A complete guide to the Technical University of Munich

Technical University of Munich or TUM students can study under leading experts in their fields. TUM scientists focus on incorporating cutting-edge research findings into their classroom instruction. Students receive individual support through a variety of initiatives and mentoring programs. The university has also launched initiatives specifically aimed at attracting more female students.

History

King Ludwig II of Bavaria founded the university in 1868, and it now has campuses in Garching, Freising, Heilbronn, Straubing, and Singapore, the Garching campus being the largest. The university has eight schools and departments, with numerous research centers supporting it. With 50,000 students and a yearly budget of €1,770.3 million, it is one of Germany’s largest universities.

TUM received the University of Excellence award under the German Universities Excellence Initiative. According to major rankings, it is the best university in Germany as of 2022 and is among the most prestigious universities in the European Union.

It has 18 Nobel laureates and 23 Leibniz Prize winners among its researchers and alumni.

After the Bavarian government permitted women to study at technical universities in the German Empire, Anna Boyksen became the first female student to take up electrical engineering in 1906.

Jonathan Zenneck became the director of the newly established Physics Institute in 1913. In 1927, Martha Schneider-Bürger graduated from university as the first German female civil engineer.

The war destroyed 80 percent of Munich University’s facilities. Teaching resumed in April 1946, despite the difficult circumstances.

The research reactor construction in Garching in 1956 marked the beginning of the Garching campus. Built-in 1969, the physics department building was another new department addition to TUM. In 1977, the construction of new buildings for the chemistry, biology, and geoscience departments took place.

The Faculty of Medicine was established in 1967. It has campuses in Haidhausen (Rechts der Isar Hospital) and Schwabing. By 1968, the TH München had six faculties, 8,400 students, and 5,700 employees. Due to the 1972 Summer Olympics, a 45-hectare sports complex, the Zentrale Hochschulsportanlage, was built in 1972.

In 1970, The TH München got its new name, the Technische Universität München. The six faculties were converted into eleven departments when the enactment of the Bavarian Higher Education Act took place in 1974. 

After being part of the Department of Mathematics since 1967, the computer science department was established as an independent Department of Informatics in 1992. Established in 2002, TUM Asia, Singapore, came into existence in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore. German university had established a subsidiary outside of Germany for the first time.

The Department of Sport and Health Sciences and the School of Management were the new additions established in 2002. Merging the departments at Weihenstephan took place to form the ‘Weihenstephan Centre of Life and Food Sciences’ (WZW), later becoming the School of Life Sciences. The university now has 15 schools and departments, following the establishment of the School of Education in 2009, the School of Governance in 2016, and the Department of Aerospace and Geodesy in 2018.

Campus

TUM’s academic faculties have multiple campuses.

Munich

The historic Main Campus Stammgelände is based n Munich’s central borough, Maxvorstadt. The departments of Architecture, Civil, Geo, and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, as well as the Schools of Management, Governance, and Education, are now housed here.

The School of Medicine is located in the Haidhausen district, near its university hospital, the Rechts der Isar Hospital.

The TUM Department of Sport and Health Sciences is in Olympiapark, the former site of the Summer Olympics in 1972.

Garching

About 10 kilometers north of Munich, Garching has become the largest TUM campus. Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Informatics, and Mathematics have relocated from their former Main Campus buildings in recent decades.

Numerous research institutes have since joined them, including the Max Planck Institutes for Plasma Physics, Astrophysics, Extraterrestrial Physics, and Quantum Optics, the Forschungsreaktor München II (FRM II), the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) headquarters, and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, which hosts Europe’s fastest supercomputer.

Weihenstephan

The third TUM campus is located in Weihenstephan, Freising, 35 kilometers north of Munich. It is the home of the School of Life Sciences.

Other locations

TUM has additional facilities in Ottobrunn (Department of Aerospace and Geodesy), Straubing, Heilbronn, and Singapore.

TUM Asia

The TUM has also a Singapore subsidiary. The German Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) – TUM Asia was founded in 2001 in collaboration with the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, which offers a variety of master’s programs. TUM Asia began offering bachelor’s degrees in collaboration with the Singapore Institute of Technology in 2010.

