The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; ) is both a German
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...
in
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
,
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
, and a
research center of the
Helmholtz Association
The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres () is the largest scientific organisation in Germany. It is a union of 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centers. The official mission of the Association is "solving the g ...
.
KIT was created in 2009 when the University of Karlsruhe (), founded in 1825 as a public research university and also known as the "Fridericiana", merged with the Karlsruhe Research Center (), which had originally been established in 1956 as a national nuclear research center (, or KfK). KIT is thus the first and only institution in Germany to overcome the division of the German scientific and research landscape into academic and non-academic institutions in the form of a merger of two different types of institutions.
KIT is a member of the
TU9, an incorporated society of the largest and most notable German institutes of technology. As part of the
German Universities Excellence Initiative KIT was one of three universities which were awarded excellence status in 2006. In the following "German Excellence Strategy" KIT was awarded as one of eleven "Excellence Universities" in 2019.
In the university part of today's KIT, science-based mechanical engineering was founded in the mid-19th century under the direction of
Ferdinand Redtenbacher, which influenced the foundation of other technical universities, such as
ETH Zurich in 1855. It established the first German faculty for
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
in 1972.
On 2 August 1984, the university received the first-ever German e-mail.
Professors and former students have won six
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
s and ten
Leibniz Prizes, the most prestigious as well as the best-funded prize in Europe. The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is well known for many inventors and entrepreneurs who studied or taught there, including
Heinrich Hertz
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism.
Biography
Heinri ...
,
Karl Friedrich Benz and the founders of
SAP SE.
History
The University of Karlsruhe was founded on 7 October 1825 by
Grand Duke Ludwig I of Baden under the name . It was modelled on the in Paris. In its early official documents, it was still referred to as the ''Großherzogliche Badische Schule'' (in english: Grand Ducal Baden School), reflecting its institutional origins founded by the regional sovereign. The university is the oldest technical university in Germany and the fourth oldest in Europe and have traditionally focused on
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
,
natural sciences and
economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
.
In 1832, a ''Forstschule'' (school of forest sciences) was also established in response to the importance of forestry in the Baden region, particularly the
Black Forest
The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...
. The two institutions were later merged to form a single, expanded technical school.
In 1864,
William Barton Rogers
William Barton Rogers (December 7, 1804 – May 30, 1882) was an American geologist, physicist, and the founder and first president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
An acclaimed lecturer in the physical sciences, Rogers taug ...
, the founding director of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
, remarked on the Polytechnische Schule in Karlsruhe: ''The Polytechnic Institute at Carlsruhe, which is regarded as the model school of Germany and perhaps of Europe, is nearer what it is intended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shall be than any other foreign institution.''
In 1865,
Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden raised the school to the status of a , an institution of higher education. Since 1902 the university has also been known as the ''Fridericiana'' in his honour. In 1885, it was declared a , or institute of technology, and in 1967, it became an , a full university, which gave it the right to award regular doctorate degrees. It had hitherto been allowed to award doctorates only in engineering, identified as , a right bestowed on all technical institutes in 1899.

The University of Karlsruhe is one of the leading German institutions in
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
. A central computer laboratory was founded in 1966. The department of informatics was established three years later, along with the first regular course in informatics. On 2 August 1984, the university received Germany's first email. The (Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research) was founded at the university in 1985.
The university also cooperated extensively with the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe Research Centre), and this relationship was formalised on 6 April 2006 when Professor Horst Hippler and Dr. Dieter Ertmann from the University of Karlsruhe, and Professor
Manfred Popp and Assistant Jur. Sigurd Lettow from Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe signed a contract for the foundation of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The name was inspired by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
(MIT), the leading technical university in the United States. In February 2008, the merger of the university and the research centre to form KIT was agreed by the state of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
and Germany's federal government. The necessary state law was passed on 8 July 2009. KIT was formally established on 1 October 2009.
