Jacobs University Bremen

Jacobs University Bremen (abbreviated JU Bremen or JU) is an international, private, residential, doctorate-granting research university located in Vegesack, Bremen, State of Bremen, Germany. It offers study programs in engineering, humanities, natural and social sciences, in which students can acquire bachelor's, master's or doctorate degrees. Furthermore, the university offers a preparatory program – the Foundation Year. Jacobs University’s students come from more than 120 countries.[2] With about 80% foreign students [3] and approx. 33% international faculty members, Jacobs University is one of the most international universities. According to its mission statement, Jacobs University pursues the goal of supporting talented young people to become world citizens through academic education, intensive mentoring and living together on an international campus - regardless of nationality, religion and financial background.[4]

Jacobs University Bremen
Logo of Jacobs University Bremen
Other name
JU Bremen, JUB or JU
Former name
International University Bremen (IUB)
MottoInspiration is a Place
TypePrivate
Established2001 (2001)
PresidentAntonio Loprieno
Academic staff
265 (of which 66 are Professors)
Administrative staff
169 (2020)
Students1571 (2020)[1]
Undergraduates1015 (2020)[1]
Postgraduates230 (2020)[1]
247 (2020)[1]
Other students
65 (2020)[1]
LocationBremen, State of Bremen, Germany
CampusSuburban, 80 acres (0.32 km2)
LanguageEnglish
Websitejacobs-university.de

History
Jacobs University Bremen Campus Center

The International University Bremen was founded in 1999 with the support of the University of Bremen, Rice University in Houston, Texas, and the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, with study programs beginning in 2001.[5] After the university faced some financial problems, the Jacobs Foundation[6] invested €200 million in the institution in November 2006, thus taking over a two-thirds majority of the partnership share. At the beginning of 2007, the university changed its name to Jacobs University Bremen.[7]

The campus is located on the site of the former Roland Barracks in Bremen-Grohn. The site was erected in 1938 during the National Socialist period. After the Second World War it was transformed into a displaces-persons camp by the International Refugee Organization under the management of the American forces known as Camp Grohn. Shortly after the formation of the Bundeswehr, Camp Grohn was passed into the responsibility of the German government in 1955 and renamed Roland Kaserne. Roland Kaserne housed a Bundeswehr logistics school during the Cold War. In 1999, the  military base was inactivated, making way for the university.[8][9]

The approximately 34-hectare site of the campus university is home to four residential colleges, buildings for administration, lecturing and research, an Information Resource Center (IRC) with a library and digital resources, sport, leisure and park facilities.

Financing

At the end of a four-year plan (2014-2017) for realignment, Jacobs University generated revenues of €50.2 million in fiscal year 2017, an increase of €2.8 million (5.9 percent) over the previous year.[10] Compared to the reference year 2012, Jacobs University was able to continuously reduce its losses.[11] As part of its restructuring, the university cut a total of 65 jobs in 2014.[12]

The long-term financing of Jacobs University is an ongoing debate in Bremen. The university generates its income through different areas, including study fees, donations, third-party funding, business cooperations and contributions from the Jacobs Foundation. The funding from the state of Bremen, which amounts to three million euros a year, expired in 2017.[13][14]

In June 2018, the Jacobs Foundation decided to support the private university until 2027 with a maximum of another 100 million Swiss francs. Simultaneously, the city of Bremen took over a loan from the start-up phase of the university in order to strengthen the financial abilities of the institution in the long term.[15]

Organization

The university is managed by a not-for-profit company Jacobs University Bremen gGmbH. In line with the statutes, it is composed of four organs: the Councilors, the Board of Trustees, the Board of Governors and the Executive Board, which comprises the Managing Director and the President. The Board of Governors is the central decision-making committee for all the fundamental questions of the university's development, including the appointment of the president and the professors. Christian Jacobs, the eldest son of the entrepreneur and patron Klaus J. Jacobs (1936–2008), is a member of the board of trustees of the Jacobs Foundation.[16][17]

University Leadership

On December 1, 2019, Prof. Dr. Antonio Loprieno took over as President of the University from Prof. Dr. Michael Hülsmann.[18] Prof. Dr. Antonio Loprieno (President and Chairman of the Executive Board) and  Michael Dubbert (Managing Director) form the university’s Executive Board.

