What defines us
Our university has long been an integral part of the academic landscape and the region. In 2024, we look back on a successful 50-year history and, from this point onwards, we shall be addressing the challenges of the future with determination and resolve. We are aware of our function as a role model in society and also of our responsibility for contributing to its success – both as a training ground for future generations as well as a source of outstanding scientific discoveries.
We exist to conduct research at the highest level, provide our students with excellent qualifications and a broad range of skills, disseminate knowledge throughout society, and to strengthen knowledge transfer. This allows us to ensure that societal change is firmly rooted in knowledge and learning, and to raise the profile of Osnabrück as a place of science and scholarship.
A good infrastructure and a wide range of what is now 185 degree programs in the humanities, cultural studies, social sciences, natural sciences, law, and economics provide excellent conditions for our students. Some of our programs are rare nationwide, such as Islamic Theology and Cognitive Science, or unique, such as Environmental Systems Science or Embedded Software Systems. Osnabrück University is the largest teacher-training provider in Lower Saxony and bears this key social responsibility with considerable pride and responsibility.
Research – Our Commitment to being a Research-Based University
Osnabrück University has developed into a strongly research-based university. It conducts important essential research, contributes to the acquisition of knowledge in collaboration with numerous innovative and significant research projects in various scientific fields, and is a regional driver for both technical and social innovations. Flagship projects such as the long-standing Collaborative Research Center (CRC) in biology, with the Center for Cellular Nanoanalytics Osnabrück (CellNanOs) as its focal point, enjoy a national and international reputation. Successfully attracting the Collaborative Research Center "Production of Migration" in 2023 - the only CRC in Lower Saxony with a focus on the social sciences - was another major success further highlighting the expertise in migration studies at Osnabrück University which has grown steadily over more than three decades.
Osnabrück has now earned a regional reputation as a hotspot for Artificial Intelligence (AI). This is due in no small part to the activities of the AI Campus at our university, which is the result of long-term profiling in this area and which is based on successful interdisciplinary collaborations. Closely linked to the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Lower Saxony and in close cooperation with the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy Potsdam (ATB), the AI Campus is today the starting point and partner for a multitude of regional and national initiatives and research projects, and will continue to play a significant role in the research landscape in the future. Strong interdisciplinary research and cooperation is a key characteristic of Osnabrück University which has culminated in many successful initiatives. We will continue along this path, strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation, and continue to improve on our research profile.
Internationalization – Science Thrives on International Exchange
Osnabrück University is particularly committed to the goal of international understanding and cooperation and maintains a multitude of exchange partnerships. We are well-connected across the world and will continue to advance our ongoing process of internationalization by strengthening international research collaborations and networks. Students and researchers alike from all over the world receive a warm welcome at our university, and we never stop updating and improving our course and exchange programs.
Aware as we are of our social responsibility, we strive to provide researchers who cannot conduct research in their home country – or who can only do so under considerable risk – with the opportunity to engage in research with us.
The international Bachelor's and Master's programs offered entirely in English at our university are in high demand, even among German-speaking students, and are open to students from all over the world.
Acting Responsibly – Greening the University
One of the greatest challenges for our university in the coming years will be ensuring a sustainable energy supply and continuing efforts to reduce the environmental impact caused by Osnabrück University. Faced with the global consequences of ongoing climate change, we see ourselves as a university with a particular societal responsibility: the "green transition" requires us not only to make an important contribution through knowledge acquisition and knowledge transfer, but also to acknowledge that the standards we set extend far beyond our campus. Under the guiding principle of Greening the University, we aim to permanently transform our university into a sustainable and forward-looking, carbon-neutral environment. Currently, we are developing a comprehensive climate protection plan that will serve as the basis for strategic decision making and planning support for future climate protection activities - as one of the university’s community development programs.