The main reason for establishing KIT was to strengthen Karlsruhe's position in the
German Universities Excellence Initiative, which offered elite universities grants of up to 50 million euros per annum. This aim was not achieved. While the University of Karlsruhe was chosen for the initiative in 2006/2007, KIT failed to secure a place in 2012. It did, however, attract funds from other sources. In 2008, Hans-Werner Hector, co-founder of
SAP, raised 200 million euros to support researchers at the institute. (Hector is the only founder of SAP who did not graduate from the University of Karlsruhe; he was given an honorary doctorate for his support of intellectually gifted children in 2003.)
Campus
Campus Nord
The (Campus North), the former , was founded in 1956 as (Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Centre). Initial activities focused on
Forschungsreaktor 2 (FR2), the first nuclear reactor built by Germany. With the decline of nuclear energy activities in Germany, Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe directed its work increasingly towards alternative areas of basic and applied sciences. This change is reflected in the change of name from to with the subheading (technology and environment) added in 1995. This subheading was replaced by (in the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers) in 2002.
Campus Nord is the site of the main German national nuclear engineering research centre and the
Institute for Transuranium Elements. Also at the site is a
nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...
research centre and the neutrino experiment
KATRIN.
Campus Nord also hosts a 200-metre-tall guyed
mast for meteorological measurements.
Organization and administration
Faculties
The university has eleven faculties:
# Faculty of
Mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
# Faculty of
Physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
# Faculty of
Chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
and
Biology
Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
# Faculty of
Humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...
and
Social sciences
Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...
# Faculty of
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
# Faculty of
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...
,
Geology
Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
, and
Ecological Sciences
# Faculty of
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...
# Faculty of
Chemical
A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...
and
Process Engineering
# Faculty of
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
and
Information Technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
# Faculty of
Informatics
Informatics is the study of computational systems. According to the Association for Computing Machinery, ACM Europe Council and Informatics Europe, informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which the centra ...
# Faculty of
Economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
and
Management
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...
Special Institutes and Schools
Carl Benz School of Engineering
The Carl Benz School of Engineering (CBS) is the international mechanical engineering college of KIT. It is named after Carl Benz, the inventor of the automobile and a former student of the University of Karlsruhe.
Founded in 1999, CBS offers an English-taught Bachelor's program in Mechanical Engineering, designed for international students.
HECTOR School of Engineering and Management
In 2005, KIT launched a business technology school, the HECTOR School of Engineering and Management. The school offers Master of Science programmes, certificates and individual transfer qualifications in close cooperation with industry. It offers seven Master of Science programmes covering production, logistics, financial and risk management, information technology, renewable energy and mobility:
# Master of Science in Energy Engineering and Management
# Master of Science in Mobility Systems Engineering and Management
# Master of Science in Product Development Management
# Master of Science in Production and Operations Management
# Master of Science in Information Systems Engineering and Management
# Master of Science in Financial Engineering
Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics
The Karlsruhe School of Optics and Photonics (KSOP) was established in 2006 as a publicly funded project by the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under the
German Universities Excellence Initiative. KSOP was the first graduate school at the University of Karlsruhe and covers the fields of photonic materials and devices, advanced spectroscopy, biomedical photonics, optical systems and solar energy. It is supported by several of the university's institutes and professors. It is also a partner in the EUROPHOTONICS consortium, which provides scholarship for master's and PhD degrees under the European Commission's prestigious
Erasmus Mundus cooperation and mobility program.
Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis
The
Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis is a research facility and is also a member of the
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres () is the largest scientific organisation in Germany. It is a union of 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centers. The official mission of the Association is "solving the g ...
. The Institute investigates scientific and technological developments with a focus on their impacts and possible systemic and unintended effects. It produces analytical knowledge and assessments of socio-technical developments in order to provide policy and design options for decision-makers.
Academic profile
Education
The university offers a great range of education options with such possibilities as cross studies and work-study programs. A ''
studium generale'' (general studies) program was established in 1949, allowing students to attend lectures not directly pertaining their study field.
In the first semesters of a course, education tends to be theoretically oriented at KIT, with a high concentration on mathematics for engineering and natural science courses. It is possible to choose between practical and theoretical topics in later semesters.