Jacobs University’s presidents in chronological order

  • 1999 – 2006 Dr. Fritz Schaumann[19]
  • 2006 – 2012 Prof. Dr. Joachim Treusch [20]
  • 2013 Prof. Dr. Heinz-Otto Peitgen [21]
  • 2014 – 2018 Prof. Dr.-Ing. Katja Windt [22]
  • 2018 – 2019 Prof. Dr. Michael Hülsmann [23]
  • Since 2019 Prof. Dr. Antonio Loprieno[24]

The Board of Governors is lead by Lavinia Jacobs, Chair of the Board of Trustees Jacobs Foundation.[25] Further members are among others:

  • Prof. Dr. Patrick Aebischer, Neuroscientist and former President of the EPFL
  • Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius, Director Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
  • Dr. Jörg Dräger, Board Member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung and former Senator for Science and Research of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
  • Dr. Claudia Schilling, Senator for Science, Ports and Justice Bremen
  • Dr. Philipp Rösler, CEO of the Hainan Cihang Charity Foundation in New York and former Vice-Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.[26]

Academics

The faculty of Jacobs University is organized into three focus areas

1. Mobility: understanding the worldwide movement of people, goods and information.

2. Health: developing solutions for a healthier world.

3. Diversity: Deciphering a modern, global world.

Study Programs

Within these focus areas, 15 undergraduate programs and 7 graduate programs are offered. In addition, Jacobs University also offers a preparatory and orientation year, the Foundation Year Program. The program was established to support students in deciding on their future path of study and to meet international admission criteria.

The study programs and courses are generally taught in English and are practice-oriented. Psychologie (MSc) is the only study program that requires German-language skills. Students are involved in the research work of their professors from the first semester onwards. In the fifth semester, they have the possibility to study abroad.

Degrees can be completed to the academic levels of Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc), Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MSc), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS) is a joint graduate school founded by Jacobs University and the University of Bremen. It offers several doctorate programs.[27]

Jacobs University's study programs are:[28]

Mobility (of People, Goods, and Information):

  • Industrial Engineering and Management (BSc)
  • Mathematics (BSc)
  • Computer Science (BSc)
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering (BSc)
  • Intelligent Mobile Systems (BSc)
  • Data Engineering (MSc)
  • Supply Chain Management (MSc)

Health(Focus on Bioactive Substances):

  • Biochemistry and Cell Biology (BSc)
  • Chemistry (BSc)
  • Medical Chemistry and Chemical Biology (BSc)
  • Earth and Environmental Sciences (BSc)
  • Physics (BSc)

Diversity (in modern Societies):

  • Foundation Year
  • Global Economics and Management (BA)
  • International Business Administration (BA)
  • Integrated Social Sciences (BA)
  • International Relations: Politics and History (BA)
  • Psychology (BA)
  • International Relations (MA)
  • Psychologie (MSc)
  • Changing Lives in Changing Socio-cultural Contexts (BIGSSS) (PhD)
  • Global Governance and Regional Integration (BIGSSS) (PhD)
  • Welfare State, Inequality and Quality of Life (BIGSSS) (PhD)

Tuition and fees

The tuition fees including room and board amount to €28,650 per academic year. Individualized financial aid packages, involving grants, scholarships, and tuition deferrals assist qualified applicants for Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in commencing their studies at Jacobs University. True to the motto "Study now, pay later", Jacobs University offers a new financing model for tuition fees together with the education fund "Brain Capital".[29][30]

Student Body

The international nature of the student body is one of the defining characteristics of Jacobs University. Currently more than 1,500 students from over 120 nations are matriculated at the university (status as of December 2019).[8] Most students come from Germany (18%) followed by India (8,7 %), Pakistan (5,8 %), Nepal (6,6 %), China (4,8 %), USA (4,2 %), Albania (3,8 %), Ethiopia (2,7 %), South Korea (2,5 %) and Morocco (2,2 %). Exchange programs with a total of 26 international partners help to foster the international atmosphere.[31]

Overseen by resident mentors, the vast majority of students live on campus in one of four colleges. They pursue their sporting, social, political or cultural interests in more than 50 student clubs. Jacobs students organize a number of recurring events on campus such as conferences, culture information days, sports competitions and art exhibitions.

