2010s - Regional impact, national visibility

2019201820172016201520142013201220112010

• Nationwide, the University of Kassel is once again one of the best universities to study civil engineering, confirms the new CHE ranking. Subjects such as environmental engineering, mechanical engineering and mechatronics also performed very well in the ranking.
• Once again, the university receives two awards at the Hessian University Award for Excellence in Teaching. A total of 15 teaching prizes were awarded to Kassel in ten years of competition.
• 6,000 guests at the Campusfest are a new record. The format has more than proven its worth as an invitation to the urban community.
• According to the statistics portal Statista, the University of Kassel is one of the most respected employers in the city.
• To promote young academics, the federal and state governments fund 13 tenure-track professorships - a great success that also allows for new directions in teaching and research.
• The university signs the Magna Charta Universitatum. With this charter, the signatory universities commit themselves to fundamental values such as freedom of research and teaching.
• The university is a frontrunner in the HessenFonds scholarship program, which supports refugee students and scientists with scholarships.
• The state of Hesse, the city of Kassel, documenta gGmbH with the documenta archiv and the University of Kassel with the Kunsthochschule set the framework for the planned documenta institute.
• The new student house is completed. The listed building complex of the former textile factory Gottschalk offers with approx. 1,400 m² in the future space for the AStA, student initiatives and events. The building and the concept receive national attention.
• The Senate adopts the teaching model. In the future, it will serve as a guide for the strategic development of the university in the area of teaching.
• The university mourns the death of Prof. Dr. Franz Neumann. Neumann, president of the university from 1981 to 1989, died in December of that year at the age of 84.

• Torhaus B in Gottschalkstraße is handed over to the University of Kassel by the construction service provider of the State of Hesse after about two and a half years of renovation and reconstruction. It will now be used by the Department of Architecture, Urban Planning, Landscape Planning.
• With a cooperation agreement, the Hübner Group and the university decide on closer cooperation in the field of high-frequency and microwave technology. As part of the support, Hübner finances a research position in the field of high-frequency technology.
• The university expands its digital services. The electronic "Seatfinder" guidance system, for example, enables students to find available study spaces on campus more quickly. In the future, study certificates will also be available digitally via eCampus.
• A project to develop a new concept for quantum computers receives funding worth millions as part of the LOEWE state initiative.
• The extended senate elects Prof. Dr. Ute Clement as vice president and Prof. Dr. Arno Ehresmann for another term as vice president of the North Hessian university.
• The project "Professionalization through Networking" (PRONET) as part of the initiative "Quality Offensive Teacher Education" is continued until 2023.
• Tenth edition of the UNIKAT ideas competition: since the first run in 2009, 447 ideas have entered the university's internal competition.
• With funding from the state of Hesse, the university will be able to establish three additional professorships to strengthen academic engagement with contemporary art. The professorships will be involved in the planned documenta institute in Kassel and will expand research on the most important show of contemporary art through different scientific perspectives.
• On May 17, the University of Kassel will receive three out of four awards at the Hessian University Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
• In a study by Focus Money magazine on the reputation of brands, the University of Kassel scores excellently: according to the study, the university in northern Hesse is among the 30 most prestigious state universities in Germany.
• The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science of the State of Hesse approve the specific space requirements of the University of Kassel for the new building for physics and nanostructure sciences. The state will construct a new building at Holländischer Platz for around 120 million euros and enable the move from the current location in Oberzwehren.
• The "Digitally Supported Teaching and Learning in Hesse" project is up and running.
• 25,351 students are enrolled in the 2018/19 winter semester; this is the first time after many years of growth that the numbers are not increasing.

• The university management is improving the framework conditions for the acquisition of third-party-funded research collaborations: This includes incentives for the formation of interdisciplinary research groups within the university; it also includes the establishment of a new research service staff unit to support scientists in preparing and applying for such projects.
• The university has exactly 25,538 students as of the winter semester, more than ever before. A success for the internationalization strategy: 3,201 of them are international students.
• At a cost of almost five million euros, the university is converting a listed former industrial building into a student house. This doubles the space available for the AStA and other student institutions and groups.
• The memorial "The Ramp - Arrival and End" is officially rededicated in October. The work by E.R. Nele commemorates crimes committed during the National Socialist era and had previously been moved due to construction work. Now it stands in its final location in front of the LEO Learning Center, on the Holländischer Platz campus.
• The University of Kassel supports and accompanies documenta 14 with a variety of projects and events. students, scholars or scientists are directly involved in some documenta artworks.the Holländischer Platz campus will also become the official exhibition site of d14.
• In May, the student athletics elite meets in Kassel's Auestadion for the German University Championships. Approximately 400 athletes from all over Germany will compete in 31 disciplines.
• The University of Kassel, together with the University of Bielefeld and other German universities, is establishing a social science center in Guadalajara, Mexico.
• Prof. Dr. René Matzdorf is elected as the new Vice President.

• Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will speak at the University of Kassel in February. The occasion is the lecture "Political System of the Federal Republic of Germany" by Kassel political scientist Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schroeder.
• The Kassel linguist Prof. Dr. Andreas Gardt becomes the first non-Göttinger to become the new president of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences.
• Pleasing result of the CHE ranking: The University of Kassel is the best place to study civil engineering.
• A new multifunctional building on the Fulda River is inaugurated in May. In addition to space for boats, it also provides room for seminars.
• The campus festival is celebrated for the first time in July as an open day. More than 1500 visitors experience hands-on science. The program ranges from scientific lectures, guided tours and hands-on activities to music, sports and theater.
• At the end of November, two new buildings are inaugurated on the Holländischer Platz campus: firstly, the "LEO - Learning Place" for self-organized learning, and secondly, the new building for the Department of Architecture, Urban Planning and Landscape Planning, which has already been in operation for several months.
• The University of Kassel's casting technology center at the Baunatal site will be inaugurated at the beginning of December. It combines two large-scale casting cells and other equipment.

Prof. Dr. Wilfried Müller becomes Chairman of the University Council.

• The city of Kassel, the state of Hesse and the University of Kassel open the Science Park on the university campus. The Campus Center is also officially inaugurated. This ends years of space shortages at the University of Kassel.
• The Presidential Board adopts the Building Structure Concept 2015-2025 and thus makes far-reaching decisions on the structural development of the University.
• Prof. Dr. Rolf-Dieter Postlep is officially discharged as long-time university president. His presidency is described as a "success story".
• Prof. Dr. Reiner Finkeldey is the new president of the University of Kassel. New with him in the presidency of the University of Kassel are Chancellor Dr. Oliver Fromm as well as Vice President Prof. Dr. Ute Clement and Vice President Prof. Dr. Arno Ehresmann.
• The University of Kassel will receive millions in funding as part of the second phase of the "Teaching Quality Pact" (2017 to 2020) to continue to maintain the conditions for its students at a high level.
• The University of Kassel continues to write its success story as a university of ideas and start-up university. The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology is extending the funding under its "EXIST" program by two years.

• On June 26, the Center for Environmental Systems Research (CESR) at the University of Kassel will celebrate its 20th anniversary. The anniversary will be celebrated with a symposium on the topic "Sustainability goals for a sustainable planet".
• The state of Hesse is funding two new LOEWE priorities at the University of Kassel with a total of around 6.3 million euros: the "Desirable Difficulties in Learning" project and the "Safer Materials" project.
• The University of Kassel is laying the foundation for a strategic partnership with Argentine universities through joint research projects. As a kick-off, a conference will be held in Kassel from June 30 to July 3, at which around 60 scientists from Kassel and Argentina will initiate joint projects in five research clusters.
• The University of Kassel is recalling the industrial prehistory of its main campus at Holländischer Platz with a "Trail of Remembrance." The trail thus also keeps alive the history of the site during the Third Reich and thus of the armaments company Henschel.
• In the winter semester, 23,696 students are enrolled, again an all-time high.
• The German Academic Exchange Service extends its funding of the ICDD by five years. The global network based at the University of Kassel can thus continue its research on decent work.

• Three new endowed professorships are established: The professorship "Strategic Management with a Special Focus on Decentralized Energy Management", the junior professorship "Economics with a Special Focus on Decentralized Energy Management" and the junior professorship "Psychology of Entrepreneurial Activity".
• The University of Kassel will receive an additional 29.5 million euros from the Higher Education Pact 2020. Among other things, the money will go toward a construction program and additional teaching staff.
• The university continues to grow: The new building for the Institute of Sports and Sports Science on Damaschkestraße is inaugurated. The Science Park Kassel, a project of the university, the city and the state, is built on the North Campus. All of the university's start-up-related activities are brought together in the new innovation and start-up center. Finally, in December, the topping-out ceremony for the Campus Center auditorium is celebrated.
• The university participates in the Hessentag and the 1100-year celebration of the city of Kassel with an extensive program.
• A guest professorship on the history and significance of the documenta is established for the winter semester and filled by Dr. Dorothea von Hantelmann.
• A survey certifies that the university has significantly improved its reputation among the population over the past six years.
• The state of Hesse approves the LOEWE focus areas "Always Online?" and "Man - Animal - Society." This means that the University of Kassel is now involved in six priority projects of this top research funding program (some of them in a leading role).
• The Art University Council unanimously elects Prof. Joel Baumann as the new Rector of the Art University.
• In the winter semester, the University of Kassel registers around 22,900 students, more than ever before.
• After extensive discussion, the Senate adopts a new version of the university's partial basic regulations. It now contains a self-commitment to peaceful goals and an orientation toward civil purposes in research, development, teaching and studies.

• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Kleinkauf is appointed honorary senator of the University of Kassel during the University Day.
• The Extended Senate of the University of Kassel confirms Prof. Dr. Rolf-Dieter Postlep in office. The new term of office begins on September 1, 2012.
• The University of Kassel will receive 11.3 million euros in funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research for projects under the Teaching Quality Pact. The first funding phase runs until 2016. Within this framework, new advisory and support services for students, better didactic teaching of the subject matter and consistent quality management are to contribute to greater academic success.
• The foundation stone is being laid for an expansion of the Institute of Sport and Sport Sciences. The extension, which will cost around 4.5 million euros, is scheduled to open in spring 2013.
• The university vice presidents Prof. Dr. Claudia Brinker-von der Heyde and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Lawerenz are confirmed in office for another three years. The term of office begins on October 1, 2012.
• The University of Kassel is involved in dOCUMENTA (13) with a number of projects. Artists and scientists are jointly addressing questions about the future of food and lifestyles and responsibility toward common goods. The Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences, the Department of Architecture, Urban Planning and Landscape Planning and the Department of Human Sciences are involved, among others in the projects 'AndAndAnd' and 'Commoning in Kassel'. The rector of the Kassel University of the Arts, Prof. Christian Philipp Müller, is involved in dOCUMENTA (13) with a work of art, the 'Mangold Ferry'.
• The extension of the central cafeteria can be opened. With the extension, which cost around 12.4 million euros, up to 4,700 meals can now be served daily. There are 433 additional seats in the new extension.
• The foundation stone for the new auditorium and campus center is laid in July. The 32-million-euro new building is scheduled for completion in 2014.
• Under the title 'Fairy Tales and Modernity - 200 Years of Children's and Household Tales by the Brothers Grimm', an international congress on the life and work of the Brothers Grimm will be held in Kassel in December under the direction of Prof. Dr. Claudia Brinker-von der Heyde and Prof. Dr. Holger Ehrhardt.
• Prof. Dr. Wilfried Müller is appointed as the ninth member of the University Council. Müller was previously Rector of the University of Bremen for many years.
• The University of Kassel has more than 22,000 students for the first time, exactly 22,211.

• With over 21,500 students, Kassel University records a new absolute record number of students. The expansion of the campus is prepared and the construction of the new lecture hall and campus center as well as the expansion of the central cafeteria is started. The foundation stone is laid for the Student Research Center North Hesse. The Solar World Congress, the world's largest scientific congress in the field of solar energy and architecture, is held under the direction of the Department of Solar and Systems Engineering.
• The Kassel Endowed Professorship Brothers Grimm, the first professorship in Germany on the life and work of the Brothers Grimm, is established and the Germanist Dr. Holger Ehrhardt is appointed to it.
• Prof. Dr. Andreas Hänlein is elected to succeed Prof. Dr. Alexander Roßnagel as Vice President.

• The new buildings for language and literature studies (Kurt-Wolters-Strasse 5) and for the Institute of Music (Mönchebergstrasse 1) are opened.
• The architectural competition for the Science Park Center is decided; the building is scheduled to be ready for occupancy in 2012.
• The University of Kassel acquires the Kassel buildings of the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Hessen Wilhelmshöher Allee 47 and Pfannkuchstraße 1 as third-party funding areas. The volume of third-party funding exceeds 40 million euros for the first time.
• The International Center for Development and Decent Work (ICDD) and the Göttingen-Kassel Research Training Group "Dynamics of Space and Gender" are opened.
• An endowed junior professorship on "The Work and Impact of the Brothers Grimm" is established and begins its work in February 2012.
• For the sixth time, the University of Kassel is selected as a "Landmark in the Land of Ideas" for one of its projects: 2006 Hesse SolarCup, 2007 Gärtnerplatz Bridge over the Fulda River and organization of the Science Bridge Student Congress, 2009 the "Smart Mirrors" micromirror system and active headrest, and 2010 the artificial working hand.
• The University Council of the University of Kassel is appointed in an expanded composition in accordance with the new Hessian Higher Education Act. For the first time, this includes Prof. Dr. Eva Barlösius, Prof. Dr. Marcus Hasselhorn, Prof. Dr. Doris Lemmermöhle, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Neubauer, Prof. Wilfried Wang, Dipl.-Ing. Günther Cramer (SMA), Hans Eichel and Prof. Dr. Georg Teutsch.
• The Kassel University Association (KHB) renames itself Universitätsgesellschaft Kassel e.V. The society of friends thus visibly incorporates the dynamic development of the university from a comprehensive university to the University of Kassel in its name.
• On the occasion of the 425th anniversary of Heinrich Schütz's birth, the university library exhibits its collection of works. No library in the world has comparable holdings of handwritten sheet music, textbooks and first printings of the important composer.

Back to the chronicle