Since the winter semester of 2008/2009, KIT has completed the transition from ''
Diplom'' degrees to
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
s and master's degrees. Students already enrolled for a ''Diplom'' degree when the transition began were allowed to finish their studies, but new students are allowed to apply only for a bachelor's or master's degree.
Admission policies differ among the departments. While students are chosen by the quality of their school degree and their extracurricular activities for courses such as industrial engineering and management (27% of admissions in 2008), other departments do not preselect for their courses, including physics, informatics, and meteorology. All courses require a minimum number of passed exams, called or orientation assessments, in the first three semesters before students are allowed to complete their course. There is a substantial drop-out rate in some engineering courses due to the immense study required to meet the prerequisites.
The Zentrum für Angewandte Kulturwissenschaft und Studium Generale (Centre for Applied Culture and General Studies) was founded in 1989 as a central institution to support students engaged in interdisciplinary study. Nowadays, it offers specialised qualifications in the fields of "Leadership and Entrepreneurship", "Media – Culture – Communication", "Internationalisation and Intercultural Decision-making and Responsibility", "Diversity Management", and "European Integration and Identity Studies", as well as the classical ''studium generale''. There is also the possibility of concomitant study in applied culture science.
Research
In 1979, the Interfakultatives Institut für Anwendungen der Informatik (Interfaculty Institute for Informatics Applications) was founded. It brings together research in physics, mathematics, and engineering based on computer science. Its mathematical pendant is the Institut für Wissenschaftliches Rechnen und Mathematische Modellbildung (Institute for Scientific Calculations and Mathematical Modelling). Its aim is to enhance the exchange between mathematics and engineering in the fields of scientific calculations.
The Interfakultatives Institut für Entrepreneurship (Interfaculty Institute for Entrepreneurship) was established with SAP funding. Its teaching professors were entrepreneurs on their own. Before being shut down in 2010, a former professor of this faculty was
Götz Werner, founder of
dm-drogerie markt.
In 2001, the Centre for Functional Nanostructures (CFN) was established. It merges the fields within material sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, and physics which are related to nanotechnology. CFN is one of the three Exzellenzzentren (English: Excellence Institutions) of the University of Karlsruhe. Another interdisciplinary institution is the Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM).
The Karlsruhe School of Optics and Photonics (KSOP) was established in 2006 as a publicly funded project by the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under the
German Universities Excellence Initiative. KSOP was the first graduate school at the University of Karlsruhe and covers the fields of photonic materials and devices, advanced spectroscopy, biomedical photonics, optical systems and solar energy. It is supported by several of the university's institutes and professors. It is also a partner in the EUROPHOTONICS consortium, which provides scholarship for master's and PhD degrees under the European Commission's prestigious
Erasmus Mundus cooperation and mobility program.
The Karlsruhe Decision & Design Lab (KD²Lab) was established in 2016 and is one of the worldwide largest computer-based experimental laboratories. The laboratory offers an excellent infrastructure for conducting economic, neurological, and psychophysiological experiments, enabling researchers to study human decision-making behavior in controlled environments. The KD²Lab also facilitates interdisciplinary research into the complex interplay of cognitive and affective processes underlying human decision-making. The facility brings together researchers from a variety of fields, including economics, information systems, engineering, psychology and computer science.
In January 2019 the cluster of excellence "3D Matter made to order" (3DMM2O), affiliated with both the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the
University of Heidelberg started to operate. Specializing in
two-photon polymerization, it aims to revolutionize
3D printing on micro and nanoscales. By uniting expertise across
materials science
Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries.
The intellectual origins of materials sci ...
, engineering, and physics, the cluster seeks to develop precise and versatile fabrication techniques for various applications, from
biotechnology
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
to electronics.
KIT operates several
TCCON stations as part of an international collaborative effort to measure greenhouse gases globally. One station is near the campus.
KIT is partner of the science project for urban and autonomous freight logistics,
efeuCampus in
Bruchsal, which is funded by the state of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
and the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. At the Institute for Conveying Technology and Logistics Systems (IFL), conveyor systems for intralogistics are being developed for the research project, which are used for mobile robotics and human-machine interaction. The project develops localization and navigation algorithms for an urban environment, which enable vehicles to navigate independently on the basis of laser and video data.