Jacobs University has two groups of student government: The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and the Graduate Student Association (GSA), representing the undergraduate and graduate student body, respectively.

Research

Research in the three Focus Areas is an important pillar of Jacobs University. Its scientists have made a name for themselves through a large number of international and national research projects.[32] Jacobs University's faculty members have been very successful in attracting third-party funding. In 2017, each professor raised an average of 205,900 euros in third-party funding.[33] Jacobs University's research projects are funded by the German Research Foundation or the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation of the European Union as well as by leading global companies. Professors often involve the students in their research work from the first semester onwards.

Rankings
University rankings
Global – Overall
THE World[34]251–300

In national and international university rankings, Jacobs University continuously achieves top ratings. According to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020 Jacobs University is among the 25 percent of the best universities worldwide and is the most international university in Germany.[35] In THE Young University Rankings 2019, Jacobs University is ranked 26th among young universities worldwide and among the top 5 in Germany.[36] In the THE ranking of the best small universities, Jacobs University is the only German university represented and ranks tenth in the world.[37]

In the CHE University Ranking 2019, the university achieved top positions in the subjects electrical engineering, information technology and psychology, 2018 in geo, social and political sciences, 2017 in economics and industrial engineering.[38]

In the international university ranking U-Multirank, Jacobs University was ranked in the top five German universities in 2017. It received top ratings in the categories of international alignment and research.[39]

According to USNWR's 2019 indicator rankings, Jacobs University was ranked as #364(tie) in Europe, #57 in Germany, Subject Chemistry #535(tie) worldwide.

Partnerships

The university closely cooperates with many local and international partners,[40] including students exchange, faculty mobility, joint programs, and research collaborations. The partners include world-renowned institutions,[41] such as:

  • North America (now US only):
Carnegie Mellon University
Rice University
New York University
University of Pennsylvania
Cornell University
Case Western Reserve University
University of Notre Dame
  • Europe:
University of Edinburgh, UK
University of Warwick, UK
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Sciences Po, France
Uppsala University, Sweden
University of Oslo, Norway
St. Petersburg State University, Russia
  • Germany:
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremen
Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Marine Microbiology, Bremen
University of Bremen
  • Asia (Far & Middle East):
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Ritsumeikan University, Japan
University of Nottingham Ningbo, China
Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Alumni Association

The Jacobs University Alumni Association was founded in 2004. It comprises around 2,400 members; around 70 percent of all graduates have joined the Alumni Association. In 2008 a limited company was founded as Jacobs University Bremen Alumni & Friends GmbH, laying the legal foundations to give the alumni a say in the university's development. The limited company, which is 99-percent owned by the Alumni Association, with one percent owned by the university, is one of three shareholders in Jacobs University and owns a sixth of the shares in the school.[42] The president of the Alumni Association is also a member of the Board of Governors, thus taking a very active role in shaping the future of the institution.

Categorization of the study model

Jacobs University has combined features of typical US and German higher education institutions.

US universities can be public or private and typically offer 4-year undergraduate programs. They charge high annual tuition fees and provide accommodation for students to live on campus. in contrast, most German universities are public and offer 3-year undergraduate programs in accordance with the Bologna Process. The majority of German universities does not charge tuition fees, but only collect a small service fee. Dormitories and meals are managed by Studentenwerk, a municipal student service organization independent of universities. Now Jacobs, a private university, offers 3-year undergraduate programs with less expensive tuition fees and provides accommodation on the residential campus for its student.

A typical 4-year US program includes physical educations, requiring its students to take around four to five courses per semester. Like German universities, Jacobs's 3-year program offers athletics in the form of extracurricular activities. The average 30 ECTS per semester include more than 6 courses of soft skills training(e.g. language courses as additional competences). Jacobs also provides career advising as mandatory courses.

