The Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, founded in 1558, with its 21,000 students distributed over ten different faculties leaves its mark on the image of the town. Students of either the university or the university of applied sciences make one quarter of the inhabitants of Jena. So, it is all right to say: There is no university in Jena, Jena is a university! Approximately 340 professors and 6,400 members of staff work at university and university hospital, the latter of which keeps developing into one of the most modern hospitals in Germany.
The university puts emphasis on intensely taking care of its students, and works on creating a "Students’ Paradise in Jena. (www.studentenparadies.uni-jena.de) Special programmes support students from abroad. When it comes to teaching, Jena University combines tradition and innovation: Apart from medicine, physics, psychology, business studies and economics, or sports, bio and social sciences – all of which are highly ranked – the so-called “smaller subjects”, like for instance caucasiology, Romanian or Indo-Germanic studies, are sustained. The wide range of opportunities for studying at Thuringia’s only classical university shapes its appearance as well as its attitude: to act without limits – interdisciplinarily and internationally. Therefore, a clear research profile has been established and will be further developed. Jena University’s current research profile is composed of five priority research areas:
Optics, Photonics and Photonic Technologies
Innovative Materials and Technologies
Dynamics of Complex Biological Systems
Laboratory of the Enlightenment
Individuals and Social Change
They are completed by three academic cross-sections:
Analysis and Management of Complex Systems;
Cultural Contexts of Ageing;
Europe’s Origin: Culture and Religion in the Ancient World and the Middle Ages
Up-and-coming young scientists are well prepared for their careers since they are supported by the Jena Graduate Academy. With that, the important topic of “child care” appears on the university’s agenda. As one of the founders of the “Jena Alliance for Family”, Jena University stands for the compatibility of having children and studying. For this, it has received the Total E-Quality Award. The Friedrich Schiller University is also internationally well-renowned: It is integrated into important networks, like the Coimbra Group, and cooperates with more than 100 universities or academic institutions worldwide. With almost 300 partners within Europe a vivid exchange of students and teachers is taking place.
In 2008 Jena has been awarded the title Germany’s “City of Sciences”. 2008’s events were strongly affected by the university’s activities. And, in the future, the university wants to sustain a strong influence on teaching, research and culture, nationally and internationally.