Support for Entrepreneurship
KIT is considered one of the most important drivers of the startup scene in Germany. With the ''KIT-Gründerschmiede'', established in 2013 by students and staff, KIT operates a central platform for promoting entrepreneurial ventures. The Gründerschmiede supports students, researchers, and alumni through individual mentoring, networking events, new educational formats, and its own crowdfunding platform, ''KITcrowd''. It fosters both technology-based spin-offs from academic research and student-driven startup initiatives.
Each year, more than 30 startups are launched in the KIT environment, and from 2008 to 2018, around 300 startups have been founded.
Additionally, the Center for Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship provides support in the early stages of venture development, particularly in idea generation and business model design. Another key initiative is the ''PionierGarage'', a student-run association that promotes entrepreneurship through lectures, workshops, and trips (e.g., to Silicon Valley), aiming to inspire and connect aspiring founders.
KIT is closely embedded in the local startup ecosystem, which includes institutions like the CyberForum, the EXI Startup Voucher, the VC Ventures Incubator, and the “Perfekt Futur” Creative Park. The latter offers office spaces housed in repurposed shipping containers at the former municipal slaughterhouse site.
Rankings and reputation
According to the
QS World University Rankings
The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...
for 2024, KIT was ranked 102nd globally and 6th in Germany.
The
Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2024 listed KIT at a global position of 140, and 14th nationally within Germany.
Furthermore, the
Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) for 2023 placed KIT in the 301–400 range worldwide, and between 20th and 24th in the country.
In the 2023 QS Subject Ranking, KIT ranks first in Germany in chemical engineering.
In the 2023 THE Subject Ranking, KIT ranks within the global 100 in engineering, computer science, and the physical sciences.
In the 2023 ARWU Subject Ranking, KIT ranks first in Germany in metallurgical engineering, atmospheric science, and energy science, while sharing the first place in materials science and water resources.
In the ''Nature Index'' (1 May 2022 – 30 April 2023), which measures the scientific strength of different institutions on the basis of publications in 82 high-quality scientific journals, the KIT ranks second in the field of physical sciences among the universities in Germany, 7th in Europe, and 63rd worldwide.
TU Munich ranks first in Germany, ranks three to five are followed by
LMU Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
,
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...
, and
University of Mainz.

According to a 2015 survey, KIT has produced the largest number of top managers among German universities, with 24 board members of the 100 largest German companies. The other places are followed by the
University of Cologne (17), the
RWTH Aachen (17), the
University of Mannheim (13) and the LMU Munich (13). In the ranking of the German magazine
Wirtschaftswoche, in which decision-makers of companies are asked about their preferences, KIT regularly occupies a position among the top ten in the subjects
electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
,
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
, mechanical engineering, and
industrial engineering
Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...
in Germany. In the ''QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022'', which follow a similar approach as the Wirtschaftswoche ranking on a global level, KIT is ranked 46th worldwide. Thus, KIT takes first place in Germany and 10th place in Europe.
In the
CWTS Leiden Ranking of the year 2023, which is based exclusively on
bibliometrics
Bibliometrics is the application of statistical methods to the study of bibliographic data, especially in scientific and library and information science contexts, and is closely associated with scientometrics (the analysis of scientific metri ...
to measure the research output of universities, KIT is ranked 56th worldwide in the physical sciences and engineering according to the "Impact" indicator and 49th worldwide according to the "Collaboration" indicator. In Germany, KIT is ranked first ahead of
RWTH Aachen University and TU Munich. Europe-wide, KIT is ranked 4th and 8th respectively.

In the 2023
Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities released by the
National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...
, KIT is ranked 4th in the fields of natural sciences and engineering in Germany.
