11 assistant professors)
2,617 academic employees (of which 687 female)
1,914 non-academic employees (of which 1,156 female)
148 trainees (of which 48 female)
105 graduate assistants (of which 38 female)
2,858 student assistants (of which 902 female)
BudgetEUR 254.9 million basic funds from the State of Hesse (excl. LOEWE)
EUR 24.3 million from Bund-Länder-Hochschulpakt (Phase II)
EUR 8.8 million other funds
EUR 165.2 million third-party funds (incl. LOEWE)
Upgrowth of third-party funds(in mio EUR)
Sources of third-party fundsin %
Campus5 locations: City Centre, Lichtwiese, Botanical
Gardens, University Stadium, August-Euler Airfield (with wind tunnel)
250 hectares of property
165 buildings (incl. 13 rented)
309,000 square metres of usable space (incl.
16,900 rented)
Research profile6 Profile Areas:
Cybersecurity
Internet and Digitisation
From Material to Product
Innovation Thermo-Fluids & Interfaces
Future Energy Systems
Matter and Radiation Science
21 ERC-Grants since 2012
12 DFG Collaborative Research
Centres/Transfer Units
6 DFG Research Training Groups
11 LOEWE Clusters of Excellence
Transition and affirmationChange and continuity – these two words provide a good description of how the Technical University of Darmstadt has developed in 2019.
TU Darmstadt remained on course for success, thus demonstrating its continuity. Especially prestigious were several awards from the European Research Council for computer science and new funding pro-jects from the German Research Foundation (DFG), including a collaborative research centre and a graduate school – both of which are anchored in the material sciences. Existing research groups funded by the DFG were given extensions, new projects as part of the Hessian LOEWE programme for the fund-ing of excellent research were given the green light and 14 research projects were launched with the aid of EU funding.
At the same time, the year also brought about changes with respect to personnel. TU Darmstadt welcomed the new Minister of State for Higher Education, Research and the Arts Angela Dorn and her State Secretary Ayse Asar for their inaugural visit in March 2019. In September 2019, the former President of TU Darmstadt Professor Hans Jürgen Prömel was given a ceremonial farewell after twelve years in office. Under his leadership, TU Darmstadt has actively shaped and defined its autonomy and self-responsibility and has strengthened its reputa-tion both at home and abroad.
Professor Tanja Brühl took office as the new Presi-dent of TU Darmstadt on 1 October, following her election by the University Assembly in March 2019. At the end of the year, the former Vice Presidents Professor Mira Mezini, Professor Andrea Rapp, Pro-fessor Ralph Bruder and Professor Matthias Rehahn stepped down from the Executive Board at the end of their terms of office – all of them can take credit for pushing forward strategically important projects with the highest degree of professionalism.
The university’s new management team took up their duties at the turn of the year: The President will continue to rely on the support of Vice President Dr. Manfred Efinger (Administration and Financial
Affairs), alongside the new Vice Presidents Professor Barbara Albert (Research and Early Careers), Professor Heribert Warzecha (Academic Affairs and Diversity), Professor Jens Schneider (Transfer and International Affairs) and Professor Herbert De Gersem (Scientific Infrastructure and Digitization).
“European University” One success that was officially announced in the summer of 2019 holds great significance for the future of TU Darmstadt and will have a far-reaching impact: The university was successful with its entry in the EU funding competition “European University”, together with six other European technical universi-ties. This prestigious honour comes with total funding of five million euros. The competition is the result of an initiative by French President Macron. The aim of the UNITE! (University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering) alliance coordinated by TU Darmstadt is to create a trans-European virtual campus.
The alliance will establish cross-university study courses and transnational knowledge transfer as its natural standards. The partner universities will establish links with start-up networks and companies
A summary
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20192019
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Change at the top: President Hans Jürgen Prömel and his successor Tanja Brühl
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Figures rounded
Federal Government
The German Federationof Industrial Research Associations – AiF
other funds
LOEWE
Industry
EU
German Research
FoundationDFG
32.1
27.4
7.1
19.2
4.1
7.22.9
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Rhine-Main UniversitiesOutstanding education and research thrive off networking and cooperation. On a regional level, TU Darmstadt, the Goethe University Frankfurt and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz joined together to create the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) strategic alliance in 2015 to exploit their combined strengths – the independent profiles of each university comple-ment each other very well. TU Darmstadt has been able to enhance the attractiveness of its teaching and research through targeted synergies – such as in the areas of biomedical engineering and peace and conflict research. The alliance now combines 103,000 students, has links to 22 non-university research institutes and acts as the coordinator for 21 collabora-tive research centres funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
In 2019, three new joint projects at the RMU were ap-proved both by the German Research Foundation and as part of the Hessian LOEWE programme for scientific excellence: a DFG collaborative research centre for the regulation of DNA repair and genome stability, as well as LOEWE projects on biochemical drug development and on the significance of architecture for social, cul-tural and scientific concepts of order.
The dynamic development of the RMU was demon-strated in September 2019 at the 1st RMU Day: More than 250 members of the three universities reported on their achievements to date and discussed the next steps for networking and cooperating in the areas of research, studies, teaching and administration. The world of politics also expressed its support for this special alliance because it spans two different Ger-man states: The Hessian Minister of State for Higher Education, Research and the Arts Angela Dorn and her counterpart from Rhineland-Palatinate Professor Konrad Wolf held discussions on the podium with the heads of the universities.
Research strengthTU Darmstadt is one of the leading research universi-ties, both compared to other German universities and also from an international perspective. The university received a total of three new grants from the European Research Council (ERC) in 2019 – with all of them be-
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ing awarded to the Department of Computer Science, which focuses, in particular, on important issues relat-ed to protection and security: Professor Stefan Roth received an ERC Consolidator Grant of two million euros, Professor Thomas Schneider received an ERC Starting Grant of 1.5 million euros and Professor Mira Mezini, who had previously received an ERC Advanced Grant, was honoured in 2019 with a Proof-of-Concept Grant.
„We are taking the European idea a step further. Students and teach-ing staff are sharing knowledge and information across borders and developing a European Edu-cation Area together.“ Professor Dr. Tanja Brühl, TU President and UNITE! President
in their local regions and strengthen and coordi-nate their joint research on pressing social themes such as the energy transition, artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0. This will benefit the graduates from the UNITE! universities above all: They will acquire interdisciplinary and intercultural exper-tise, which graduates need now more than ever so that they are optimally prepared to meet the future requirements of the job market and global challenges.
Basic research for the future
Alongside TU Darmstadt, UNITE! includes the Aalto University (Finland), KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Grenoble Institute of Technology (France), Politecnico Di Torino (Italy), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain) and Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal). Together, the seven partners have 167,000 students and 36,700 graduates annually. They already cooperate closely in more than 80 EU projects and have exchanged more than 2,000 students in the last five years. They have all been members of the CLUSTER Network (Consortium Linking Universities of Science and Technology for Education and Research) which encompasses twelve leading European technical universities since 1990.
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Prof. Dr. Barbara AlbertVice President, Research and Early Careers
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Prof. Dr. Tanja BrühlPresident
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jens SchneiderVice President, Transfer and International Affairs
Dr. Manfred EfingerVice President, Administration and Financial Affairs
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Herbert De GersemVice President, Scientific Infrastructure and Digitization
Prof. Dr. Heribert WarzechaVice President, Academic Affairs and Diversity
Executive Board
TU Darmstadt appointed 13 women and 11 men to professorships in 2019.
TU Darmstadt is contributing its internationally recognised expertise in IT security to the National Research Center for Applied Cybersecurity, which started work in 2019 under the name Athene. This research centre has been significantly shaped by TU Darmstadt and is also supported by two Fraunhofer institutes and the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. The Federal Minister of Education and Research Anja Karliczek and the Hessian Minister of State for Higher Education, Research and the Arts Angela Dorn participated in the official opening ceremony. The federal and state governments plan to increase the funding for Athene from 12.5 mil-lion euros in 2019 to 37 million euros in 2026.
The outstanding position that computer sciences at TU Darmstadt holds (ranked in 1st place in Germa-ny in the Funding Atlas from the German Research Foundation) was also highlighted in the Hessian State Parliament – to which TU Darmstadt provides a progress report every year due to its autonomous status. In addition, the members of parliament were also very interested in the research being carried out in the areas of artificial intelligence and digital-isation – including the launch of the new LOEWE centre called the “The Resilient Digital City”.
New career pathsIn the competition to secure the best minds, TU Darmstadt finds it important to develop its own approach and strengthen diversity on many lev-els. Therefore, it is also very important for TU Darmstadt to perform really well in the Tenure Track Programme (the federal and state programme to promote young researchers): TU Darmstadt achieved the best possible result with its concept in 2019 – the funding applications for all 20 professorships were approved. The federal government will provide funding of 2.4 million euros. This will allow TU Darmstadt to increase the opportunities available on the career path towards a tenured professorship.
A programme at TU Darmstadt that specifically focuses on female guest professors has also been well received: Three women with career and research experience in industry have taken the opportunity to research and teach for a fixed term at TU Darmstadt without having to give up their positions at their companies.
