Research Profile
The University of Stuttgart, with its focus on Engineering and the Natural Sciences and their embedment in society and the economy, is one of Germany's most successful research universities and is a member of TU 9, a group of the leading technical universities in Germany. The university's overall concept is to create a joint profile that unites the disciplines of Engineering, the Natural Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences, to create new knowledge and innovative solutions to high international standards, and to foster productive cooperation between the non-university research institutions, the business community and society at large. The University of Stuttgart is divided into ten faculties.
On the basis of the research profile derived from the University of Stuttgart's core competencies in fundamental and applied disciplines, the university's Structural and Development Plan (SEPUS) from 2007 established eight key fields of research. Of these interdisziplinary eight key fields of research, three (inner circle) are primarily concerned with fundamental research that addresses and investigates issues of methodology, materials, and process and systems engineering. The research work conducted within these intermeshing interdisciplinary areas is closely interlinked with the special fields of research (middle circle). The outer circle forms the key field of research "Technology Concepts and Technology Assessment", which investigates the cultural and social conditions for the development and use of technology, as well as its impact on culture and society, in close cooperation between the entire range of research cultures at the university.
The structure of its research profile arises out of the interaction between the vertical faculty structure and a horizontal research structure creating a matrix. Whereas research centres are characterised by a focus on either theoretical or applied research, or indeed a combination of the two, transfer centres are typically defined by an exchange of special technical expertise on research and development projects between the university and the world of business. Thus far the university has established research centres for “Simulation Technology” (SimTech), “ Complex Systems and Communication” (SR3C) and “Photonic Engineer-ing” (SCoPE), as well as the “ Automotive Simulation Centre Stuttgart” (ASCS) transfer centre. As an umbrella body. the Graduate Academy University of Stuttgart (GRADUS) supports the individual doctorates, as well as the integrated and cross-faculty training of doctoral candidates. A further institution that is also incorporated into the concept of a horizontal, cross-faculty structure is the International Centre for Cultural and Technological Studies (IZKT), which uses the potential of Stuttgart’s unique faculty structure to investigate the application and uses of technical innovation and its future impact on culture and society in close cooperation between the eight faculties of Engineering and the Natural Sciences and the two faculties of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
- Key fields of research
- Research structure