In the
Webometrics Ranking of World Universities
The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, also known as Ranking Web of Universities, is a ranking system for the world's universities based on a composite indicator that takes into account both the volume of the Web content (number of web page ...
for the year 2023, KIT ranks fifth among 483 listed universities and scientific institutions in Germany. In the ranking ''U-Multirank'' funded by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, KIT is ranked 5th out of 106 universities examined in Germany across all categories in 2022. In the
University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) 2017/2018, KIT is ranked first in Germany in the subjects "Chemical Sciences" (world rank: 49), "Technology" (world rank: 54), "Nanoscience & Nanomaterials" (world rank: 58), "Materials Engineering" (world rank: 48), Chemical Engineering (ranked 43), Mechanical Engineering (ranked 58), Civil Engineering (ranked 76), Environmental Engineering (ranked 98), Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences (ranked 15) and Transportation Science & Technology (ranked 123) Further top rankings are also achieved in "Physical Sciences" (rank Germany: 3; world rank: 55); "Mathematical Sciences" (rank Germany: 2; world rank: 66); "Engineering" (rank Germany: 3 (after rank 1 last year); world rank 107); "Electrical & Electronics Engineering" (rank Germany: 2; world rank: 70), "Information & Computing Sciences" (rank Germany: 2; world rank: 63), "Earth Sciences" (rank Germany: 2; world rank: 54), "Geology" (rank Germany: 5; world rank: 111), "Metallurgy Engineering" (rank Germany: 2; world rank: 34) and "Architecture" (rank Germany: 2; world rank: 71).
KIT is a member of the
TU9 German Institutes of Technology e.V. As part of the
German Universities Excellence Initiative KIT was awarded an excellence status in 2006 and 2019. In the 2011 performance-ranking of scientific papers, Karlsruhe ranked first in Germany and among the top 10 universities in Europe in engineering and natural sciences.
[http://taiwanranking.lis.ntu.edu.tw/Default-EN.aspx] In 2005, more than 20% of its students come from other nations and 0.6% of its students receive grants from the
German Studienstiftung (German National Academic Foundation).
Computer facilities
The Scientific Computing Center (SCC), formerly called Steinbuch Centre for Computing, named after
Karl Steinbuch, was formed in 2008 when the main computer facilities of the University of Karlsruhe merged with those at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. It is responsible for the university's
IP connectivity and provides central services (Mail, Web, campus management) for students and employees. It supplies students with 10 fully equipped computer rooms, one professional print office and a wireless network providing access to the whole campus area. Some departments, like computer science, physics, and mathematics, run their own computer facilities as well.
The SCC operates some of the fastest computers in Germany:
* HP XC3000 (334 nodes with 8 cores each, 27.04 T
FLOPS)
* HP XC4000 (750 nodes with 4 cores each, 15.77 TFLOPS)
* a cluster purchased by a corporation of institutes representing different disciplines (200 nodes with 8 cores each, 17.57 T
FLOPS)
* the two vector parallel calculators NEC SX-8R and NEC SX-9
On 2 August 1984, Michael Rotert, a research fellow at University of Karlsruhe, received the first email ever sent to Germany, at his address ''rotert%
[email protected]''.
GridKa runs the
Rocks Cluster Distribution Linux distribution for supercomputers.
Libraries
The KIT Library with its two branches on Campus South and Campus North provides literature for research and study for about 25,000 students and 8000 scientists with a widespread, interdisciplinary book stock of over 2 million volumes, reports and 28,000 periodicals in print and electronic form. The emphasis of the collection lies in natural and engineering sciences.
; KIT Library South
The 24-hour library at Campus South was extended in 2006. It offers many workplaces and an area for relaxing, and is now open around the clock. The combination of a special book security system and an automated issue desk makes it possible to use the 1000 workplaces anytime, day or night. Current and contemporary literature is freely accessible in four specialised reading rooms, each providing cross-linked, modern and well-equipped study and work stations as well as printers, scanners and copy machines.
; KIT Library North
The research library at Campus North provides a large specialised book stock (especially reports and primary reports) on energy and nuclear energy. All literature is freely accessible to the user. Thirty modern workplaces, as well as printers, scanners, copy machines and cubicles for individual work are available.