Remain curiousOne thing is clear when we look back on 2019: TU Darmstadt possesses an enormous amount of potential. It is well worth systematically examining its profile in more depth – and continuing to closely follow the development of the university.
You are thus invited to take a journey of discovery as you read through this publication: You may find the new degree course in Cognitive Science and Data and Discourse Studies just as interesting as the university’s once again very good rankings. In the field of research, the focus is placed on nanoelectronics in which ultra- thin material layers with extremely large memory functions are being developed. The “Cooperation and transfer” section highlights projects with both a high social and economic relevance: For example, long-term field studies are being carried out by the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technol-ogy in cooperation with external partners that are important for the German energy transition, such as investigating how to efficiently transmit electricity gen-erated by renewable sources over a distance of many hundreds of kilometres using underground cables and with low losses.
Prestigious honours and awards should of course also not be forgotten in this annual report, such as the Reinhart Koselleck Project awarded to the material sci-entist Professor Jürgen Rödel by the German Research Foundation with funding of 1.25 million euros, or the appointment of the electotechnician Professor Jutta Hanson to the Senate of the Helmholtz Association. And it is also important not to ignore life on campus: TU Darmstadt was awarded, for example, the title of “sportiest university in Germany” for the third time in a row in 2019 in a competition including seven other German universities and several events that all took place at the same time.
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1st placeThe rescue robot team Hector headed by Professor Oskar von Stryk in the
Department of Computer Science has been successful twice in international
competitions: 1st place in the European “EnRich” competition in the mapping
category and the Best in Class Autonomy award in the RoboCup, the oldest and
largest global competition for smart robots that are used for a diverse range of
applications.
2 to 4Germany’s HR managers rate TU Darmstadt as a top university. According to a university career ranking published by the magazine “WirtschaftsWoche”, TU Darmstadt received one of the top rankings alongside TU Munich, RWTH Aachen, KIT and LMU Munich. TU Darmstadt was ranked in 2nd place for business infor-mation systems, 3rd place for industrial engineering and 4th place for electrical engineering.
Highlights 2019
Weighing in at 150 kilogrammes
Students have built a bridge out of paper as part of an interdisciplinary project. master’s students from the areas of civil, environmental and industrial engineering designed and constructed the bridge in the Botanical Gardens. It was six metres long, weighed 150 kilogrammes and was able to carry three people.
24 monthsEight students who
achieved outstanding grades for their bachelor’s
degrees in courses focussing on mathematics,
technical or engineering sciences have been
accepted on the scholarship list of the Thomas Weiland
Foundation: They will receive financial support for their further studies at TU Darmstadt for a period of
two years.
20 years old The series of events entitled “Saturday Morning Physics” have now been held for 20 years. The Department of Physics inspires pupils from senior schools to study the natural sciences through lectures, videos, experiments and tours. Around 450 pupils take part every year, of which a third of them are young women.
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8 subjects in focusBachelor’s students at TU Darmstadt have given a predo-minantly positive assessment of their engineering science degree courses. According to the ranking conducted by the Center for Higher Education Develop-ment, mechanical engineering and materials science students, in particular, were very satisfied with the overall study condi-tions. This was also the case for electrical engineering and information technology and mechatronics students.
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Master in Data and Discourse StudiesAn increasing amount of data is being accumulated in academia and business. At the same time, there is a need for experts who can understand and process this data and effectively communicate with the intended target groups. TU Darmstadt is educating these experts in the new English-language Master’s degree in Data and Discourse Studies. This interdis-ciplinary course, based at the Institute of Linguistics and Literary Studies, is following a special approach when compared to international standards: A key focus is being placed on the handling and digital analysis of research data.
Who can grip the best?Who can develop a sophisticated gripping technology for a robot arm that can be used to pick up and put down not only a fragile, blown chicken’s egg and a complex ten-sided object but also a full cup of coffee? This was the task given to teams of students in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology in the seminar “Practical development methods” that was developed by the Measurement and Sensor Technology Group. The systematic, me-thodical approach required to independently solve this kind of technical problem should equip the students for their professional lives in the future.
Orientation for refugees76 refugees prepared themselves for their future studies in the 2019 summer semester in numerous language courses at various levels. TUtor International organised a meet and greet event, an orientation week and extensive tours of the campus, while the Studien-kolleg gave the participants information on admission requirements, language tests and the general contents of the courses. The Language Center at TU Darmstadt provided helpful strategies for how prospective stu-dents can effectively manage their own independent learning.
New and grippy
“Discourse analysis deals with the relationship between language, knowledge and society. The main focus is placed on the amalgama-tion of language analysis with his-torical, sociological, philosophical and political research areas.” Marcus Müller, Professor for Digital Linguistics
Discussion in the Discourse Lab
160 guestsThe German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) held the
nexus annual conference at TU Darmstadt in 2019
on the theme of “Interdisciplinarity in exper-
tise-based teaching”. TU Darmstadt has plenty of
experience in this field. The HRK supports German
universities in the implementation of European
study reform in the project “nexus – forming tran-
sitions, promoting student success”.
4 specialist fieldsMaster’s students from the Departments of Mecha-nical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Enginee-ring Sciences, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology and Law and Economics have produced wind turbines small enough to fit in a display cabinet in the interdisciplinary teaching course “Design for Additive Manufacturing”. They learnt how to use 3D printers for practical applications and evaluated the opportunities and risks from a technical and econo-mic perspective.
Top 100 TU Darmstadt is one of the top 100 uni-versities worldwide whose graduates have the best employment opportunities. The university was ranked in 97th place in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2020. When asked to assess those universities who would provide the most qualified and innovative employees of the future, com-panies ranked TU Darmstadt in 79th place internationally.
Highlights 2019
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Surgical robots from a printerFor his bachelor thesis in the Measurement and Sensor Technology Group, Felix Herbst developed a six-axis articulated robot and manufactured it using a 3D printer. His design is smaller than an industri-al robot and much cheaper to produce. The robot was then combined with a hollow needle with an integrated force sensor which was designed by Sonja Wismath, a bachelor graduate at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technolo-gy. The resulting demonstration robot was used as a surgical assistant in the biomedical engineering cooperative degree programme and has been further developed by the master’s student Dennis Roth. A successful project by students for students.
BachelorApplied Geosciences Applied Mechanics Architecture Building Technology BiologyBiomedical Engineering*Biomolecular EngineeringBusiness Administration/Industrial Engineering
• specialising in Civil Engineering• specialising in Electrical Engineering and
Information Technology• specialising in Mechanical Engineering
Business Information Systems ChemistryCivil Engineering and Geodesy Cognitive Science Computational Engineering Computer ScienceDigital PhilologyElectrical Engineering and Information Technology Environmental EngineeringHistory with a Focus on Modern History Information Systems TechnologyMaterials ScienceMathematicsMechanical and Process EngineeringMechatronicsPedagogyPhysicsPolitical SciencePsychologySociology
Bachelor of Education (Teaching’s degree)Building TechnologyBody CareChemical EngineeringComputer ScienceElectrical Engineering and Information Technology Metal Engineering
Joint Bachelor of ArtsBusiness Administration and Economics Computer ScienceDigital PhilologyGerman StudiesHistoryMusical Culture* Philosophy Political Science Sociology Sports Science
Lehramt an Gymnasien (Teaching’s degree)BiologyChemistryComputer ScienceGermanHistory Mathematics Philosophy/Ethics PhysicsSports
MasterApplied GeosciencesApplied Linguistics ArchitectureAutonomous SystemsBiomolecular EngineeringBusiness Administration/Industrial Engineering
• specialising in Civil Engineering• specialising in Electrical Engineering and
Information Technology• specialising in Mechanical Engineering
Business Information SystemsChemistryCivil EngineeringCognitive Science Computational EngineeringComputer ScienceDistributed Software SystemsEducational Sciences – Education in Processes
of Global TechnologicalisationElectrical Engineering and Information Technology Energy Science and EngineeringEnvironmental EngineeringGeodesy and GeoinformationGovernance and Public PolicyHistoryInformation and Communication Engineering Information Systems TechnologyInternational Cooperation in Urban Development International Studies/Peace and Conflict Research* Internet and Web-based SystemsIT SecurityLinguistic and Literary ComputingMaterials ScienceMathematicsMechanical and Process EngineeringMechanicsMechatronicsPaper Science and Technology – Paper Technology
and Biobased Fiber Materials PhilosophyPhysicsPolitical Theory*PsychologySociologySports ManagementSustainable Urban Development*Technology and PhilosophyTraffic and TransportTropical Hydrogeology and Environmental Engineering (TropHEE) Visual Computing
Master of Education (Teaching’s degree)Catholic Religion Computer Science EthicsGermanHistoryMathematicsPhysicsPolitics and Economics Protestant Religion Sports Science
For future generations
Powerful stuff: Articulated robots
*Subject related cooperation of TU DarmstadtBiomedical Engineering: Cooperation with the Faculty of Medicine, Goethe University FrankfurtJoint Bachelor of Arts Musical Culture: Cooperation with Akademie für Tonkunst, DarmstadtMaster International Studies/Peace and Conflict Research: Cooperation with Goethe University, FrtankfurtMaster Political Theory: Cooperation with Goethe University, FrankfurtMaster Sustainable Urban Development: Cooperation with Vietnamese-German University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
winter semester 2019/20
113degree programmes
13 departments
5 fields of study
Courses offered by TU Darmstadt
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“From scratch, our students have developed a very impressive robot that is now available to the next generation of biomedical engineering students, as well as students of electrical engineering, mechatronics and computer science, and will significantly improve their practical training.” Professor Mario Kupnik, Head of the Measurement and Sensor Technology Group
“The increasing application of AI will only serve people when we learn what it is exactly that makes us humans and how we can take this into account in technical systems.”Professor Constantin Rothkopf, Director of the Centre for Cognitive Science
Understanding thought processesNew bachelor and master degrees in Cognitive Science are now available. Cognitive science deals with the human mind as an information process-ing system and acts as a bridge between various disciplines. It combines insights from psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy and artificial intelligence. Algorithms are used to help under-
stand and explain human intelligence. The focus of the English-language degree is modelling adaptive behaviour using computers. The aim is not only to explain human behaviour but also to make technical systems more intelligent.
