Albert Einstein already recommended in 1919: “In my opinion you must definitely go to Darmstadt. They have a good Polytechnic School.” But beyond being renowned for natural and engineering sciences the TU has achieved an excellent reputation in social sciences as well.

The TU Darmstadt achieves the best overall score in the 2009 ranking of top universities in Germany by the magazine Handelsblatt Karriere. This assessment is based on interviews with heads of human resources departments from more than 500 enterprises. For the third year in a row, the TU Institute of Information Systems was ranked first place; Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Natural Sciences are among the top three and the Department of Computer Science is the fourth best nationwide. Being the first German university to establish a degree program in Information Systems in 1976, the TU has already acquired a long-standing expertise on the subject.

Another study that confirms the leading position of the TU is the 2007-2009 ResearchRanking of the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE). It ranks the department of Computer Science among the six best universities in Germany. The TU offers a unique research environment with respect to the discipline: It is cooperating closely with Darmstadt’s Fraunhofer Institutes for Secure Information Technology (SIT) and Computer Graphics Research (IGD) and the almost 5000 local IT enterprises, especially in the state-funded research cluster Center for Advanced Security Research Darmstadt (CASED) and the regional project “Software Innovation for the Digital Enterprise”. Moreover, the Graduate School of Computational Engineering (CE) is a center for top-level interdisciplinary research at the intersection of Computer Science, Mathematics and Engineering Sciences.

Additionally, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology and Mechanical Engineering achieved a place in the national top ten. The department of Mechanical Engineering is participating in the research cluster “Smart Interfaces – Understanding and Designing Fluid Boundaries”, which is supported by the German government with about 30m €. The interdisciplinary project is a collaboration of five TU departments and four external research partners including the Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research and the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability (LBF).

But whereas it might not be surprising that the TU is reinforcing its leading role in its technological core competences, the study demonstrates that social sciences are thriving in Darmstadt as well. Thus, the Institute of Sociology is also among the ten best ones in the CHE ranking. It launched an ambitious state-funded research project on the “Intrinsic Logic of Cities” comprising disciplines from Social Sciences over Architecture to Economics, reflecting Darmstadt’s guiding principle of interdisciplinary.

Furthermore, the Institute of Political Science is among the leading twenty in Europe, according to the 2009 ExcellenceRanking of the CHE. Darmstadt’s political scientists stand out due to their strong research performance and international orientation, states the study. The institute participates in the interdisciplinary research cluster “The Formation of Normative Orders” in cooperation with the renowned nearby Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF).

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With this excellent reputation, the TU attracts a lot of international researchers, too: It is the leading internationally attractive university in Engineering Sciences, according to the 2009 ranking by the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation. Engineers from various disciplines find ideal conditions in Darmstadt: The TU is cooperating with global corporations such as Siemens, Daimler, Rolls Royce and SAP.

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Due to its outstanding research, the TU is also among the top ten universities in the 2009 ranking of funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The front-running disciplines funded in Darmstadt are Engineering Sciences, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology as well as Mathematics.

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Hence, almost hundred years after Albert Einstein’s recommendation there are still many good reasons to go to Darmstadt. Today the TU is spearheading innovative research that will ensure its leading position for the next century in future areas such as energy, mobility, communication and information, construction and living.