University of Mainz facts for kids
|
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
|
|
The historic seal of the University of Mainz
|
|
| Motto | Ut omnes unum sint German: Dass alle eins seien |
|---|---|
|
Motto in English
|
That they all may be one |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1477 (University of Mainz) Re-opened 1946 (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) |
| Budget | € 504 million (2018) |
| President | Georg Krausch [de] |
|
Academic staff
|
4,353 |
|
Administrative staff
|
7,825 |
| Students | 32,000 |
| Location |
,
Rhineland Palatinate
,
Germany
49°59′32″N 8°14′17″E / 49.99222°N 8.23806°E |
| Colors | Red |
| Affiliations | U15 |
 |
|
The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is a large public research university in the city of Mainz, Germany. It is named after Johannes Gutenberg, the famous inventor who created the printing press in the same city. With about 32,000 students, it's one of Germany's biggest universities.
The university was first started way back in 1477, making it one of the oldest in Europe. It was reopened in 1946 after World War II and given its current name. Today, it is part of the German U15, a group of Germany's top research universities.
Contents
What Can You Study?
The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is split into ten main areas called faculties. Think of them as big departments, each focused on a different group of subjects.
- Faculty of Catholic and Protestant Theology
- Faculty of Social Sciences, Media, and Sports
- Faculty of Law, Management, and Economics
- University Medicine
- Faculty of Philosophy and Philology (the study of language and literature)
- Faculty of Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies
- Faculty of History and Cultural Studies
- Faculty of Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science
- Faculty of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Geosciences
- Faculty of Biology
The university also has separate colleges for music and art, called the Hochschule für Musik Mainz and the Kunsthochschule Mainz.
Students can study a wide variety of subjects, from theology and history to sports, music, and film. The university is especially known for its science programs.
The University Campus
The University of Mainz is a "campus university," which means most of its buildings and classrooms are all in one place. This makes it easy for students to get from one class to another. The main campus is built on the site of old army barracks in the southwest part of the city.
The campus is home to many amazing facilities, including:
- The Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, where top-level research happens.
- The MAMI, a special machine called an electron accelerator that helps scientists study tiny particles.
- A small research nuclear reactor called TRIGA.
- A beautiful botanical garden.
- A sports stadium and an indoor swimming pool.
Some parts of the university, like the medical center and the department for language studies, are located in other parts of the city or in the nearby town of Germersheim.
Cool Facts and Research
- Scientists at the university helped develop a special tool for NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The tool, a miniature Mössbauer spectrometer, helped study rocks on Mars.
- The university has an award-winning choir called the EuropaChorAkademie, which brings together students from different countries.
- In Germany, most public universities like Mainz do not charge tuition fees for regular students, making education accessible to more people.
How Good Is the University?
| University rankings | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall – Global & National | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Universities are often ranked to see how they compare to others around the world. Think of it like a report card. According to different international rankings in 2023 and 2024, the University of Mainz is considered one of the top 500 universities in the world and one of the top 30 in Germany.
A 2018 report from the German Research Foundation (DFG), which gives money to the best research projects, said the University of Mainz is one of the very best for natural sciences in Germany. It was ranked number one in the country for physics. This shows that the university is a leader in scientific research.
Famous People from the University
Many famous and important people have studied or taught at the University of Mainz over the centuries.
From the Old University
- Georg Forster was a famous naturalist and explorer who traveled the world. He worked as the university's librarian in the late 1700s.
- Klemens von Metternich was an important Austrian politician and diplomat who helped shape European politics in the 19th century. He studied law at Mainz.
After 1946
- Fritz Strassmann was a chemist who, along with his colleague Otto Hahn, discovered nuclear fission. This discovery was a huge step in understanding atomic energy.
- Paul J. Crutzen was a chemist who won the Nobel Prize in 1995 for his work on the Earth's ozone layer.
- Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci are doctors and scientists who co-founded the company BioNTech. They led the team that developed one of the first major COVID-19 vaccines.
- Malu Dreyer is a German politician who became the Minister President (like a governor) of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
See also
In Spanish: Universidad de Maguncia para niños
- List of medieval universities
- List of universities in Germany