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1.34 million visitors
697,000 users of the
reading room
501,000 items borrowed
77,000 requests for information
Around 5.82 million: the number
of individual pages
of the digital collection accessed
Around 1 million: the number
of times the library’s publication
service (TUprints) was accessed
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Collection:
4.74 million printed works,
of which 2.4 million
are books and journals
516.000 electronic media
(excluding magazines)
53.564 continuously published
journals,of which
51,159 are electronic
13,696 manuscripts
3.78 million Euro of expenditure
on acquisitions, of which
almost 2.85 million Euro on electronic media
705 books and
727 graphics restored
25,170Students
7,048Students in
first subject-related semester in 2019
8,731Master’s students
Departments Total Women in %
Foreigners* in %
of which Master’s**
of which Master’s in %
Law and Economics 3,531 22 15 1,006 28
History and Social Sciences 2,954 53 9 1,076 36
Human Sciences 1,358 62 10 461 34
Mathematics 749 34 8 234 31
Physics 1,138 25 6 196 17
Chemistry 981 38 9 256 26
Biology 787 64 8 167 21
Materials and Earth Sciences 1,134 34 34 501 44
Civil and Environmental Engineering 2,068 39 20 710 34
Architecture 1,274 57 26 579 45
Mechanical Engineering 2,614 13 24 1,136 43
Electrical Engineering and Inf. Technology 2,011 20 40 634 32
Computer Science 3,569 15 21 1,239 35
Fields of Study
Mechanics 193 21 21 76 39
Computational Engineering 299 17 17 111 37
Information Systems Engineering 239 14 15 78 33
Mechatronics 154 5 22 154 100
Energy Science and Engineering 117 25 29 117 100
Total 25,170 32 19 8,731 35
Undergraduate degree courses* Master’s degree courses**
Fachbereiche Total Women in %
Foreigners *** in %
Total Women in %
Foreigners *** in %
Law and Economics 564 22 13 371 21 11
History and Social Sciences 482 57 5 300 54 9
Human Sciences 194 73 10 110 60 9
Mathematics 132 38 8 64 30 11
Physics 541 42 10 61 11 5
Chemistry 158 42 14 104 34 6
Biology 156 66 6 58 66 9
Materials and Earth Sciences 156 51 4 156 39 67
Civil and Environmental Engineering 392 38 16 240 45 27
Architecture 166 55 14 187 67 41
Mechanical Engineering 211 11 21 357 13 29
Electrical Engineering and Inf. Technology 349 24 24 246 19 68
Computer Science 580 21 19 390 18 20
Fields of Study
Mechanics 48 46 6 20 10 40
Computational Engineering 53 19 8 54 9 22
Information Systems Engineering 39 10 15 23 9 17
Mechatronics 53 8 19
Energy Science and Engineering 33 30 21
Total 4,221 37 13 2,827 31 26
Students
Students in first subject-related semester
Source: Data Warehouse / Excludes individuals with leave of absence, includes doctoral students, excludes those on second degree courses. Assignment based on first subject, winter semester 2019/20. / * Foreigners refer here to all individuals with foreign citizenship, even if they obtained their university entrance qualifications in Germany./ ** Master’s = all except Master of Education, preparation for Master’s included
Source: Data Warehouse / Excludes individuals with leave of absence, doctoral students, and those on second degree courses. Assignment based on first subject. Summer semester 2019 + winter semester 2019/20. / * Bachelor’s at university, Bachelor of Education, Joint Bachelor, Lehramt an Gymnasien- sup-plementary teacher’s training **Master’s at university, Master of Education, preparation for Master’s ***Foreigners refer here to all individuals with foreign citizenship, even if they obtained their university entrance qualifications in Germany
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Doctoratestotal: 453 | Women: 25 % | Foreigners*: 21 %
Departments
Law and Economics total: 25 | Women: 32 % | Foreigners: 8 %
History and Social Sciences total: 12 | Women: 67 % | Foreigners: 8 %
Human Sciences total: 13 | Women: 54 % | Foreigners: 8 %
Mathematics total: 17 | Women: 6 % | Foreigners: 6 %
Physics total: 33 | Women: 18 % | Foreigners: 6 %
Chemistry total: 39 | Women: 28 % | Foreigners: 8 %
Biology total: 34 | Women: 38 % | Foreigners: 15 %
Materials and Earth Sciences total: 45 | Women: 42 % | Foreigners: 51 %
Civil and Environmental Engineering total: 39 | Women: 28 % | Foreigners: 23 %
Architecture total: 4 | Women: 50 % | Foreigners: 25 %
Mechanical Engineering total: 102 | Women: 12 % | Foreigners: 17 %
Electrical Engineering and Inf. Technology total: 53 | Women: 15 % | Foreigners: 34 %
Computer Science total: 37 | Women: 19 % | Foreigners: 38 %
International students* at TU Darmstadt
Degree courses in highest demand Graduations
Source: Data Warehouse /data: Graduations reported in winter semester 2018/2019 and summer semester 2019* Foreigners refer here to all
individuals with foreign citizenship, even if they obtained their university entrance qualifications in Germany.
** Excluding PhD graduates. The diagram still contains Diploma and Magister qualifications so that the number may be larger than the sum of the Bachelor, Masters and teaching qualifi- cations
*** includes Joint Bachelor, except Bachelor of Education
**** except Master of Education***** Lehramt an Gymnasien,
Bachelor of Education, Master of Education* Foreign students who obtained their university entrance qualifications outside of Germany.
4,179graduates in 2019
14 % of studentsstudying for Bachelor degrees areforeign nationals.
With 3,569students, Computer Scienceis the most popular department at TU Darmstadt.
40 %of students in the departmentof Electrical Engineering and Information Technology are foreign nationals.
25 % of students studying for Master’s degrees areforeign nationals.
Source: Data Warehouse; excludes individuals with leave of absence and those on second degree courses, winter semester 2019/20.
Africa
408
Europe
738
Asia
2,249
Australia 1
Syria
PakistanTunesia
China 1,056
Turkey 149
146139
India 228
Iran149
123
Egypt80
Cameroon72
Bulgaria
79
Russian Fed.
Indonesia
Brazil
Vietnam 91
71
57Spain
69
57
America
274
Top 5 Bachelor’s degree courses Subject
Number of students
Computer Science 2,115
Mechanical and Process Engineering 1,277
Business Administration/Industrial Engineer-ing – specialising in Mechanical Engineering 1,174
Civil Engineering and Geodesy 817
Physics 715
Top 5 Bachelor’s degree courses for international students* Subject
Number of students
Computer Science 208
Mechanical and Process Engineering 189
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
139
Mechatronik 83
Business Administration/Industrial Engineer-ing – specialising in Mechanical Engineering 81
Top 5 Master’s degree courses for international students* Subject
Number of students
Mechanical and Process Engineering 270
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
217
Distributed Software Systems 209
Materials Science 162
Architecture 118
Top 5 Master’s degree courses Subject
Number of students
Mechanical and Process Engineering 1,105
Computer Science 615
Architecture 547
Business Administration/Industrial Engineer-ing – specialising in Mechanical Engineering 518
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
451
Graduates (total)** Graduates (Bachelor)*** Graduates (Master)**** Graduates (teaching degrees)*****
Departments total Women in %
Foreigners* in %
total Women in %
Foreigners* in %
total Women in %
Foreigners* in %
total Women in %
Foreigners* in %
Law and Economics 577 19 7 328 21 7 249 18 8
History and Social Sciences 360 56 5 137 59 2 152 52 7 71 58 4
Human Sciences 212 69 8 109 72 9 87 67 5 16 63 13
Mathematics 149 40 10 56 41 7 80 38 14 13 54 0
Physics 134 16 2 66 15 0 66 18 5 2 0 0
Chemistry 220 40 5 102 37 8 109 44 4 9 22 0
Biology 139 65 3 53 58 4 60 67 3 24 75 0
Materials and Earth Sciences 156 33 31 51 39 8 105 30 42
Civil and Environmental Engineering 389 38 12 177 42 8 212 34 15
Architecture 327 59 30 135 64 20 186 57 38 6 17 0
Mechanical Engineering 611 13 14 265 13 10 341 12 17 5 20 0
Electrical Engineering and Inf. Technology 283 12 35 121 4 11 162 17 54
Computer Science 449 14 25 186 11 5 257 17 39 6 0 0
Fields of Study
Mechanics 31 10 29 11 9 36 20 10 25
Computational Engineering 50 22 12 20 25 5 30 20 17
Information Systems Engineering 31 6 16 16 13 13 15 0 20
Mechatronics 33 9 33 33 9 33
Energy Science and Engineering 28 39 21 28 39 21
Total 4,179 31 15 1,833 31 8 2,192 30 22 152 53 3
Total of 3.672 from 118 countries in winter semester 2018/19, including ...