The admission process of Jacobs University follows the US-American system.

Cooperation with Businesses

Jacobs University offers companies various opportunities for cooperation, which include long-term research collaborations, the provision of scientific services as part of short-term research and development projects, or training of junior and managerial staff.[43]

References
  1. "About Us". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  2. "Study at Jacobs". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2015-02-17. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  3. "Jacobs University Bremen gGmbH". Top Universities. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  4. "Über uns". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2015-04-09. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  5. "Jacobs University: Die Drehtür zur Welt - brand eins wissen". www.brandeins.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  6. "Homepage". Jacobs Foundation. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  7. "manager magazin: Großsponsor: Jacobs-Stiftung rettet mit 200 Mio. Euro Bremer Privatuni. [Major Sponsor: Jacobs Foundation Rescues Bremen Private University with 200 Million Euros] November 1, 2006". Manager Magazin. 2006.
  8. "Facts & Figures". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2015-05-28. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  9. "Pressestelle des Senats - International University Bremen kauft Roland-Kaserne in Bremen-Grohn". senatspressestelle.bremen.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  10. Brandt, Patricia. "Jacobs University macht weniger Miese" (in German). Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  11. "Jacobs University macht weniger Verluste". buten un binnen (in German). Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  12. Nordwest-Zeitung. "Jacobs-University In Bremen: Privat-Uni kommt nicht aus dem Minus". NWZonline (in German). Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  13. Sundermann, Sara. "„2018 wird es für die Jacobs-Uni kritisch"" (in German). Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  14. "Erfolgreiche Restrukturierung: Jacobs University auf Wachstumskurs". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  15. "Geschäftsbericht: Jacobs-Universität steigert Umsätze und macht weniger Verlust". www.kreiszeitung.de (in German). 2018-08-18. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  16. "Governance". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2015-05-28. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  17. "Board of Trustees - Jacobs Foundation". Jacobs Foundation. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  18. Brandt, Patricia. "Schweizer Wissenschaftler wird neuer Präsident". WESER-KURIER (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  19. "Trauer um Gründungspräsident Fritz Schaumann". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2017-03-07. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  20. "Der ehemalige Präsident: Prof. Dr. Treusch". www.helmholtz.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  21. "Fraunhofer MEVIS gratuliert Prof. Heinz-Otto Peitgen zur Wahl als künftiger Präsident der Jacobs University - Fraunhofer MEVIS". Fraunhofer-Institut für Digitale Medizin MEVIS (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  22. "Login - DVZ". www.dvz.de. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  23. Auermann, Marcel. "Präsident Michael Hülsmann verlässt Jacobs University". WESER-KURIER (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  24. Brandt, Patricia. "Schweizer Wissenschaftler wird neuer Präsident". WESER-KURIER (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  25. "Stiftungsrat". Jacobs Foundation (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  26. "Neuer Aufsichtsrat an der Jacobs University Bremen". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  27. "News". www.bigsss-bremen.de. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  28. "Education at Jacobs University". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2015-02-17. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  29. "Fees & Finances". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  30. Molkewehrum, Imke. "Jetzt studieren, später zahlen". WESER-KURIER (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  31. "Über uns". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2015-04-09. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  32. "Research". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2015-02-17. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  33. Brandt, Patricia. "Jacobs University macht weniger Miese". WESER-KURIER (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  34. "Jacobs University". Times Higher Education (THE). Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  35. "Search". Times Higher Education (THE). Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  36. "THE 2019 Young University Ranking: Jacobs University Bremen is one of the best young universities in the world". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2019-07-04. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  37. "Weltweites Ranking der kleinen Universitäten: Jacobs University Bremen ganz groß". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2019-09-04. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  38. "About Us". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2015-11-27. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  39. "U-Multirank: Jacobs University among the Top Five". Jacobs University. 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  40. "Our Partners". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  41. "Partnerships of Jacobs University Bremen". Our Partners - Study Abroad at Jacobs University. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  42. "Alumni". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  43. "Business Solutions". Jacobs University - Inspiration is a Place. 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.