The University of Potsdam - A portrait
Knowledge and Visions
Thought and language, mind and brain. What do humans perceive? And how is it stored in memory? The cognitive processes of learning are never more present than at a university. And nowhere do curiosity, the search for knowledge, imagination, and creative genius reach so far into the future as they do in scholarship.
Potsdam's alma mater pays special attention to one's intellectual capacity. The field of Cognitive Sciences is a topical research area that joins a variety of disciplines in an intricate network. With this field, the university has created the first Area of Excellence in research and teaching that intends to establish the university internationally.
In its twentieth year of existence, the University of Potsdam has established a clear profile within the rich academic tradition of Brandenburg's capital. The university's key competences have been concentrated in eight future-oriented areas:
In light of constantly shrinking resources and climate change, the Geosciences investigate the interdependency between the earth's interior and exterior as well as the climatic and biological processes in nature. The Focus Area Functional Ecology and Evolution is concerned with the impact of global change on ecological systems, biodiversity, and natural resources.
Rapidly progressing climate change also brings the adaptability of plants into focus. The field of Plant Genomics and Systems Biology examines the role of genes and the molecular and cellular networks that steer these processes in plants. The area of Functional Soft Matter works on developing materials for the future, for example highly efficient light-emitting diodes, new kinds of solar cells, and artificial muscles.
The university also displays a strong profile in the social sciences: The Focus Area Public Policy and Management scientifically analyzes the governance and administrative processes of state, economy, and civil society. The Focus Area Unsettled Cultures is concerned with cohabitation of peoples of different origins in a globalized world. Empirical Educational Studies are addressing the challenges of the knowledge society by developing new methods of learning and teaching and testing them in practice.
The eighth focus area, Complex Systems, investigates the order in chaos. As a methodologically oriented science, it is uniquely suited to bringing the different disciplines together - be it in the investigation of cosmic structures, molecular systems, or cognitive processes.
The University of Potsdam is not only well connected internally but also to institutions outside. The university has found scientific partners of international standing with the Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research and the German Institute for Human Nutrition - both institutes of the Leibniz Association - as well as the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - German Research Centre for Geosciences. Close cooperation and joint professorships also exist with the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, and many other research institutions. Last but not least, the university collaborates with both institutes of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in the Science Park Potsdam-Golm, a research campus that is growing in significance far beyond Germany's borders.
with extramural research institutions
makes Potsdam a unique location
for the sciences in Germany."
Prof. Dr. Bernd Walz,
Vice President for Research and Young Academics (2008-2011)
With Brandenburg's largest university and numerous extramural institutes, Potsdam is known as one of the most densely settled research landscapes in Germany. More than 8,000 people are working in scholarship and science. Making the best possible use of synergies is self-evident. The "pearls • Potsdam Research Network" ,a group of research institutions, is unique in Germany. It organizes the discourse on pressing topics and future research areas, and it does so by paying special attention to the integration of young scholars. In order to realize ideas together, pearls is being expanded into a platform for the acquisition of new research networks. As a next step, innovations from Potsdam's laboratories are to be put into practice and thus increase Brandenburg's economic strength.
As a winner in the competition "Excellence in Teaching" of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (the business community's innovation agency for the German science system) and the The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (Kultusministerkonferenz), the University of Potsdam is rigorously implementing its plan to improve teaching: as part of the program "Junior Teaching Professionals," Ph.D. candidates will be able to make their teaching lively and exciting by including their own research. The "Senior Teaching Professionals" model allows new professors and post-docs to gain further credentials in curriculum development. Here, experienced scholars contribute their skills to the continuing education of university faculty. The "Online Student Panel" serves as an unbureaucratic evaluation tool and helps to further develop the instruments of quality assurance.
The University of Potsdam is a lively community of teachers and learners. Findings from research and development go right back into teaching, and students can feel the intellectual dynamism in their fields. They also notice that their programs of study are continuously checked for quality. Modular study programs and the accompanying exams allow students to finish their degree quickly and successfully.
is focusing on research-oriented teaching,
comprehensive quality assurance,
and innovative tiered programs of study."
Dr. Thomas Grünewald,
Vice President for Teaching and Studies
In the overhauled Bachelor programs, the structured entry-phase is increasingly tied to study abroad and a targeted professional orientation. In order to do so, the university is expanding its international relations. The opportunities of study at more than 30 European partner universities are becoming more and more compatible with those at Potsdam.
The Master's and Ph.D. programs are also becoming more international. There is for example a well-established contact between Potsdam's Romance Studies program and the University Paris Ouest-Nanterre/La Défense and between economists and the universities in St. Petersburg and Moscow. In the future, further alliances are planned, for example with the Earth Sciences at Istanbul's German-Turkish University, which is currently under development.
An additional incentive to begin a scholarly career is given to particularly gifted students by including them in ongoing research during their studies and offering them the chance to finish with a doctoral dissertation. To ensure academic support for Ph.D. candidates and to improve the quality of their work, the University of Potsdam has established the Potsdam Graduate School that spans across the different departments and makes Potsdam an even more attractive academic site for young German and international scholars.
After the completion of studies or the Ph.D., the Career Service offers assistance in professional orientation during the crucial application period. Key skills acquired here ease the transition into professional life. Internships as well as contacts to companies in business and management can also be established.
Graduates with business ideas can seek advice from the university's start-up service that is supported by the Institute for Start-Up and Innovation BIEM CEIP. In past years, the University of Potsdam has been among the best in national start-up rankings; in 2009 for the first time it was even ranked highest. A visible sign of success is the Go:Incubator in Golm, a start-up center that allows business ideas to grow.
In the area of knowledge and technology transfer, the university can count on a distinguished subsidiary company, the UP Transfer GmbH. It helps in transferring research innovations into practice.
It is becoming ever more evident that Potsdam is not just a great place to study, but there are also excellent employment and career opportunities here.
We make sure that our research results
are quickly put into practice,
and we support our students in
beginning their careers optimally or
in starting up their own business."
Prof. Dr. Dieter Wagner,
Vice President for Knowledge and Technology Transfer (2007-2011)
