About Us
The Ruhr area has developed into one of Europe’s densest academic regions. And the University Alliance Ruhr, which embodies technological and social transformation through top-level research, has been at its center since 2007. Academics from around the world find attractive conditions for a career in future-oriented research fields here. In addition, students benefit from an education environment that extends across multiple universities.
Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) have maintained a strategic collaboration in the University Alliance Ruhr since 2007. With more than 110,000 students and almost 1,300 professors, the UA Ruhr is one of the largest and best-performing academic hubs in Germany. In its development, our bottom-up approach of having the University Alliance Ruhr grow from individual disciplines and the faculties through specific projects proved successful. This allowed us to bring an ever-increasing number of members of our universities on board for this cooperation and instill enthusiasm for the idea of a university alliance in them. The result is a culture of collaboration across universities including a wide variety of personal and structural connections – in research, teaching, transfer and administration.
The UA Ruhr combines its complementary strengths in the research on future-oriented issues in joint research centers and competence fields. This facilitates the joint development of innovative solutions for the important challenges of our time – for example in the field of data security, the use of water as a solvent for chemical processes, a holistic examination of humans and the environment or designing innovative materials for new energy or mobility technologies.
Researchers and innovation-driven talents find ideal conditions for careers in and using science along the Ruhr – in a unique ecosystem made up of universities, non-university research facilities and one of Europe’s most dynamic start-up regions.
This is also reflected in the support available for early career researchers: young academics in the humanities and all technological, natural and life sciences can find networks in the Research Academy Ruhr, which also prepares them for career paths in business and research. With its 10,000 members, the Research Academy is one of the largest and most successful support platforms in Germany.
Our shared objective is to use this environment to advance the University Alliance Ruhr as an excellent base within the German and international academic landscape. For this purpose, we renewed our framework cooperation agreement in 2017.
Strategic Governance
The Coordination Board governs the strategic direction and further development of the UA Ruhr. It is made up of the rectors and chancellors of the partner universities. The university managements discuss the overall conditions, cooperation fields and future projects on a regular basis.
The Coordination Board is supported by the UA Ruhr’s central office, which assists, coordinates and initiates new cooperation projects, serves as a first point of contact and is responsible for the UA Ruhr’s external communication and image.
In addition, the International Advisory Board of the University Alliance Ruhr was established in 2024. Members of this board include reputable researchers from Europe, Asia and North America. Its task is to give the University Alliance guidance for its long-term strategic planning. In this context, both upcoming and past decisions will be considered and benchmarking on an international level will be carried out. In this process, the members will bring their rich experience with various internationally renowned institutions to the table.
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