Internationality as recipe for success

“This means that our internationalization strategy is paying off,” says University President Stefan Leible at the start of the semester: 15 percent of professorships are filled internationally, and almost 25 percent of academic staff come from abroad. Shortly before it turns 50, the University of Bayreuth records a welcome increase in the number of first-semester students, approx.-1,570, and stable student numbers with an estimated total of 11,970. “With over 40 Bachelor's degree programs in German and English and regular top positions in national and international rankings, the University of Bayreuth offers an attractive range of courses for bright young minds after graduation - from all over the world,” says Leible. In the winter semester 2024/25, about half of the students at the University of Bayreuth will come from other German states or from abroad. “For us, internationality is a fundamental prerequisite for future-oriented research and higher education,” says Leible, adding,” which is why we adopted an internationalization strategy as early as 2021.” The result is a significant increase in the number of international applications.

In order to make their arrival in Bayreuth as easy and smooth as possible, the city and university have set up a joint service last year, which now successfully works in the spirit of internationalization from the RW21 building, located “in the heart of the city”. International visibility is particularly relevant in research. This is why the University of Bayreuth is strengthening its commitment in Australia: it plays a leading role in the introduction of the Bavaria-Queensland Research Alliance as a two-state research funding program. For this reason, the central coordination office, funded by the Free State of Bavaria, is based in Bayreuth, initiating and supporting research cooperation between Bavarian universities and higher education institutions as well as scientific institutions in Queensland.

Highlights of the past months:

Faculty in Kulmbach: The Europe-wide architectural competition has successfully come to a close. The winning design reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the faculty both functionally and visually. It is one of the most important and, above all, the largest new building project for the University of Bayreuth. The competitive tendering procedure will now begin. Move-in is expected in 2033. The faculty now offers four different degree courses. With the most recent addition being the English-language master course in Food System Sciences as a direct follow-up to the bachelor in Kulmbach. The “Food Valley” transfer format, which brings companies and start-up ideas together with research and studies in Kulmbach, was successfully launched in 2024. This ties in with Kulmbach's focus on food, as does the Career Pitch Kulmbach on November 6, when regional companies present themselves as potential employers to students in Kulmbach.

Sustainability: UBT is introducing an energy management system and is currently preparing for DIN ISO 50001 certification. At the same time, preparations are underway for UBT's greenhouse gas balancing, which is being carried out in cooperation with the engineering sciences at UBT. Sustainable mobility is an ongoing issue at various levels, for example with regard to transfer in the city and district, and the “University Transformation Lab” has been established for the purpose of tackling these issues. The publicity created in this way and the close exchange between the university and the city or district have raised the awareness of numerous stakeholders for the promotion of sustainable mobility. The mobility survey at UBT is currently evaluating the commuter mobility of employees and students. Based on the survey results, the bicycle infrastructure on campus is planned to be improved, among other things.

Research: Science at the University of Bayreuth has had a number of successes in the past year. One was the founding of the AI research center RAIS2. This central platform for sharing AI expertise at the UBT connects researchers, developers and users of AI methods across all faculties. The UBT was also successful in third-party funding and support from the state and federal government, including for the “GO Forschung!” project on gender-oriented research with federal funding of €850,000 and “Rhizotraits” on modern cultivation systems with €1,900,000. The Bavarian Research Foundation is funding the development of sustainable products using generative design with €1,700,000, while the Volkswagen Foundation is supporting a project by historians and geomorphologists with €500,000. There is also a new Heisenberg position at the Chair of Applied Mathematics, one junior researcher was accepted into the Emmy Noether Program, and a researcher became a Humboldt Science Scout. 

African research: In September, almost 500 academics met at the conference of the Association of African Studies in German-speaking countries, one of the largest conferences on our campus, at the invitation of the Cluster of Excellence “Africa Multiple”. Africa research at the University of Bayreuth will find a new home in the anniversary year: The inauguration of the Africa Research Center (FZA) is planned for May.

Transfer: The Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (IEI) is further expanding the University of Bayreuth's position as a driver of innovation and as a partner to business and society. To this end, in addition to the Institute's Open Innovation Lab, a further six technology labs have been established and expanded (Key Lab Glass Technology, Digital Technologies Lab, Material Innovation Lab, Key Lab Additive Innovations, Game Innovation Lab, Food Valley Kulmbach), so that start-ups and regional companies can be offered technical, ecological and economic expertise at the highest level and orchestrated by the IEI. The expansion of the structures and activities described above has already had a very positive impact on start-up and innovation activities. For example, the number of start-ups has increased by over 20% in the last two years and numerous cooperation projects with the regional economy (innovation workshops etc.) have been initiated (>20). The labs are extremely successful as start-up incubators. The Games Innovation Lab alone has produced 24 start-ups in recent years for example. Tech start-ups have also increased significantly (see increasing number of grants via Exist, Flügge and Forschungstransfer in recent years). Additionally, approx. 50 network events were organized by the IEI and around 10 by the labs in 2023 /2024, significantly expanding the number of stakeholders (by >100) in all areas. The network has also expanded considerably geographically.

Medical Campus Upper Franconia (MCO): The clinical study phase has now taken place for a full turn in Bayreuth for the first time. In October, the first state examination in medicine under the direction of the government of Upper Franconia took place in Bayreuth. In the 2024 summer semester, approx. 620 students were enrolled in the FAU degree program, of which around 260 were in Bayreuth. Three profile professorships have now been filled: Prof Dr Claus Kuhn (RNA Biochemistry), Prof Dr Med. Wilm Quentin (Planetary Health and Public Health) and Prof Dr-Ing They offer supplementary courses related to the curricular medical studies i.e., doctorates and electives.

The Bavarian Center for Battery Technology (BayBatt) celebrated the opening of the BayBatt Cell Technology Center with Science Minister Markus Blume. State-of-the-art facilities and state-of-the-art equipment mean the best working conditions for researchers. In this pilot plant for the production of battery cells, which is unique in Germany, material classes of all kinds can be processed with high precision into different types of battery cells in several formats. The facility maps the entire battery cell production process. In July, the first Bavarian Battery Networking Congress took place in Nuremberg, where BayBatt was an important driving force. Organized by Bayern Innovativ GmbH and supported by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, around 200 experts, researchers, entrepreneurs and decision-makers from the battery industry came together to discuss the latest developments, challenges and opportunities in battery technology and to network. As of today, eleven of the twelve new professorships at BayBatt created by Hightech Agenda Bayern have now been filled.

Construction work: A new modular building was completed in record time as an extension for scientific research as part of the HighTech Agenda of the Free State of Bavaria. In regard of construction, the University of Bayreuth is particularly active in terms of sustainability, including the ongoing replacement of conventional lighting with LED lighting, the expansion of bicycle parking spaces and possible roofing, as well as charging facilities for e-bikes. Photovoltaic systems with a total output of approx. 2,700 kWp (university-owned + rented) are currently being installed on the green campus of the University of Bayreuth. This corresponds to an area of approx. 7,500 m2 - slightly larger than a soccer pitch. Depending on weather conditions, this could generate approx. 2,500,000 kWh of electricity per year. This amount of electricity would be sufficient to supply around 560 single-family homes each year. E-vehicles are also being considered: four new charging points are available in the P5 parking lot. A further ten charging points, including four fast chargers, are being planned. The charging infrastructure is being expanded in cooperation with Stadtwerke Bayreuth.