; Further libraries at KIT
Additional literature is located in two specialised reading rooms for chemistry and physics, as well as in the Library of the University of Applied Sciences at the Campus at Moltkestrasse, which is administered by the KIT Library. The faculty of physics, the faculty of mathematics, the faculty of computer science, the faculty of architecture and the faculty of economics and management have their own libraries to supply students and researchers with topic-related literature.
Notable people
Professors
*
Karl Ferdinand Braun (1850–1918), who developed the
cathode ray tube
A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms on an oscilloscope, a ...
in 1897, which is widely used in televisions; in 1909 he received the Nobel Prize for the invention
*
Wolfgang Gaede (1878–1945), who founded
vacuum technology
*
Franz Grashof (1826–1893), who significantly contributed to the understanding of free convection; the
Grashof Number was named after him
*
Fritz Haber (1868–1934), who developed the high-pressure synthesis of
ammonia
Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...
in 1909 and won a
Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918
*
Heinrich Hertz
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism.
Biography
Heinri ...
(1857–1894) discovered
electromagnetic waves
In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is a self-propagating wave of the electromagnetic field that carries momentum and radiant energy through space. It encompasses a broad spectrum, classified by frequency or its inverse, wavelength, ran ...
in 1887, which are the basis for radio transmission, and after whom the
SI unit of
frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...
, ''
hertz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...
'' is named
*
Karl Heun (1859–1929), who is known for his work on numerical integration and solutions to differential equations. He discovered the Heun method.
*
Otto Lehmann (1855–1922), the founder of
liquid crystal
Liquid crystal (LC) is a state of matter whose properties are between those of conventional liquids and those of solid crystals. For example, a liquid crystal can flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a common direction as i ...
research
*
Wilhelm Nusselt (1882–1957), the co-founder of technical
thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...
*
Ferdinand Redtenbacher (1809–1863), founder of science-based mechanical engineering in Germany
*
Roland Scholl (1865–1945), discovered
coronene and contributed significantly to the field of organic chemistry in general
*
Hermann Staudinger (1881–1965), who won the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1953 for his discoveries in the field of
macromolecular chemistry
*
Karl Steinbuch (1917–2005), a pioneer of computer science in Germany who coined the German term for the field, ''Informatik'', and made early contributions to
machine learning
Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...
and
artificial neural networks
*
Julius Wess (1934–2007), who co-invented the
Wess–Zumino model, the
Wess–Zumino–Witten model, the
Wess–Zumino consistency condition, and the
Thirring–Wess model, in the fields of supersymmetry, quantum field theory and conformal field theory
*
Ulrich Lemmer (born 1964), a pioneer of
organic semiconductors in Germany
*
Maurus Schifferli (born 1973), landscape architect
Alumni
*
Johann Jakob Balmer (1825–1898), Swiss mathematician and mathematical physicist
*
Karl Benz
Carl (or Karl) Friedrich Benz (; born Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929) was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent-Motorwagen from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automo ...
(1844–1929), the inventor of the
automobile
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
, a graduate who also received an honorary doctorate in 1914
*
Martin Brudermüller (born 1961), German businessman, CEO of
BASF
*
Franz Fehrenbach (born 1949), chairman of
Robert Bosch GmbH
*
Paris Fokaides (born 1977), Academic and researcher
*
Robert Gerwig (1820–1885), civil engineer responsible for the
Black Forest Railway, the
Gotthard Railway, and the
Höllental Railway
*
Fritz Görnnert (1907–1984), German aircraft engineer and civil servant in the Reich Aviation Ministry
*
Hans Kollhoff (born 1946), Postmodernist and
New Classical architect
*
Ludwig Levy (1854–1907), Historicist architect
*
Sergey Padyukov (1922–1993), architect
*
Wilhelm Steinkopf (1879–1949), University of Karlsruhe alumni and professor, co-developer of a method for the mass production of mustard gas during World War I
*
Edward Teller (1908–2003), who is known as the originator of the hydrogen bomb
*
Roland Mack (born 1949), co-founder of
Europa-Park, one of the most popular theme parks in Europe
*
Oswald Mathias Ungers (1926–2007),
rationalist architect
*
Fritz Noether (1884–1941), mathematician and brother of
Emmy Noether
Amalie Emmy Noether (23 March 1882 – 14 April 1935) was a German mathematician who made many important contributions to abstract algebra. She also proved Noether's theorem, Noether's first and Noether's second theorem, second theorems, which ...
