Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
Founded in 1743, the traditional Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen Nürnberg (FAU) is among the largest German universities, with a focus on research and internationalization. Today, approximately 38,300 students and 4,000 academic staff study and work at FAU in over 260 degree programmes. What makes FAU particularly attractive is its excellent international collaboration network with universities worldwide as well as third-party funding acquisition that amounted to almost 243 million euros in 2021.
Cooperation, which goes beyond the boundaries of each discipline, and excellence in each area are the focus of FAU. In eight scientific priority areas, spanning several faculties, representatives from various disciplines join their efforts in acquiring third-party funding with innovative ideas. According to the DFG, this makes FAU one of the front runners in terms of third-party funding acquisition per scientist. In the latest ranking by the American-Canadian media group Reuters, FAU ranks the second most innovative university in Europe. More and more flagship projects are being developed in close cooperation with non-university research institutions such as the Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz Association, or the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
FAU cooperates closely with the state of São Paulo and its top-class research institutions, supported by the Bavarian University Center for Latin America (BAYLAT), which is based at FAU. The FAU Welcome Center for researchers from abroad has received the Best Practice award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.