TUM and Nanyang Technological University established TUMCREATE, a research platform for improving Singapore’s public transportation, in 2010.

Courses

As a technical university, it specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and the applied and natural sciences. It lacks the Geisteswissenschaften, which includes law and many branches of the social sciences, compared to a Volluniversität (universal university).

The Technical University of Munich has eight schools and departments as of 2022-

School of Computation, Information, and Technology (CIT)

• Department of Mathematics
• Department of Computer Engineering
• Department of Computer Science
• Department of Electrical Engineering

School of Engineering and Design (ED)

• Department of Aerospace & Geodesy
• Department of Architecture
• Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Department of Energy & Process Engineering
• Department of Engineering Physics & Computation
• Department of Materials Engineering
• Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Department of Mobility Systems Engineering

Natural Sciences (NAT)

• Department of Biosciences
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Physics

Life Sciences (LS)

• Department of Molecular Life Sciences
• Department of Life Science Systems
• Department of Life Science Engineering

Management (MGT)

• Department of Economics & Policy
• Department of Finance & Accounting
• Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Department of Marketing, Strategy & Leadership
• Department of Operations & Technology

Social Sciences and Technology (SOT)

• Department of Educational Sciences
• Department of Science, Technology, and Society
• Department of Governance

Medicine

• TUM Department of Sport and Health Sciences

Bachelor programs provided by TUM

• Aerospace B. Sc.
• Architecture B. A.
• Civil Engineering B. Sc.
• Land Management B. Sc.
• Geodesy and Geoinformation B. Sc.
• Geosciences B. Sc.
• Engineering Science B. Sc.
• Engineering Science B. Sc. Joint Degree
• Mechanical Engineering B. Sc.
• Environmental Engineering B. Sc.

TUM also provides post-graduate courses along with bachelor’s degrees.

Rankings

The University ranked first in Germany by the three most influential rankings as of 2022. 

It ranked 56th in the world and first in Germany in the Academic Ranking of World Universities. TUM has ranked 1st in Germany for computer science and engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, and other disciplines.

TUM ranks 19th in engineering and technology, 28th in natural sciences, 29th in computer science, and 49th overall in the QS World Rankings. It is Germany’s top-ranked university in these fields.

TUM ranked 30th in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, 10th in computer science, 20th in engineering and technology, and 23rd in physical sciences, making it the highest-ranked German university in those subjects.

Alumni

Nobel Prize laureates

• 1927 – Heinrich Otto Wieland, Chemistry (bile acids)
• 1929 – Thomas Mann, Literature (Buddenbrooks)
• 1930 – Hans Fischer, Chemistry (constitution and synthesis of haemin and chlorophyll)
• 1961 – Rudolf L. Mößbauer, Physics (Mößbauer effect)
• 1964 – Konrad Emil Bloch, Physiology or Medicine (mechanism and regulation of the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism)

Scientists

• Friedrich L. Bauer, a computer scientist known for the stack data structure
• Rudolf Bayer, a computer scientist known for the B-tree and Red–black tree
• Rudolf Diesel, engineer and inventor of the Diesel engine
• Claude Dornier, airplane designer

Key takeaways

• Leading experts in their fields teach the students the Technical University of Munich. TUM Scientists incorporate advanced research findings into their teaching and method of instruction. 
• The Technical University of Munich has 3 campuses- Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan. It has subsidiaries in other locations like Singapore, Straubing, and Heilbronn. 
• TUM is a technical university specializing in engineering, technology, medicine, and the applied and natural sciences. It doesn’t have the courses such as law and many branches of the social sciences.

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FAQs

Q1. Are the courses at Technical University of Munich free?

Ans- Admission of international students to TU Munich is not free. The university does not charge tuition; however, international students must only pay a semester fee.

Q2. Does the Technical University of Munich require German?

Ans- TUM Informatics requires proof of proficiency in German, English, or both languages for all degree programs. For more information on accepted language proficiency certificates, visit TUM’s central admissions website before applying.

Q3. What is the acceptance rate of TUM?

Ans- With an acceptance rate of 8%, admission to the Technical University of Munich is considered difficult.