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84 percentFake news is dangerous because it can be used to manipulate the opinion
of the general public. This is the belief of 84 percent of those surveyed in a
representative study conducted across Germany by the Institute of Science and
Technology for Peace and Security (PEASEC). 68 percent said that fake news
damaged democracy. 1,023 people were asked to give their assessment and
experience of unsubstantiated or fake news and how it is handled – and to
evaluate measures to counter it.
Top 50Six professors from the Department of Law and Eco-nomics were placed in the top 50 in a ranking by the magazine “WirtschaftsWoche”. It listed the 100 strongest research personalities in the area of business studies.
Highlights 2019
2 million euros The computer science Professor Stefan Roth has received a prestigious Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council. His project “RED – Robust, Explainable Deep Networks in Computer Vision” will receive total funding of around two million euros over a period of five years. This grant strengthens TU Darmstadt’s diverse range of activities in the field of artificial intelligence. Roth’s research aims to improve trust in machine learning methods in image analysis, such as in the context of self-driving cars.
12 MILLION EUROS
Whether it is extremely strong permanent magnets for wind turbines
and electric motors or materials for magnetic cooling, new functional materials are required to ensure a
successful energy transition and a low-emission future. The new “HoMMage” collaborative research centre has been
launched at TU Darmstadt and the University of Duisburg-Essen. It will run initially for four years with total funding of 12 million euros from the
German Research Foundation.
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3 partnersHow do you develop drugs for proteins that up to now have been pharmacologically inaccessible? This is the subject of the LOEWE research cluster “TRABITA – Tran-sient Binding Pockets for Drug Development”, which has the aim of developing effective medicines. The state programme is providing TU Darmstadt with 4.5 million euros of funding up to the end of 2023. Other partners are the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.
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Tiny components with huge potentialA research group headed by TU physicist Leopoldo Molina-Luna is observing tiny electronic compo-nents in action. Their electron microscope can not only be used to image individual atoms but also to manipulate them. For this purpose, Molina-Luna’s cooperation partner DENSsolutions has shrunk a testing laboratory down to the size of a small chip measuring just a few millimetres. It can be inserted into the microscope and allows the team to produce, heat and electronically manipulate the samples. Molina-Luna, Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials and Earth Sciences and the recipient of a Starting Grant from the European Re-search Council, believes that there is great potential in nanoelectronics – for example, components that are made using extremely thin layers of different materials also have huge memory or storage func-tions.
Renowned in Europe
Assistant Professor Leopoldo Molina-Luna
TOP 1 PERCENTAccording to the Web of Science 2019, the phys-
icist Michael Saliba is one of the “world’s most
influential researchers” in their particular field
(top 15 by citations for field and year). The As-
sistant Professor at the Department of Materials
and Earth Sciences prepares perovskites for use
in solar cells, detectors and other applications.
34 MILLION EUROS
The federal government will provide around 34 million euros of funding for the construction of a “Center
for Reliability Analytics” at the Lichtwiese campus. By constructing this research building, TU Darmstadt will create an infrastructure that will enable the reliability of components to be evaluated over their entire life
cycles using digital methods.
1,5 MILLION EUROSHow can services for Internet applications such as data storage, online surveys and e-mail communication be developed that protect privacy? Professor Thomas Schnei-der from the Department of Computer Science has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant with funding of around 1.5 million euros for his project “Privacy-preserving Services on the Internet”. He is working to ensure that users no longer have to trust just one service provider and can retain control over their data at all times.
Highlights 2019
“The aim is to understand precisely what happens at a nano level.” Professor Leopoldo Molina-Luna, Department of Materials and Earth Sciences
Frosty conditionsProfessor Thomas Burg can freeze living cells and organisms under a light microscope almost instanta-neously. The head of “Integrated Micro-Nano Systems” in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Infor-mation Technology has one aim: to develop a better link between light and electron microscopy and de-cisively push forward the continuous investigation of dynamic cellular processes. The researcher, who is the recipient of a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council, uses components from microsystem technology – an electrically heated microchannel and a silicon chip that is cooled with liquid nitrogen – for his approach.
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Synthetic biologyTU Darmstadt is bundling together its research expertise in a new Centre of Synthetic Biology with a strong focus on engineering sciences. The centre will, for example, create genetic circuits and develop ion conducting nanopores to open up new fields of application in biosensor technology. There is a broad range of applications for this kind of technology ranging from optimised proteins and new regulatory mechanisms that could make plants more robust through to electrical energy generated by microor-ganisms.
Nuclear physics project extendedA research programme into nuclear structure physics and nuclear astrophysics headed by TU Darmstadt has received funding for a further four years: The DFG approved the extension of the collaborative research centre that has been running since 2016. More than 100 researchers at the Institute for Nu-clear Physics at TU Darmstadt, the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research and the University of Mainz are investigating the physics of atomic nuclei and the nucleosynthesis of elements in the universe in 13 subprojects.
Life Science EngineeringResearchers from the Departments of Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Electrical Engineering and Informa-tion Technology and Civil and Environmental Engi-neering are working together in the new English-lan-guage Life Science Engineering graduate school.
New LOEWE centre“The Resilient Digital City” – this is the mission of the research centre that TU Darmstadt was able to establish as part of the Hessian LOEWE research funding programme. It will receive 17.4 million euros of funding up to 2023. 23 professors from different disciplines are carrying out research in this joint project – headed by TU Darmstadt and in coop-eration with the Universities of Kassel and Marburg, the City of Darmstadt and the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance.
Better clinical diagnosticsCoffin-Siris syndrome is a little known developmental disorder in humans that is often left undiagnosed. Ulrike Nuber, TU Professor for Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, has demonstrated which structural changes this disorder can cause in the brain using a mouse model and has proven – in cooperation with medical colleagues – that these changes actually occur to varying degrees in patients affected by the disorder.
Artifi cial bonesHip and knee joints made out of titanium, vertebrae made out of plastic and other bone implants help to free many patients from pain. However, some patients suffer complications, such as when the artificial bones fail to integrate properly. Anne Martin, a research as-sistant in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has developed a model together with a team headed by Dr. Bianca Bertulat in the Department of Biology that simulates the first few days after insertion of the bone implant. A special test chamber has been devel-oped for this purpose that should make some animal experiments unnecessary in the future.
Taking measurements directly on-siteAnybody who needs laboratory results to diagnose an illness or test the pollution in waste water usually has to send the samples to the laboratory and wait for the results. The research groups headed by Wolfgang Ensinger, Professor of Material Sciences, and Helmut Schlaak, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Infor-mation Technology, have developed and patented a prototype for a “Lab-on-a-Chip-System” as part of the LOEWE research cluster iNAPO that can already give the results in the doctor’s surgery or at the sampling site. Substances are detected using sensors made out of synthetic nanopores.
In cooperation
Research in the Centre of Synthetic Biology
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Medical fi ndings
Professor Ulrike Nuber (right) and Michaela Becker-Röck
“The LOEWE centre will develop solutions that ensure the emergency operation of information and communication technology in crisis situations as well as the use of this technology for emergency operations, provide quick assistance and offer the support needed to enable an efficient return to normality.” Professor Matthias Hollick, Department of Computer Science
“As a result of the findings from the mouse model, doctors now know precisely what to look for on MRI scans.” Professor Ulrike Nuber, Department of Biology
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Computer science meets astrophysicsComputer Science Professor Felix Wolf and his assistant Dr. Sebastian Rinke from the Programming Parallel Computers Group have dedicated them-selves to a task that has proven too difficult even for supercomputers: How can the connections in the brain with its around 100 billion neurons be calculated? A trick from astrophysics provided some assistance. To determine the position of, for example, a star in the huge Milky Way, astronomers developed a calculation process that combines the celestial bodies into groups. The TU researchers are using this Barnes-Hut algorithm in their model, which has been designed to support neurosurgeons and push forward the development of artificial intelligence.
Memories from the computerResearchers in the Digital Design Group in the Department of Architecture have been investigating new forms of cultural memory for the last 25 years. A main focus of their work is the digital reconstruc-tion of destroyed synagogues. This action against anti-Semitism was initiated in 1994 when three synagogues in Frankfurt that had been destroyed in the Nazi era were visualised in a student seminar; a further 26 synagogues have now been reconstructed. The project developed into the travelling exhibition “Synagogues in Germany – A Virtual Reconstruc-tion”, which has since toured through Israel, Ameri-ca, Canada and Germany.
