History, Affiliations and Rankings

The university's foundations may be found in the Münster Jesuit College (Jesuiten-Kolleg Münster), founded in 1588, and the Liebfrauen-Überwasser Convent of Lay Sisters, founded in 1040, from which it derived its seal. The monastery was shut down in 1773 so that the money from its dissolution could be utilized to establish Münster University on April 16, 1780. Established in 1780, the University of Munster was formerly known as the Royal Theological and Philosophical Academy. The institute is public and is one of the biggest universities in Germany. 

The University of Munster has more than 550 affiliations with universities and academic institutions from all over the world, from the Netherlands to China. 

The University of Münster is one of the top public universities in Munster, Germany, ranks #384 in QS World University Rankings 2023 and #201 - 250  in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022.

Infrastructure, Campuses and Courses

The University of Münster is the third-biggest university located in Germany with its campus situated in North Rhine-Westphalia. 

The institute has 15 Collaborative Research Centers, 4 research training groups, nine graduate schools, and nine Emmy Noether independent junior research groups. The University of Münster has a botanical garden and three museums, which have an outstanding reputation in the whole of Germany. The museums are publicly accessible and enhance research, teaching, and continuing training. The musical culture at the university is quite rich. It boasts a-cappella choirs, brass ensembles, chamber music groups, and symphony orchestras. The musicians present their work at various concerts during the academic year. And new members are always welcome to join. The institute has the biggest library in the area and has about 6.2 million books.

The University of Munster provides over 250 programs of undergraduate and postgraduate with their fifteen faculties with specializations in Business Administration, Educational science, Biology, Chemistry, and English.

Accomplishments and Alumni 

Within 15 faculties, more than 5.000 academic staff members and over 600 academics do research and teach. Researchers from many University faculties and sub-disciplines collaborate in the Clusters of Excellence "Religion and Politics" and "Mathematics Münster." Along with these, the University of Münster funds innovative research in a number of world-renowned disciplines, including evolutionary science, medicine, chemistry, physics, and battery research.

The University of Münster has outstanding achievements with remunerated Rectorate awards. These include the Research Prize, Transfer award, Teaching Prize, Gender Equality Prize, Student Award for Extraordinary Student Commitment, and Dissertation Awards. The University of Münster has Ten Leibniz Prize winners who are currently working at the research centre of the institute.  About 20 awards from the European Research Council and six Max Planck Research Awards underline the high level of science. 

The top alumni of the institute are Gustav Heinemann (Former President of Germany), Friedrich Hirzebruch (Renowned mathematician), and Ursula Von Der Leyen (Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs).

Student Diversity and Visiting Companies

The University of Munster has over 45,000 students on-campus and has about 3,000 students coming from all over the world. The University of Munster wants to be a research community, in which all members have equal opportunities to reach their potential and are assisted to be able to contribute fully to research and the research community. Decreasing the inequalities and celebrating diversity allows the students to thrive. An equal, diverse and inclusive space is fundamental to the institute's success and scientific excellence. The visiting companies at the institute are SoftGate, Eklipse, Mercedes Bank and others.