Welcome from the President

July 2011

Dear Friends of Jacobs University,

In June Jacobs University’s eighth graduating class celebrated their successful graduation together with families and friends – a wonderful day and a truly memorable milestone in their lives.

We can again be proud of an incredible success rate of 94%. A total of 369 graduates - 222 Bachelors, 85 Masters and 62 PhD’s – from 66 nations are leaving Jacobs University with internationally sought-after degrees.

This year, however, Jacobs University has another reason to celebrate. In September our university will be 10 years old. This anniversary is not only an opportunity to recall what we have achieved together, but also an occasion to reflect on how we can further develop and enable Jacobs University to face the challenges of the 21st century.

Over the course of the last year, Jacobs University has advanced very successfully in many respects. After several years of planning we have now focused research at Jacobs University in a transdisciplinary way on what we refer to as the ‘Grand Challenges of the Global Future’. These are

• Energy
• Water, Nutrition and Health
• Information, Communication, Education
• Peace and Conflict Management

A total of ten Research Centers have since evolved. Here faculty and students have been working together on providing answers to these complex challenges and incorporating their new findings into our study programs.

The high standard in teaching and research at Jacobs University is also reflected in the great number of students who are accepted to continue their studies at some of the best universities and leading companies in the world. Independent evaluations of its study programs have also placed Jacobs University among the front runners in the Germany academic landscape. The most recent ranking of German universities by the Center of Higher Education Development (CHE) and published in influential German broadsheet “DIE ZEIT” again gave top grades to the our study programs in Political Science and Sociology. In the past years, many our academic programs have been assessed with similar extraordinary results for Jacobs University.

We are of course always striving to further improve curricula and teaching, incorporating the various aspects of transdisciplinarity, interculturality, and knowledge transfer. Therefore, we have included two new undergraduate programs in our curriculum: ‘Global Economics and Management’ and ‘Integrated Environmental Studies’ were introduced with the latter addressing global environmental problems. The discussion about sustainability and new energies is also reflected in the new appointment of Prof. Karen Smith Stegen, who is representing the KAEFER Chair of “Renewable Energies and Environmental Politics”. Through close cooperation and with  support by one of Bremen’s leading, globally operating companies we have further ingrained Jacobs University on a local level while at the same time making a very valuable contribution to new energy research.

However, life at Jacobs University is not just about academics. Extracurricular engagement, social involvement, and a strong understanding of other people also play an important part.

During our 10th anniversary celebrations in September you will be able to see some of the manifold talents of our students – let it be in sports, music or theatre.

I look forward to celebrating 10 years of Jacobs University and hope you will continue to support us on our future journey.

With best wishes,

Prof. Dr. Joachim Treusch
President