First attempts to establish a university in Regensburg date back to 1487. Other attempts followed, but remained unsuccessful. Not until 1962 did the struggle of various groups and forces in Eastern Bavaria (most notably the Association of the Friends of the University, founded in 1948) succeed in establishing the University of Regensburg as the 4th full-fledged Bavarian university. 20 November 1965 marks the date of the groundbreaking ceremony for the first university building. In the fall of 1967 the university began functioning with three schools or faculties. Today the university comprises twelve schools, providing the full range of academic subjects except for engineering and technology, areas traditionally taken care of by the polytechnic schools (Fachhochschule) in Germany.

In the fall of 1996 the number of students at the University of Regensburg amounted to 16 682, about 89 % of whom stemmed from Bavaria. Dorms, some of which - like the campus as a whole - are especially suited for handicapped students, can accommodate up to 3500 students, making the University of Regensburg the university with just about the best student / dorm-facilities ratio in Bavaria.

The campus atmosphere and the short distances between buildings are conducive to a more efficient way of studying, resulting quite frequently in shorter terms of studies than at other universities. A well-stocked and well-sorted library holding more than 3 million volumes (that can be ordered by computer from an on-line catalog) and containing stacks that are in the process of being enlarged right now adds to the overall quality of the university.

The university's attractiveness is due to some extent to the charm of the more than 2000 year-old city of Regensburg and the beautiful surrounding landscape. Leisure-time activities can draw on a multitude of cultural activities on campus. There are, for instance, eleven student theater groups performing regularly on campus, thus benefitting from the fact that the University of Regensburg is one of two universities within Germany that have their own theater.

Gaining profile

In 1989 the university established a new course of studies: Biochemistry. In the fall of 1994 Business Informatics (Wirtschaftsinformatik) was added together with an attached non-profit Institute of Banking Informatics. The European Master of Business Sciences degree program initiated five years ago and carried jointly by 13 universities in Germany, France, Great Britain and Austria has come to be a distinguished course of studies. Training in electronic data processing and foreign languages is offered to students of all faculties; there are, however, specific language courses for students of Law and Economics, providing them with a cutting edge on today's job market. Quite recently courses in rhetoric and presentational skills have been added to further prepare the students of the University of Regensburg for the modern working world.

In recent years the University of Regensburg has specialized in research that has drawn national and international recognition. The special research project Biochemistry of Cell Surfaces and Membrane Components (funded by the DFG - the German Research Association) ran its full course from 1981 to 1996 and dealt with the biological functions of cell surfaces. The DFG now supports a follow-up project (the SFB 521) entitled Exemplary Achievements of low Eucaryotes. The DFG also funds two research groups dealing with Molecular Basics of Differentiation and Activation of Mononuclear Phagocytes and Mechanisms of Protein Changes During Infectious Processes and Their Modulation.

Still in 1996 the DFG decided to support another research group exploring Genetic and Molecular Models of the Pathophysiology of Cell Death in Neuronic Systems.

Most recently the Volkswagen Foundation awarded 2 Mio. DM to a group of young scientists researching the Molecular and Cell Biology of Neuronic Stem and Predecessor Cells, picking them with 14 other groups out of 300 applications.

Internationally recognized is the work of Prof. Stetter, head of the Archae Bacteria Center, specializing in the isolation and characterization of archae bacteria from extreme biotopes.

Four graduate programs for doctoral research, supported by the DFG, further indicate the quality of research being done at the University of Regensburg.

Science and the Industry

Physicists at the University of Regensburg partake in the Bavarian Research Cooperative FOROPTO (developing units for information technology) as well as in the Cooperative High-Temperature Supra-Conductivity that is in its second phase of being funded, works closely with the industry and is directed by a Regensburg physicist. FUTUR, the Technology-Transfer Office of the university, sees its function in transferring knowledge gained at the university to the industry in order to stimulate innovation while at the same time keeping an eye on the requirements of the market, thus helping the university in remaining up to date in its teaching goals and course contents.

The Tumor Center (TUZ), established at the Medical Center in 1991, practises a different kind of transfer of knowledge by coordinating the exchange of information in the field of oncology or cancer research and therapy in order to achieve better diagnoses and hence better treatment for cancer patients.

International Contacts

The University of Regensburg is part of a network of cooperations and partnerships among universities. The more than 200 foreign scholars coming to work at the University of Regensburg each year may serve as an indicator to the scope and intensity of international cooperation. The students, on the other hand, prove quite as mobile, flocking to more than 100 partner universities within various SOKRATES-Programs. The university is also participating in several TEMPUS-Programs. Moreover, 75 students have a chance to study at one of 13 American partner universities. Many of them receive stipends from the DAAD for so-called integrated foreign-study programs. In order to promote international contacts among students apart from the study-abroad programs, the university offers a number of summer programs - often in cooperation with various internationally active organisations.

Blick in die Wissenschaft (Looking into Science), the research journal of the University of Regensburg that was started in 1992 and has now reached a circulation of about 9000 copies, provides a mirror of scholarship done at the university.

Recent Developments

The University Medical Center is still incomplete. Part I, the Dental Clinic, began functioning in 1983. Part II, comprising 496 beds and primarily those subjects necessary for a full course of studies in Dentistry, followed in 1992. A subsection of Part III, comprising 295 beds, is currently under construction. All of Part III would amount to 526 beds (at construction costs of about 800 Mio. DM) and add the areas of Urology, Gynecology and Obstetrics as well as Pediatrics. By way of cooperating temporarily with local hospitals, a situation was arrived at in the summer of 1996 that allows students to complete a full course of studies of Medicine at the University of Regensburg.

Likewise, through cooperating with the Upper Palatinate County Council, a State Professional School of Speech Therapy could be established.

The most recent building project is a complex to be erected in 1997 in favor of the Regensburg University Foundation Dr. Hans Vielberth and intended to link science and industry, theory and practice by providing 6000 qm; of laboratory and office space for members of the university as well as for young entrepreneurs from the region.

By bringing together and coordinating various research groups from the areas of Analytical Chemistry, Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and various clinical subjects, an application for funds within the BioRegio Competition of the Federal Government could be launched that drew the attention of the jury. This initiative is likely to develop into an area of promising specialized interdisciplinary research that can draw additional state funds as well as the attention of the industry, and stimulate local and regional developments in the field of bio-technology.

Rudolf F. Dietze

(If  you are interested, here is an aerial view of the campus showing the Medical Center in the foreground,
the main campus to the right of the three chimneys of the power plant, and the downtown area of the city of Regensburg with the valley of Danube and Regen
and the foothills of the Bavarian Forest.)