Update for climate protectionA team headed by Professor Bernd Epple from the Institute for Energy Systems and Technology in the Department of Mechanical Engineering has de-veloped a process to capture carbon dioxide using surplus electricity generated during waste inciner-ation. Instead of feeding the energy into the public grid without generating a profit, the operators can use the electricity themselves to transform the CO2 produced during the incineration process into meth-ane. The methane can then be processed into the diesel substitute OME or used as a raw material in the chemicals industry. The method was tested on an industrial scale at a testing facility on the Lichtwiese campus.
Welding without heatThere is an increasing demand for lightweight, smart components in modern production technology. As part of a DFG priority programme, TU Darmstadt is coordinating multiple teams who are investigating which new methods can be used to permanently join together materials, which technologies are suitable for this purpose and how they can be used in indus-trial applications. A team headed by the mechanical engineer Christiane Gerlitzky has, for example, successfully carried out research into cold press flow welding – a cold forging process. It can be used to permanently join together two metals such as steel and aluminium without having to apply heat.
Using all the senses
Eyes frontProfessor Constantin Rothkopf and Dr. David Hoppe from the Centre for Cognitive Science at TU Darmstadt have demonstrated in a study that people can unconsciously plan their eye movements multiple steps in advance. The research published in the journal “Scientific Reports” uses methods from artificial intelligence to investigate human planning behaviour. The results will contribute to the un-derstanding of how information is processed in the brain.
AI with a moral compassArtificial intelligence can be used to translate text, recom-mend treatments for patients, make purchasing decisions and optimise work processes. But where is its moral com-pass? A study headed by Professors Constantin Rothkopf and Kristian Kersting (Centre for Cognitive Science) has shown that AI machines can learn how to make moral decisions from humans. The results had been presented at the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics and Society.
Professor Felix Wolf (left) and Dr. Sebastian Rink
Pioneering and useful
Virtually safeguarding destroyed buildings
“The main aim of brain simulations is to gain a more in-depth understanding of the processes taking place in our most important organ.” Professor Felix Wolf, Department of Computer Science
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One of 20TU Darmstadt was one of the winners of the „Reallabore der Energie-
wende“ (Real Laboratories of the Energy Transition) idea competition
with its project outline DELTA. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs
and Energy awarded funding to 20 consortiums across Germany; 100
million euros of funding is available each year. DELTA aims to reduce
energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in city districts. In the
project, several types of districts – residential, industrial, commercial,
educational – in Darmstadt will be linked with the grid infrastructures
for electricity, heating, gas, communications and transport.
1 among 17TU Darmstadt has been accepted into the renowned Euro-pean Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS). The core team for the Darmstadt unit includes six principal investigators from the Departments of Computer Science, Human Sciences and Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. TU Darmstadt is one of 17 sites across ten Euro-pean countries and Israel that will invest at least 1.5 million euros per year for five years into cutting-edge research into artificial intelligence and intelligent systems.
Highlights 2019
1.000 Guests More than 90 exhibitors – including former innovation projects from TU Darmstadt, start-ups funded by EXIST that are still in their early stages and also already established start-ups – partici-pated in the 4th Darmstadt Startup & Innovation Day at TU Darmstadt, building contacts with guests from the worlds of science, industry and politics. Prizes were awarded to the best entries in the TU Idea Competition.
More than 80How can energy-intensive production processes be adapted to a fluctuating energy supply? This subject has been investigated by more than 80 partners since 2016 under the leadership of TU Darmstadt and the University of Stutt-gart in the Copernicus project “SynEr-gie”. One result: If industry in Germany was organised more flexibly, it would be able to reduce its power demand by up to 2.5 gigabytes for 15 minutes in the event of a power shortage.
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3,2 million eurosCan gas-insulated direct current lines installed under-ground efficiently and compactly transmit electricity generated using renewable sources over large distan-ces with low losses? This is what the researchers in the High Voltage Technology Group at TU Darmstadt and their partners want to fi nd out in a large-scale, long-term fi eld test at a test site at the August-Euler airport. The project has received funding of 3.2 mil-lion euros, half of which was provided by the Hessian Ministry of Economics.
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Steel from 3D printersThe TU project “AM Bridge 2019” could revolution-ise the construction sector. Researchers at the Insti-tute of Steel Constructions and Material Mechanics have built a steel bridge using a 3D printer at the Lichtwiese campus. Instead of printing the individu-al components, the welding robots welded the entire structure on-site and over the water.
Sensitive measurement processesMany of the more than 100,000 bridges in Germany are starting to show their age or signs of stress. To inspect the bridges, it has always been necessary to attach sensors to the structure, dismantle them later and close the bridge to road and rail transport. A team from the Geodetic Measuring Systems and Sensor Technology Group has developed a moni-toring process that can inspect the entire profile of the bridge contact-free using profile laser scanners. Static and dynamic deformations can be identified to a precision of one tenth of a millimetre. The max-imum measurement distance is around 120 metres, with a maximum data acquisition rate of one million points per second.
Building bridges
Welding robot used for bridge building work
1 MILLIONThe number of insect species on many areas of land
has fallen by a third compared to ten years ago.
These are the findings of an international team of
researchers under the leadership of the Department
of Biology at TU Darmstadt. Grasslands in highly
agricultural regions have particularly suffered from
a decline in the number of species, as well as forests
and nature reserves. More than one million insects
were collected at 300 sites.
FOR 10 YEARSTU Darmstadt and Deutsche Bahn have had an innovation
alliance since 2009. Joint interdisciplinary teams are working
on future themes such as cybersecurity, economic rail transport,
infrastructure, mobility management and urban logistics. More
than 25 departments at TU Darmstadt have participated in
the alliance up to now, resulting in more than 100 research
projects, doctorates, scientific publications and talks. These
addressed specific issues such as: How can changeover times at
train stations be reduced? How can passengers be directed to
alternative routes?
21 YEAR TERMThe long-term project “European Religious Peace Agreements – A Digital Edition” sponsored by the German federal and state govern-ments receives 325,000 euros of funding per year. The University and State Library Darmstadt is one of the partners. The digital edition will be freely accessible on the Internet – fully in keeping with the ideals of open science.
Highlights 2019
“Printed bridges have so far always been produced vertically. However, our process allows you to print on an incline.”Thilo Feucht, research assistant in the Institute of Steel Construction
“A modern and practical system is required in order to efficiently manage the large and increasing number of monitoring tasks.”Professor Andreas Eichhorn, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Sciences
Glass constructionResearchers at the Glass Competence Center (GCC) are carrying out research into the glass technologies of the future. New types of glass will be thinner, larger, thicker or printed using a 3D printer. The current trend is for thin glass with a thickness in some case of just 25 micrometres, which is thinner than a human hair. This transparent building material is especially hard, scratch-resistant and does not age like plas-tic. The GCC – based at the Institute for Structural Mechanics and Design – is searching for new applica-tions in the construction sector in the form of movable windows or façades.
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Electrically powered HGVsHeavy goods vehicles are driving up and down a test sec-
tion of the A5 motorway to the south of Frankfurt am Main
powered by electricity from overhead cables. The pilot
system for the “ELISA” project was launched in 2019. A
team at the Institute for Transport Planning and Traffic En-
gineering headed by Professor Manfred Boltze is providing
scientific support for “ELISA”. The aim is to make reliable
assessments of the extent to which the “eHighway” system
can contribute to climate and environmental protection.
Tram of the futureThe Institute of Automotive Engineering is cooperating
with the transport company HEAG mobilo in the MAAS
(“Feasibility Analysis for Automation and Assistance Sys-
tems of Trams”) research project. A specially equipped tram
is using sensors to record events outside of the tram during
its daily operations; a computer programme uses machine
learning to learn from the measurement data and draw
conclusions about, for example, the behaviour of pedestri-
ans and thus reduce the risk of accidents.
Inquisitive vacuum cleanerA research team at the Security Lab in the Department of
Computer Science has identified a weakness in the soft-
ware for robot vacuum cleaners that could allow them to
be controlled remotely. The commercially available devices
tested at the lab collect data using a camera and sensors
and create a floor plan so that they can move about au-
tonomously. The combination of sensors, connectivity and
poor or often non-existent security measures makes these
devices highly vulnerable to hackers.
Smart parking space barrierThe TU start-up Green Mobility Solutions UG is now
able to launch its product “parking space activation via
smartphone” onto the market after concluding the required
contractual agreements. This start-up, which was launched
by students, employees and researchers from the university,
has developed a combination of a parking space barrier
and web interface. Parking spaces can thus be made
available and blocked again via app.
A trick used by orchidsOrchid flowers act as a role model. Researchers at the Institute for Constructive Design and Building Construction in the Department of Civil and Envi-ronmental Engineering Sciences have developed an innovative sun protection system that combines the advantages of fabric roller blinds and Venetian blinds and can also be used to control the light. For this purpose, a laser cutting process is used to perforate a piece of fabric with an optimised pattern of small, staggered curved holes. If the material is stretched, it opens up the “joints” that have been produced. This creates uniform openings that also allow enough light into the room when the blind is closed while still protecting against glare.
