The University of Tübingen – Mission Statement

The University of Tübingen is committed to the highest standards of research and teaching across a broad spectrum of subjects.

• The University encourages interdisciplinary and international cooperation and upholds academic freedom in research and teaching, while acknowledging that the search for knowledge must be ethical.
• The University regards variety as essential to academic excellence and therefore supports equality between its members.
• It also provides further training in a variety of fields to equip its members with necessary non-academic skills.

The University reinforces its basic research with outstanding performance in core areas. Its policy of targeted funding takes in collaborative research centers, research groups, research training groups and outstanding individual research, as well as partnerships with business and industry. The University also collaborates with other universities in the region and with government-funded research institutions.

PhD networks help to integrate young researchers into structured doctoral studies while promoting interdisciplinary research projects. The University also provides help for young researchers whose work has potentially commercial applications.

Tübingen offers international degree courses and the chance to integrate periods of study abroad into its own courses, strengthening the University's international teaching and research profile and making it attractive to foreign students.

The University provides its scientists and academics with a research-friendly environment and the freedom necessary for creativity. Students are confronted with burning issues in research at an early stage, and are encouraged to take an active role in research projects. The International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities explores ethical problems arising from research.

The University values diversity and promotes equal opportunities among its members regardless of gender, social and religious background, disability and sexual orientation. It therefore also creates family-friendly conditions for students, employees, academics and scientists.

The University has implemented quality controls to monitor and continually improve its performance in research, teaching and study, services and administration.

The University of Tübingen provides further education as a part of its members’ process of lifelong learning in a world of rapid technological and social change. This includes training for lecturers in improved teaching methods as well as courses in business skills and languages in the Studium Professionale. The University also assists graduate entrepreneurs with research and development contracts and patent licensing and provides concrete support for startups. The Studium Generale program of extracurricular lectures provides a forum for University researchers to share their work and present it to a public audience.