Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz | |
 Historic Seal of the University of Mainz | |
| Motto | Ut omnes unum sint German:Dass alle eins seien |
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Motto in English | That they all may be one |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1477 (University of Mainz) Re-opened 1946 (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) |
| Budget | € 504 million (2018)[1] |
| President | Georg Krausch [de] |
Academic staff | 4,353[2] |
Administrative staff | 7,825[2] |
| Students | 32,000 |
| Location | ,, Germany 49°59′32″N8°14′17″E / 49.99222°N 8.23806°E /49.99222; 8.23806 |
| Colors | Red |
| Affiliations | U15 |
| Website | uni-mainz.de |
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TheJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz (German:Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is apublicresearch university inMainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printerJohannes Gutenberg since 1946. As of 2018,[update] it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 academic programs. The university is organized into 11 faculties.
The university is a member of theGerman U15, a group of fifteen major research and medical universities in Germany. It also participates in theIT-Cluster Rhine-Main-Neckar and forms part of theRhine-Main-Universities (RMU) along withGoethe University Frankfurt andTechnische Universität Darmstadt.
The first university of Mainz was founded in 1477, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe,[3] although it was later closed and re-founded 148 years later.
The first University of Mainz goes back to theArchbishop of Mainz, Prince-elector and ReichserzkanzlerAdolf II von Nassau. At the time, establishing a university required papal approval and Adolf II initiated the approval process during his time in office. The university, however, was first opened in 1477 by Adolf's successor to the bishopric,Diether von Isenburg. In 1784 the university was opened up for Protestants and Jews (curatorAnselm Franz von Bentzel-Sternau [de] ). It became one of the largest Catholic universities in Europe with ten chairs in theology alone. In the confusion after the establishment of theMainz Republic of 1792 and its subsequentrecapture by thePrussians, academic activity came to a gradual standstill. In 1798 the university became active again under French governance, and lectures in the department of medicine took place until 1823. Only the faculty of theology continued teaching during the 19th century, albeit as a theological seminary (since 1877 "College of Philosophy and Theology").
The current Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz was founded in 1946 by theFrench occupying power. In a decree on 1 March the French military government implied that the University of Mainz would continue to exist: the university shall be "enabled to resume its function". The remains ofanti-aircraft warfare barracks erected in 1938 after theremilitarization of the Rhineland during theThird Reich served as the university's first buildings and are still in use today.
The continuation of academic activity between the old university and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, in spite of an interruption spanning over 100 years, is contested. During the time up to its reopening only aseminary andmidwifery college survived.
In 1972, the effect of the1968 student protests began to take a toll on the university's structure. The departments (Fakultäten) were dismantled and the university was organized into broad fields of study (Fachbereiche). Finally in 1974 Peter Schneider was elected as the first president of what was now a "constituted group-university" institute of higher education. In 1990Jürgen Zöllner became university president yet spent only a year in the position after he was appointed Minister for "Science and Advanced Education" for the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. As the coordinator for theSPD'shigher education policy, this furloughed professor from the Institute for Physiological Chemistry played a decisive role in the SPD's higher education policy and in the development of Study Accounts.
The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is divided in ten faculties since 7 April 2024.
The academies for music and art are independent art colleges of the Johannes Gutenberg University, theHochschule für Musik Mainz and theKunsthochschule Mainz [de].[4]
The University of Mainz is one of few campus universities in Germany. Nearly all its institutions and facilities are located on the site of a formerbarracks in the south west part of the city. The university medical centre is located off campus, as is the Department of Applied Linguistics and Cultural Sciences, which was integrated with the university in 1949 and is located inGermersheim. On campus next to the university is theMax Planck Institute for Chemistry, theMax Planck Institute for Polymer Research, theInstitute of Molecular Biology, theelectron acceleratorMAMI, the researchreactor TRIGA, thebotanical garden, a sports stadium and an indoor swimming pool. Mainz Academy of Arts (Kunsthochschule Mainz) is located off campus.
The range of studies is comprehensive; the university lacks some technical studies,veterinary medicine andnutrition science. One can nonetheless study the theology, history of books,athletics, music, visual arts, theatre, and film.
Today the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has approximately 36,000 students (as of 2010[update]) and consists of over 150 institutions and clinics. The university offers international programs, such as the award-winning choirEuropaChorAkademie, founded byJoshard Daus in 1997, in collaboration with theUniversity of the Arts Bremen.[5]
One of the instruments carried by theMars Exploration RoversSpirit andOpportunity, a miniatureMössbauer spectrometer, was developed at the university.
The University of Mainz does currently levy fees or tuition (Studiengebühren) for a regular course of study. Senior citizen students, auditing students, and certain postgraduate students may be subject to higher fees.[6]
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As per theQS World University Rankings for 2024, the university holds the 464th position worldwide and is placed 27th nationally.[7] On theTimes Higher Education World University Rankings, it finds itself within the 251–300 range globally, and falls within the 25–31 range on a national scale in the 2024 edition.[8] In terms of theARWU World Rankings for 2022, the university is positioned in the 201–300 band internationally, and ranks between 10th and 19th in the country.[9]
According to the report of theGerman Research Foundation (DFG) from 2018, the University of Mainz is one of the best universities innatural sciences in Germany. In the period under review from 2014 to 2016, the University of Mainz received the highest number of competitive grants in thenatural sciences. The university also achieved the first place inphysics.[10] In a competitive selection process, the DFG selects the best research projects from researchers at universities and research institutes and finances them. The ranking is thus regarded as an indicator of the quality of research.[11]
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Alumni of the old University include theologianFriedrich Spee as well as Austrian diplomatKlemens von Metternich, who studied law from 1790 to 1792, and revolutionaryAdam Lux.
Among notable alumni from the post-1946 University of Mainz are German politiciansMalu Dreyer (SPD, Minister President ofRhineland-Palatinate);Rainer Brüderle (FDP, Federal Minister for Economics and Technology);Horst Teltschik [de] (former security advisor to ChancellorHelmut Kohl and president of theMunich Conference on Security Policy);Kristina Schröder, Federal Minister of Family and Social Affairs;Franz Josef Jung (CDU, Former Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs and former Federal Minister of Defence);Jens Beutel, Oberbürgermeister (mayor) of Mainz; particle physicistVera Lüth; nuclear and particle physicistJohanna Stachel; sculptorKarlheinz Oswald; sports journalistBéla Réthy; political journalistPeter Scholl-Latour; Dieter Stolte, former director-general ofZDF; sopranoElisabeth Scholl; a founder of Americanavant-garde cinemaJonas Mekas; his brother Adolfas Mekas, film director, writer and educator; mural artistRainer Maria Latzke; the German climatologistWolfgang Seiler;Abbas Zaryab, notable Iranian scholar and historian; IndonesianToraja Church pastor and politician,Ishak Pamumbu Lambe;[16]Srinivas Kishanrao Saidapur, an Indian reproductive biologist; American educatorBiddy Martin;Stanisław Potrzebowski, one of leaders of theridnovir movement in Poland; German opera singerChristine Esterházy; andRuth Katharina Martha Pfau, nun, physician and writer who devoted more than 50 years of her life to fighting leprosy in Pakistan.
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