Cooling materials of tomorrowIt is anticipated that humans will require more energy for cooling than for heating for the first time in 2060. Processes such as magnetic cooling could minimise the impact on the climate. Researchers at TU Darmstadt and the Helmholtz Centre Dres-den-Rossendorf have conducted research into promising materials and created the first systematic library of materials. The promising materials in-clude intermetallic compounds of lanthanum, iron, manganese and silicon in which hydrogen has been stored in the crystal lattice.
On the road
Pilot project: Electrical “refuelling” of Hybrid HGVs
Feel-good factors
Professor Stefan Schäfer
“Sun shades and glare protection will be future issues for the construction sector in our latitudes.” Professor Stefan Schäfer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Sciences
“How do senior citizens, wheelchair users, people of short stature, children, refugees or people with depression perceive spaces?This is one of the key questions.” Professor Sabine Hopp, “Smart und Inclusive City” Project, Department of Architecture
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Optimised capacitorsThe material scientists Patrick Salg and Lukas Zeinar and the electrical engineer Dominik Walk are working on low-loss and rapid mobile tele-communication transmissions. The scientists, who are being funded by the Pioneer Fund at TU Darmstadt and the ENTEGA NATURpur Institute, are carrying out research into technical solutions that can also respond flexibly to different frequency bands. They have developed capacitors made out of conductive oxide instead of gold or platinum, which are thus cheaper and more durable.
City without barriersPeople’s health and well-being often also depends on their surroundings – whether the road network, building typology, mobility or air quality. Therefore, junior professor Martin Knöll and his team in the Department of Architecture are introducing new approaches to city planning: Every space requires its own specific solution that meets the needs of residents. This approach has also become a fixed component of the courses, teaching and research.
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New generation exoskeletonsWill old or sick people be using exoskeletons instead of walking frames to move around in the future? Will motorised walking aids provide an eas-ier form of mobility in old age? These questions are being investigated by TU Sports Scientist Dr. Martin Grimmer. The researcher, who was honoured by TU Darmstadt as the “Athene Young Investigator”, has developed a simulator that can be used to help customise exoskeletons to people’s bodies.
Intelligent insolesNovapace is a removable sensory insole equipped with electronics that is used for modern locomo-tion training. The start-up was founded by three entrepreneurs (Patrick Scholl, Simon Staffa and Lukas Braisz) with a background at TU Darmstadt who want to help Parkinson’s patients regain some quality of life and independence. Sensors in the insole measure rollover and pressure distribution of the foot and a vibrating alarm is triggered if the person is at risk of moving incorrectly or stum-bling. The young entrepreneurs were supported by HIGHEST – the Startup and Innovation Center at TU Darmstadt.
Roller bearings as sensorsDrive shafts with roller bearings are found in almost every technical system to position rotating components within stationary ones. Tobias Schirra and Georg Martin, research assistants in the De-partment of Mechanical Engineering, are working on the further development of these bearings. They have converted a standard roller bearing into a sensor bearing without having to install additional measurement sensors. Instead, they are making use of standard electrical properties. The aim is to be able to better predict the operating life of the components and develop smoother operating processes. The project is being supported by the Pioneer Fund. TU Darmstadt and the Entega Natur pur Institute are investing 600,000 euros per year into the innovation programme.
The mission continuesTU Darmstadt and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a Memorandum of Collab-oration. The aim is to strengthen research and development relevant to space travel and improve networking and transfer activities, as well as to develop new learning content for students. Joint scientific conferences are planned. The cooperation is designed as an open platform in which other European partners can participate. TU Darmstadt also aims to strengthen its cooperation with the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) and its activities in the joint research laboratory ESA_Lab@TU Darmstadt in the Department of Mechani-cal Engineering.
The alchemy of merging neutron starsFor the first time, astronomers have identified a chemical element that was formed by the merging of two neutron stars. The underlying mechanism called the r-process – also known as rapid neu-tron capture – is considered to be responsible for the origin of large quantities of elements heavier than iron. The research team from TU Darmstadt, the GSI Helmholtz Centre and FAIR were able to demonstrate that the fusion of two neutron stars creates the conditions for this process and acts as a reactor that breads new elements.
Precise nuclear modelPrecise measurements using laser spectroscopy make it possible to determine the size of atomic nuclei even in very short-lived isotopes. Physicists at TU Darmstadt and their international colleagues have succeeded for the first time in applying this technology beyond the “doubly magic” tin isotope 132Sn. They identified an abrupt increase in the radius. The data suggest that the nuclear surface has a greater influence on the binding of the neu-trons and protons than previously assumed. The magazine “Physical Review Letters” highlighted this work as an “Editors’ Suggestion”.
The depth of space
Signed agreement: Johann-Dietrich Wörner (left) and Hans Jürgen Prömel
A good investment
Dr. Martin Grimmer in the TU Locomotion Laboratory
“For ESA, the cooperation with TU Darmstadt is of major importance for giving additional impetus to the entire innovation chain, from basic research through to space missions.” Professor Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Director General of ESA
“Two ideal partners are coming together here to bundle their outstanding research and application expertise in future areas of digital transformation.” Professor Hans Jürgen Prömel, President of TU Darmstadt until 2019
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Lost revenue due to data errorsFaulty data in automated stock management systems is causing considerable amounts of lost revenue in the retail trade. Professor Christoph Glock, Head of the Institute of Production and Supply Chain Man-agement, has investigated more than 100 branches of stores with over a million different product groups in Europe and the USA in cooperation with research-ers at TU Darmstadt, the EM Lyon Business School in France and Cardiff University in Wales. The result: Revenue can be increased by six percent just by correcting data errors. Sources of errors include incorrect scanning at the cash till, theft and spoilt or damaged products that were not correctly booked out of stock.
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For 10 yearsSailing Team Darmstadt is working on the development of autonomous, unmanned sailing
boats. The vision of the university group: To be the first team to sail their current energy self-
sufficient boat design across the Atlantic. To counteract the challenges faced out on the ocean,
the software for the sensors has been refined to optimally control the sail and rudder.
3 times in a rowThe “Studentische Filmkreis”
(Student Film Club) at TU Darm-stadt has been honoured for the third time in a row in 2019 with
the “Hessian cinema culture prize for non-commercial cinemas and cinema initiatives”. This university group has been offering the very best cinematic programme from blockbusters to arthouse films
since 1954. The films are shown in the Audimax and Rex arthouse
cinema in Darmstadt.
Highlights 2019
Over 330 This was the number of participants in 2019 at the Welcome Centre, which provides German courses for international doctoral student, postdocs, researchers and their family members in cooperation with the Language Center at TU Darmstadt. The courses help people to cope with everyday life in the city and quickly feel at home at TU Darmstadt. Demand for the courses is increasing rapidly.
39 wordsThe artist Matthias Berthold from Hamburg has decorated the façade of the new energy centre on the Lichtwiese campus with his “word field”. He used stencils to paint 39 words in dark blue paint onto the grey concrete façade. In 2018, TU Darmstadt held a competition to design the external façade of the new building. Berthold’s design was selected from almost 60 entries.
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Between tradition and awakeningIn the exhibition “Paul Meißner. An architect between tradition and awakening”, the Art Forum at TU Darmstadt has placed the spotlight on the university lecturer, architect and monument con-servator from Darmstadt for the first time. Meißner (1868-1939) is one of the architects who worked between the late historicism and early modern eras. His breakthrough as an architect came with the new construction of the Hessian State Hy-pothekenbank on Paulusplatz in Darmstadt. He also designed important industrial buildings for various companies such as for Opel in Rüsselsheim. From 1904 to 1934, he taught at the former Technische Hochschule Darmstadt and educated generations of architects.
Photography DaysThe ambitious Darmstadt Photography Days will be organised under the umbrella of TU Darmstadt in future. The Art Forum at the university will provide administrative support and space for the renowned photography festival. The event has been extended to last ten days, while the focus has been expanded to include international artists and institutions. The project receives 122,000 euros of funding from the Culture Foundation Frankfurt RheinMain.
Art and culture
Exhibition about Paul Meißner
“The academy will use this space opened up by the Technical University to perform music with great joy and energy.”Cord Meijering, Director of the Akademie für Tonkunst, Darmstadt
Music at the palaceTU Darmstadt offers a unique space for cultural activities in a historical atmosphere right in the heart of the city in the restored Palace Church. To ensure that music of all styles and eras can be heard, TU Darmstadt has concluded a cooperation agree-ment with the Academy of Music Art (Akademie für Tonkunst) and the Christoph-Graupner Society. The palace organ and a Bechstein grand piano from 1870 open up new opportunities for concert programmes. Students at the academy can give their examination concerts in the church and practice on the organ.
Groundbreaking ceremony for the Lichtwiese tramlineWork has started on the Lichtwiese tramline. The construction of the around one kilometre tramline will connect the Lichtwiese campus to the local tram network. This TU Darmstadt site is expanding at a fast rate: Up to 10,000 people will study and work here by 2022/23. According to Vice President Dr. Manfred Efinger, the university views the new tram-line as one of the most important infrastructure pro-jects in the last four decades. The new route number 2 is due to be placed into operation in 2021. It will cost 20.2 million euros and the state government is contributing 12.3 million euros.