*
OUBEY (1958–2004), visual artist
*
Hasso Plattner (born 1944),
Dietmar Hopp (born 1940),
Klaus Tschira (1940–2015), three of five co-founders of
SAP
*
Stefan Quandt (born 1966), businessman and major
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
shareholder
*
Franz Reuleaux (1829–1905), a pioneer of
kinematics
In physics, kinematics studies the geometrical aspects of motion of physical objects independent of forces that set them in motion. Constrained motion such as linked machine parts are also described as kinematics.
Kinematics is concerned with s ...
and rector of the
Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg (now
Technische Universität Berlin)
*
Leopoldo Rother (1894–1978), architect who designed the campus of
National University of Colombia in
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
*
Leopold Ružička (1887–1976), winner of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
*
Peter Sanders (born 1967), computer scientist who won the
Leibniz Prize in 2012
*
Saliha Scheinhardt (born 1946), Turkish-German novelist
*
Amin Shokrollahi (born 1964), Iranian mathematician
*
Emil Škoda (1839–1900), the founder of the industrial conglomerate
Škoda Works
*
Albert Speer (1905–1981),
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
's chief architect
*
Carsten Spohr (born 1966), CEO of
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...
*
Boudjemaa Talai (1952–2022), Algerian politician
*
August Thyssen (1842–1926), industrialist who founded the steel producer
Thyssen AG, a predecessor of
ThyssenKrupp, and co-founded
RWE, one of the largest German electric utilities companies today
*
Ivan Vasilyov (1893–1979), architect of the Bulgarian National Bank headquarters and the Ministry of Defence
*
Herbert Wetterauer (born 1957), painter, sculptor, and author
*
Rolf Wideröe (1902–1996), Norwegian
accelerator physicist
*
Dieter Zetsche (born 1953), chairman of
Daimler AG and head of
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...
Cars
*
Tobias Lindner ( born 1982 ), German economist and politician
*
Joachim Nagel (born 1966), economist and President of the
Deutsche Bundesbank
*
Alexander Gerst (born 1976), German
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...
astronaut
*
Michael Waidner (born 1961), German
Computer Scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science.
Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...
, Director of
ATHENE and .
*
Charles Frédéric Gerhardt (1816–1856)
Chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...
known for reforming the notation for chemical formulas and contributions in chemistry field.
*
Fernando Carro (born 1964), CEO of
Bayer Leverkusen.
*
Amel Karboul (born 1973), Tunisian leading expert in education reform and leadership, and founding CEO of the Education Outcomes Fund, an independent
trust fund hosted by the
UNICEF
UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
.
Other
*
Georg von Hevesy (1886–1966), winner of the 1943 Nobel Prize for his key role in the development of radioactive tracers to study chemical processes such as in the metabolism of animals, worked with
Fritz Haber at University of Karlsruhe without formal appointment
Rectors
* 1968 – 1983 Heinz Draheim
* 1983 – 1994 Heinz Kunle
* 1994 – 2002
Sigmar Wittig
* 2002 – 2009
Horst Hippler
* 2009–2012:
Horst Hippler and
Eberhard Umbach
* 2012–2013:
Eberhard Umbach
* 2013–2023:
Holger Hanselka
* 2023–2024: Oliver Kraft
* since 2024:
Jan S. Hesthaven
Points of interest
*
Botanischer Garten der Universität Karlsruhe, the university's
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...
Notes and references
External links
Official website of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
{{Authority control
Universities and colleges in Karlsruhe
Multidisciplinary research institutes
Educational institutions established in 1825
Educational institutions established in 2009
Architecture schools in Germany
2009 establishments in Germany
Creative Commons books publishing companies
Universities and colleges formed by merger in Germany
Technische Universitäten in Germany
Innenstadt-Ost (Karlsruhe)