University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

Overview

The Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg or FAU) is a public research university based in Germany. The university is known for the size of its student body, being the second-largest state university in Bavaria and one of the largest universities in Germany.

FAU currently offers over 200 bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral programs through its five faculties, namely the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology, the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Sciences, and the Faculty of Engineering. FAU is also home to a large number of students taking up teaching degree programs for primary, secondary, and vocational education. Meanwhile, students interested in studying abroad can pursue a wide variety of double degree programs and international programs. Though German is FAU's main language of instruction, the university also offers degree programs taught exclusively in English.

Aside from traditional study programs, FAU allows students to pursue cooperative Bachelor's degree programs, which provide vocational training. Part-time degree programs and degree programs for working professionals are also available to students. Gifted or high-achieving students may also enroll in FAU's elite degree programs, which are funded by the Elite Network of Bavaria.

Founded in 1742, the university is named after its founder and benefactor: Margraves Freidrich and Christian Frederick Charles Alexander, respectively. The school was intended to provide training to civil servants in fields such as jurisprudence, medicine, and philosophy. Throughout the 1800s and 1900s, the university established new faculties to accommodate its growing number of degree programs. In 1961, the university merged with the Nuremberg College of Economics and Social Sciences, assuming its current name of Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. FAU has also been recognized as the first traditional research university in Germany to integrate an independent Faculty of Engineering into its structure.

Today, FAU maintains campuses in four locations, three of which are in the Bavarian cities of Erlangen, Fürth, and Nuremberg. The university has also established a branch campus in Busan, Korea, where students can pursue a master's degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering.

FAU has also received recognition for the quality of its research activities, as evidenced by its association with renowned scientists and Nobel Prize laureates Hermann Emil Fischer, Eduard Buchner, and Harald zur Hausen. The university's research activities are currently focused on fields, ranging from future energy systems to medical engineering and high-performance computing.