Sportiest university in GermanyTU Darmstadt is the “sportiest university in Germa-ny”. In the Sports Badge University Challenge, TU Darmstadt secured its third title in a row with 3,682 points and was the only one of the eight universities to break the 33,000 point barrier. 383 students, em-ployees and alumni started the event in Darmstadt; 330 people had already registered in advance. The German Olympic Federation and BKK24 have jointly held the Sports Badge University Challenge since 2015 to inspire young people to lead a healthy, active life.
Head over heels gymnasticsIn wheel gymnastics, sportswomen and sportsmen execute acrobatic figures and freestyle movements of various levels of difficulty while standing in large wheels connected together. The University Sports Centre has been offering courses in this sport since 1998. Wheel gymnastics – which used to be an Olympic sport – is today considered a niche sport.
Faster progress
Symbolic starting signal for the construction of the new tramline with the Hessian Minister of Transport Tarek Al-Wazir (2nd from right)
“A quick, convenient connection between the main station, city centre and Lichtwiese campus without having to change trams will increase the attractiveness of the City of Science.”Jochen Partsch, Lord Mayor
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Good old money2,140 TU Darmstadt students received a
total of 12.83 million euros from
BAföG funds in 2019. More than 60
percent of TU Darmstadt students also
have a job alongside their studies.
Food & drink1.2 million warm meals were served in
the Stadtmitte and Lichtwiese canteens
in 2019.
Energy & sustainability55,600 megawatt hours of district heating
was consumed by TU Darmstadt in
2019.
53,000 megawatt hours of electricity
was needed by TU Darmstadt in 2019.
Of which 38,800 megawatt hours
were generated in the university’s own
combined heat and power plant. The
remainder was purchased as green
electricity.
175,000 cubic metres of fresh water were
drawn by the university in 2019.
150 used mobile phones were collected
by the TU Darmstadt Office for
Sustainability in 2019 for recycling
purposes.
15 electric bikes and 16 cargo bikes were
newly purchased for transport services
on the campus in 2019.
17 percent of the food prepared by the
university catering service from Student
Affairs in 2019 was made using organic
produce – which included 67,500
kilogrammes of organic potatoes.
Living & assistance1,900 TU Darmstadt students were
living in halls of residence provided
by Student Affairs at the end of
2019.
415 TU Darmstadt students sought
advice and support during difficult
situations in life from Student
Affairs’ social counsellors in 2019.
In motion31,600 places on university sports courses
were booked in 2019.
99,960 individual admissions were recor-
ded at the university stadium in 2019
(43,500 students and 7,000 emp-
loyees). Far more than three quarters of
them were in the swimming pool season
from the middle of May until the end of
August.
60 Unifit courses were held per quarter in
2019.
370 employees from 105 office units made
use of Office Fresh Up training during
breaks.
Up to 150 employees per quarter took
advantage of the courses offered at
uniGym.
17 TU Darmstadt students achieved top three finishes in German university
championships – for example, in snow-
boarding and freeskiing, swimming, fen-
cing, karate, Ju-Jutsu and Taekwondo.
280 international students used the sports
programme designed especially for
them.
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One of 12Professor Jutta Hanson, Head of the Institute for Electrical Power Supply with Integration of Renewable Energies, has been appoin-ted to the Senate of the Helmholtz Association. As one of twelve elected members of the body, she will contribute her experience from the field of energy research. The Senate, which is made up of external members, gives its recommendations on thematic priorities and the financial funding of research programmes.
2 with 1.5 million eurosThe TU Darmstadt start-up projects Prochain and QuantiCor Security are being provided with funding of 1.5 million euros by the new Start-UpSecure funding programme from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to help develop their ideas in the area of IT security.
Highlights 2019
100,000 euros for AI The team headed by Professor Kristian Kersting at the Machine Learning Lab has been awarded the German AI Prize by the business magazine “BILANZ”. The prize with an endowment of 100,000 euros recognises the development of new methods for machine learning and artificial
1.25 million euros for 5 yearsProfessor Jürgen Rödel from the Institute of Nonmetallic-Inorganic Materials will receive funding of 1.25 million euros over five years from the German Research Foundation for a Reinhart Koselleck project on the subject of “Research of Dislocations in Ceramics”. The programme supports particularly innovative research which is considered higher risk in a positive sense.
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Ralf Dahrendorf PrizeThe doctoral network CoWet headed by Professor Tatiana Gambaryan-Roisman has been awarded the Ralf Dahrendorf Prize for the European Research Area (50,000 euros) by the Federal Ministry of Edu-cation and Research. The group is carrying out re-search into complex wetting phenomena. Developing a precise understanding of the interactions between fluids and surfaces will help to make industrial pro-cesses more efficient and open up new applications, such as in medical diagnostics.
ERC Grant plusThe European Research Council (ERC) is funding the Computer Science Professor Mira Mezini with an additional Proof of Concept Grant. The scientist had previously received an ERC Advanced Grant with funding of 150,000 euros for her project “A Programming Platform for Reactive Data-intensive Applications”. Mezini and her team are carrying out research into programming platforms for decentrali-sed artificial intelligence systems, in which the data is managed by the users themselves.
Dr. Hans Messer Foundation PrizeThe sociologist Bianca Prietl has been awarded the Dr. Hans Messer Foundation Prize endowed with 50,000 euros – the award with the highest endowment at TU Darmstadt. In the project for her habilitation thesis, the TU Darmstadt scientist aims to clarify the social requirements and consequences of digitalisation and knowledge production.
Kurt Ruths PrizeThe biotechnologist Dr. Simon Krah has been awarded the Kurt Ruths Prize 2019 from TU Darm-stadt, which is endowed with 12,000 euros, for his innovative methods in the search for new therapeu-tic antibodies in the field of medicine. Therapeutic antibodies are considered the new superstars of me-dicine because they intervene in the disease process much more precisely than many other drugs as they specifically identify a single antigen.
High potentialThe Junior Professor Ulrike Kramm is carrying out research in the Department of Materials and Earth Sciences into precious metal-free catalysts for low-temperature fuel cells, such as those used in e-mobility drives. She has received a Curious Minds Research Award (7,500 euros) for her achievements in the area of “Mobility and Ener-gy”. The company Merck KGaA, in cooperation with “Manager Magazine”, pays tribute to per-formances with a high potential for technological and industrial innovations.
AI newcomerDorothea Koert and Michael Lutter, research assistants in the Intelligent Autonomous Systems Group in the Department of Computer Science, have been selected by the Gesellschaft für Infor-matik e. V. as two of the ten most outstanding newcomers in German AI research. Koert is carry-ing out research into new interactive methods that will, for example, help AI to directly learn from humans through imitation. Lutter develops special deep learning algorithms for robots.
Giersch Foundation AwardThe Giersch Foundation presented the 2019 Excellence Awards (each for 6,000 euros) to out-standing dissertations from Dr. Julian Kahlbow, Dr. Kristian Lars König and Dr. Steffen Georg Weber. Excellence Grants (each for 2,500 euros) were awarded to the doctoral students Frédéric Kornas, Phillip Imgram, Jacob Lee, Sajjad Hussain Mirza, Franziska Papenfuß, Maruis Peck, Tabea Pfuhl, Niels Schlusser, Pascal Simon and Martin Jakob Steil.
Athene AwardThe Athene Award from the Carlo and Karin Giersch Foundation honours academic teaching at TU Darmstadt and has a total endowment of 46,000 euros. The Main Athene Award 2019 was awarded to Dr. Bertram Noback (Department of History and Social Sciences) for a practical, interdisciplinary teaching project in the university and schools on the culture of remembrance in Darmstadt.
High level of funding
Honoured by Federal Minister Anja Karliczek (right): Professor Tatiana Gambaryan-Roisman, research assistant Sebastian Keuth
Paths to the future
Innovative in the fields of energy and mobility: Junior Professor Ulrike Kramm
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Engagement in the Friends AssociationThe Vereinigung von Freunden der Technischen Uni-versität zu Darmstadt e. V. (Association of Friends of the Technical University of Darmstadt) and the uni-versity support young scientists with the Ernst Lud-wig Mobility Grant. Grants were awarded in 2019 to Dr. Marco Tamborini (History and Social Sciences), Dr. Simon Gehrmann (Architecture) and Raja Sangili Vadamalu (Mechanical Engineering). In addition, the Friends Association rewarded twelve outstanding young scientists for their excellent dissertations with prize money of 2,500 euros each.
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NanoWired honoured once againThe start-up NanoWired GmbH, which was foun-ded at TU Darmstadt in 2017, is revolutionising in-dustrial production processes with its KlettWelding Tape. The company received the Hermes Award 2019, which is endowed with 100,000 euros, for its innovation that enables electronic components to be permanently combined very easily.
Digital start-up of the yearThe TU Darmstadt start-up Xelera has been honou-red by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as the “Digital Start-up of the Year 2019”. The prize is endowed with 30,000 euros. The software from Xelera accelerates applications and organises the processing of data in a more energy efficient manner.
