Osnabrück University, founded in 1974, is a young, vibrant university in northwest Germany that is renowned for its research and teaching in the areas of Humanities, Social Sciences, Science, Law and Business Administration/Economics. The University provides ideal conditions for about 14.000 students and PhD students to learn and conduct research. Both its structured PhD programs and modular degree programs feature high standards of quality; they are accredited, and lead to the conferral of internationally recognized degrees.

One feature of Osnabrück University is the extent to which it combines different scientific disciplines in research and teaching. Thinking beyond the borders of individual fields of expertise is fostered in the interdisciplinary institutes of Migration Research, Cognitive Science, Early Modern Intercultural Studies and Environmental Systems Research. Biology at Osnabrück is renowned both at home and abroad for its Collaborative Research Centre “Physiology and dynamics of cellular micro-compartments (CRC 944)”. The European Legal Studies Institute at Osnabrück University is one of Europe’s most important research facilities in the field of comparative law and the harmonization of law.

Additional key areas are the prevention of occupational skin diseases and early childhood education and development. In 2011, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence established a branch office at Osnabrück University. A Fraunhofer research group explores the topics of e-learning and knowledge communication in combination with intelligent methods of data analysis.

Osnabrück University employs some 1,700 people, making it one of the largest employers in the region. Numerous cooperative activities with commercial enterprises and institutions enable students to gain practical experience at an early stage. Other examples of the extent to which Osnabrück University is embedded within the region are the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Center and the high-profile Osnabrück Peace Forum, hosted jointly by Osnabrück University and the City.

Future Concept UOS 2020 – Osnabrück University continues to develop and enhance its profile
At the beginning of 2015, Osnabrück University took the initiative and set out to develop a Future Concept that corresponds to the University’s framework conditions and potential for development, a concept that is backed by members of the University and that offers a basis from which to continue developing the University within a dynamic process. In the context of this process, academics at Osnabrück University have identified six profile lines for joint, interdisciplinary research projects.