Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (german: Hochschule Rhein-Waal) or HSRW, is a young and fast-growing German public university that first opened for the winter semester of 2009/10. It is known to be the most international-oriented university in Germany and offers the majority of degree programs completely in English. Its two campuses are located in the cities of

Kleve Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...

and in

Kamp-Lintfort Kamp-Lintfort () is a town in Wesel District, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located north-west of Moers. Notable people * Adolf Storms (1919–2010), member of the Waffen-SS and war criminal *Werner Fuchs (1927–2005), painter *Bri ...

. The university is named after the German river

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and Dutch river

Waal WAAL (99.1 FM "The Whale") is a commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station in the Binghamton metropolitan area. It is an ...

. As of 2018, it offers a variety of both English- and German-language study programmes through four faculties: Faculty of Technology & Bionics, Faculty of Life Sciences, Faculty of Society and Economics and Faculty of Communication and Environment.

History

The state government of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

organized a competition for the creation of three new Universities on 28 May 2008. The applicants were Kleve and the "We-4"-cities (

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; archaic Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel. History Known earliest from 1186, the county of Mo ...

, Neukirchen and

Rheinberg Rheinberg () is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Moers and south of Wesel. It comprises the municipal districts of Rheinberg, Borth, Budberg, an ...

), but the concept of separate universities was discarded. Instead, the two competing candidates Kleve and Kamp-Lintfort were assigned joint responsibility to establish a two-campus university in November 2008. In April 2009, Prof. Dr. Marie-Louise Klotz and Prof. Dr. Martin Goch were appointed president and vice president of the university. The official founding date of the university was 1 May 2009. In 2015, founding president Prof. Dr. Marie Klotz was replaced by Dr. Heide Naderer. Since 2019 Dr. Oliver Locker-Grütjen runs the office of the president.

Internationality

As of 2018, half of the student body is international, coming from 122 different countries, with the percentage of international students steadily increasing year by year. Of all the bachelor's and master's programs offered at Rhine-Waal University, 75% are being taught completely in English, therefore it has a high proportion of Indian students, creating great strength in programming.

Tuition and fees

Due to being a public university in the state of NRW, no tuition fees are charged no matter the nationality of the student. There is a semester contribution fee of €307.38 (as of 2020) to be paid each semester, which covers e.g. social services contribution, and unlimited public transportation within the entire state. The university offers merit-based scholarships of €3600 per year for outstanding students regardless of origin on an academic year by year basis. In 2017, this was awarded to 80 students.

Reputation

The courses are accredited by AQAS and ASIIN. Recent graduates of the university moved on to become e.g. engineers at BMW and Lufthansa, or went to graduate schools such as

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

and

KTH Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technolog ...

Location and campus

The two campuses are located on the outskirts of Germany's most populous metropolitan region, the

Rhine-Ruhr The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region (german: Metropolregion Rhein-Ruhr) is the largest metropolitan region in Germany, with over ten million inhabitants. A polycentric conurbation with several major urban concentrations, the region covers ...

, which can only be reached by Cologne–Nijmegen railway.

References

External links

* {{authority control Universities and colleges in North Rhine-Westphalia Educational institutions established in 2009 Universities of Applied Sciences in Germany 2009 establishments in Germany