Five “Digital Innovations”Start-ups from TU Darmstadt have received mul-tiple awards in the “Digital Innovations” compe-tition held by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy: The Etalytics team – which supports industrial companies with sustainable
Joint winnersProfessors Klara Nahrstedt and Wolfgang Dahmen have been awarded the Robert Piloty Prize by TU Darmstadt for their outstanding research and development work. The computer science profes-sor Klara Nahrstedt, who teaches at the University of Illinois, was honoured for her work on the development of multimedia systems and networks to accelerate the use of telepresence systems in telemedicine and remote teaching. The mathemati-cian and Leibniz Award winner Wolfgang Dahmen carries out important basic research into, amongst other things, constructive approximation theory for the development of new applications in computer-aided geometry.
Pioneer in AIProfessor Wolfgang Bibel, who was a Professor of Intellectics in the Department of Computer Science at TU Darmstadt from 1988 to 2004, was selected as one of the “ten most influential minds in German AI history” by the “Science Year 2019 – Artificial Intelligence” initiative. The internationally renowned researcher developed the connection method, which makes it possible for computers to draw correct logical conclusions in a very compact manner.
Honorary Senatorship AwardTU Darmstadt presented the Honorary Senator-ship Award to the benefactor Alois M. Schader. The foundation founded by the civil engineer in 1988 provides important funding for the practical application of social sciences. The Schader Forum – a cooperation partner of TU Darmstadt – that was opened in 2010 acts as a meeting place for qualified practitioners from the fields of politics, administration, business and civil society to discuss and exchange ideas.
Respectable personalities
Piloty Prize for Professor Klara Nahrstedt (right), Professor Wolfgang Dahmen (middle)
Fresh tailwind
Still on track for success: TU start-up NanoWired GmbH
“The pioneering business ideas from these start-ups will help to transform Germany into a leading international market as a provider of digital technologies.” Thomas Jarzombek, Digital Commissioner at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
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energy management using AI-based cloud software – received a main award and a special award with prize money of 52,000 euros. The Core Sensing Technologies team, which develops and produces mechanical components that can detect their local environment using sensors, and the QuantiCor Security team, which specialises in cryptographic methods, each received prize money of 32,000 euros. Merit prizes – each endowed with 7,000 euros – were also awarded to Energy Robotics, Sooqua and SprayPatternator.
Hessen Ideen PrizeThree TU start-up teams were successful in the “Hessen Ideen” (Hessian Ideas) university start-up competition. First prize, which was endowed with 5,000 euros, was awarded to Caliberation for a met-hod that simplifies the complex and costly process of calibrating cameras. Third prize was awarded to SprayPatternator for a system that optimises spray-ing processes in, for example, the metal industry or agriculture. The Audience Award was presented to the team from NAKT who has developed a chemical-free and reusable facial care cloth.
Departures from the University CouncilProfessor Heidi Wunderli-Allenspach, the long-stand-ing Chairwoman of the University Council, was ho-noured in a farewell ceremony as she stepped down from her post. The former Rector of ETH Zurich was presented with the Honorary Athene Award by TU Darmstadt for her services to promote internationa-lisation at the university. After ten years in office, Dr. Holger Zinke also retired from the University Coun-cil. The microbiologist and TU Darmstadt alumnus is considered a pioneer of sustainable management and received the most highly endowed European en-vironmental award – the German Environmental Pri-ze – in 2008 together with Prof. Dr. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker for the economic impact he has made.
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Imprint
Publisher President of TU Darmstadt Karolinenplatz 5 64289 Darmstadt
Editor Jörg Feuck, Head of Corporate Communications, TU Darmstadt
Copy TU Darmstadt/Jörg Feuck, Astrid Ludwig
Translation Lund Languages, Köln
Photo editor Patrick Bal
Title photo Britta Hüning
Layout and design AS’C Arkadij Schewtschenko Communications, Frankfurt www.ascfrankfurt.de
Printing Druckerei Ph. Reinheimer GmbH Darmstadt
Circulation (english) 300
May 2020
Deutschlandstipendium – List of sponsors• ABB Trainingscenter & Co. KG• Airbus Defence & Space GmbH• ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH• Atotech Deutschland GmbH• Avanade Deutschland GmbH• BASF SE• BBBank Stiftung• Bickhardt Bau AG• BIG BAU Investitionsgesellschaft• Board Deutschland• Bosch Rexroth AG• Brigitte und Manfred Rehner
Förder-Stiftung• BSI Business Systems Integration
Deutschland GmbH• Carlo und Karin Giersch-Stiftung
an der TU Darmstadt• Clariant Produkte (Deutschland)
GmbH• Coca-Cola European Partners
Deutschland GmbH• Compagnie de Saint-Gobain• dacoso GmbH• Deloitte GmbH Wirtschaftsprü-
fungsgesellschaft• Deutsche Bahn AG• Deutsche Bank AG• d-fine GmbH• Döhler GmbH• Dr. Ingrid Wagner• Dr. Otto Röhm Gedächtnisstiftung
GmbH
• Dr.-Ing. Heinz-Emil Hauck• DZ BANK-Stiftung• Ed. Züblin AG• Elke Deinstrop-Stiftung• Endress + Hauser Messtechnik
GmbH + Co. KG• ENTEGA NATURpur Institut
gGmbH• Essity Operations Mannheim
GmbH• Evonik Stiftung• Frankfurter Volksbank eG• Fritz und Margot Faudi-Stiftung• Gemeinschaftsstipendium• GFP Goldschmidt · Fischer · Schütz
Projektmanagementgesellschaft mbH
• GOLDBECK Südwest GmbH• Gruber + Hartmann Ingenieurbüro
für Baustatik• Hans Hermann Voss-Stiftung• Hans-und-Dorrit-Michel-Stiftung• Heinrich Sauer & Josef Schmidt
Stiftung• hkp Deutschland GmbH• Horst Görtz Stiftung• Hottinger Baldwin Messtechnik
GmbH• HPP - Harnischfeger, Pietsch &
Partner Strategie- und Marketing-beratung GmbH
• Infraserv GmbH & Co. Höchst KG• ING AG
• Ingenieursozietät Prof. Dr.-Ing. Katzenbach
• Isra Vision AG• IT-Seal GmbH• Jakob Wilhelm Mengler-Stiftung• KFT Chemieservice GmbH• KSB SE & Co. KGaA• Kurt und Lilo Werner RC Darm-
stadt Stiftung• LEONHARD WEISS GmbH &
Co. KG• Ludwig-Schunk-Stiftung e. V. • Lufthansa Technik AG• Maingau Energie GmbH• Merck KGaA• MEWA Textil-Service AG & Co.
Management OHG• MLP Finanzberatung SE• Mobile Industrial Robots GmbH• Namics (Deutschland) GmbH• Nintendo of Europe GmbH• PPI AG• Prof. Dr. Bernd Reckmann (HSR)• PSI Energy Markets GmbH• real,- Digital Payment & Techno-
logy Services GmbH• Roche Diagnostics GmbH • SAP SE• SCHENCK RoTec GmbH• Schwarz IT KG• Sigi und Hans Meder Stiftung• Sparkasse Darmstadt
• Stiftung für Angewandte Geo-wissenschaften
• Stiftung ZusammenWachsen• STRABAG AG• Talentschmiede Unternehmens-
beratung AG• Tanja Brühl• TE Connectivity Germany GmbH• Tosoh Bioscience GmbH• TRUMPF GmbH & Co. KG• Union Investment Stiftung• Ursula Blaum• Vereinigung von Freunden der TU
zu Darmstadt e. V.• Viridium Service Management
GmbH• von Ledebur, Ernst, Freiherr• Vössing Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH• vwd Vereinigte Wirtschaftsdienste
GmbH• Waltraud Herrhausen• Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau AG • Weisenburger Bau GmbH• WISAG Sicherheit & Service Hol-
ding GmbH & Co. KG• wörner traxler richter planungs-
gesellschaft mbh• Yatta Solutions GmbH• Zürich Beteiligungs-AG
Impressive students
“As a refugee student, Mr. Alhousin was confronted with hurdles that should not be underestimated and yet he overcame them all as a result of his personal initiative, commit-ment and perseverance.” Extract from the jury’s statement
DAAD PrizeAyoub Alhousin, a master’s student in Civil Engi-neering, was awarded the DAAD Prize (German Academic Exchange Service Prize) for his outstan-ding work as a foreign student. The award is endo-wed with 1,000 euros and was given to the young Syrian for his extraordinary social commitment and outstanding academic performance.
Scholarship recordTU Darmstadt was able to award 388 German scho-larships (“Deutschlandstipendien”) to its especially talented students in 2019 – more than ever before. The total funding amount of 1.4 million euros was also a record. 21 foundations and non-profit organi-sations contributed to this figure with a total of 169 scholarships. A particularly large contribution was made by the Karin and Carlo Giersch Foundation. TU Darmstadt is one of the five most successful universities in Germany for securing German scho-larships.
Master’s student Ayoub Alhousin
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The year 2019
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