19th century

The new building of the Polytechnische Schule München in 1869

In 1868, King Ludwig II of Bavaria founded the Polytechnische Schule München with Karl Maximilian von Bauernfeind as founding director. The new school had its premises at Arcisstraße, where it is still located today. At that time, around 350 students were supervised by 24 professors and 21 lecturers. The institution was divided into six departments: The "General Department" (mathematics, natural sciences, humanities, law and economics), the "Engineering Department" (civil engineering and surveying), the "Building Construction Department" (architecture), the "Mechanical-Technical Department" (mechanical engineering), the "Chemical-Technical Department" (chemistry), and the "Agricultural Department".

In 1877, the Polytechnische Schule München became the Technische Hochschule München (TH München), and in 1901 it was granted the right to award doctorates. With an average of 2,600 to 2,800 students, the TH München became for a time Germany's largest technical university, ahead of the TH Berlin. In 1970 the institution was renamed Technische Universität München.

20th century

The main building of the Technische Hochschule München in 1909

Lecture hall in the former Institute of Chemistry in 1909. An early version of the periodic table can be seen on the wall.

In 1906, Anna Boyksen became the first female student to enroll in electrical engineering, after the Bavarian government had allowed women to study at technical universities in the German Empire. Martha Schneider-Bürger became the first German female civil engineer to graduate from the university in 1927.^[4]

In 1913, Jonathan Zenneck became director of the newly created Physics Institute.

During the Weimar Republic, the TH München faced the challenge of limited resources and was drawn into radical political conflicts during the November Revolution, the Great Depression, and the rise of Adolf Hitler. Two of the 16 Nazis killed in Hitler's failed coup attempt in 1923 were students at the university. The National Socialist German Students' League became the strongest faction in the General Students' Committee in 1930, and Jewish and politically unpopular professors were terrorized by the young students.^[5]

After Hitler took power, the TH was soon aligned and a "Führer rector" was appointed, with the deans directly responsible to him. The Führerprinzip was also imposed on universities, resulting in a significant restriction of the autonomy of the TH München. In 1933, the newly enacted Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service led to the dismissal of staff deemed "non-Aryan" or married to "non-Aryans," as well as politically "undesirable" professors. Jewish students lost their rights and were banned from enrolling after 1938.

The university was deeply involved in the crimes of the Nazi regime. For instance, Heinz Henseler, a professor in charge of animal breeding at the university, headed a new "Colonial Science Seminar" from 1940. The seminar focused on exploring how to "Germanize" the landscapes of Poland and Russia for future colonization and settlement during the war. The entire Faculty of Agriculture was influenced by the ideology of blood and soil, and agricultural scientists had no qualms about using forced laborers and prisoners of war on university experimental farms. Henseler repeatedly asked his former student and SS chief Heinrich Himmler for additional land and led several excursions to the SS herb garden on the grounds of the Dachau concentration camp with his students.^[5]

During World War II, the TH München conducted extensive research in armaments to support the war effort. Notable professors during this time included aircraft designer Willy Messerschmitt and physicist Walther Meissner. Despite the war, high-level basic research continued to be conducted in some institutes, as some professors, staff members, and students dared to disobey and resist. Nobel laureate Hans Fischer protected Jewish students from Nazi persecution. He committed suicide shortly before the end of the war.^[6]

Post World War II

The research reactor FRM I, nicknamed the atomic egg, has become a landmark of the city of Garching, even being featured in its coat of arms.

During the war, 80 percent of the university's facilities in Munich had been destroyed. Under these difficult conditions, teaching resumed in April 1946.

In 1956, the construction of a research reactor in Garching was the beginning of the Garching campus. In 1969, the physics department building was opened there, followed in 1977 by new buildings for the chemistry, biology and geoscience departments.

In 1967, a Faculty of Medicine was founded with campuses in Haidhausen (Rechts der Isar Hospital) and Schwabing. By 1968, the TH München comprised six faculties, 8,400 students, and 5,700 staff. In 1972, the Zentrale Hochschulsportanlage, a 45-hectare sports center, was built on the grounds of the 1972 Summer Olympics.

In 1970, the TH München was renamed to its present name Technische Universität München. When the Bavarian Higher Education Act came into force in 1974, the six faculties were replaced by eleven departments. In 1992, the field of computer science was established as an independent Department of Informatics, having previously been part of the Department of Mathematics since 1967.

21st century

The TUM campus in Garching with the Department of Mechanical Engineering to right

In 2002, TUM Asia was founded in Singapore, in cooperation with the Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore. It was the first time that a German university had established a subsidiary abroad.

The Department of Sport and Health Sciences and the School of Management were established in 2002. The Weihenstephan departments were combined into the "Weihenstephan Centre of Life and Food Sciences" (WZW), which would later become the School of Life Sciences. With the establishment of the School of Education in 2009, the School of Governance in 2016 and the Department of Aerospace and Geodesy in 2018, the university comprises 15 schools and departments.

Since the inception of the German Universities Excellence Initiative in 2006, TUM has won every round of evaluation and the title University of Excellence.^[2]

As part of its Agenda 2030, the 15 schools and departments were consolidated into seven schools by 2023.^[7]

Munich

Aerial view of the main building (dark brown) in downtown Munich (2007)

The historic Main Campus (Stammgelände) is located in Maxvorstadt, the central borough of Munich. Today, the departments of Architecture, Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Schools of Management, Governance, Education are located here.

The TUM School of Medicine is located at the site of its university hospital, the Rechts der Isar Hospital, in the district of Haidhausen.

The TUM Department of Sport and Health Sciences is located in the Olympiapark, the former site of the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Garching

Aerial view of the TUM campus in Garching (2011)

Interior of the faculty building for the Departments of Mathematics and Informatics

The campus in Garching, located around 10 km north of Munich, has grown to become the largest TUM campus. In the last decades, the departments of Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Informatics and Mathematics have all relocated from their former buildings in the Main Campus. They have since been joined by numerous research institutes, including the Max Planck Institutes for Plasma Physics, Astrophysics, Extraterrestrial Physics and Quantum Optics, the Forschungsreaktor München II (FRM II), the headquarters of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, one of the fastest supercomputers in Europe.^[8]

A landmark of the Garching campus is the Oskar von Miller Tower, a meteorological measurement tower with a height of 62 m. The Garching campus is connected to Munich by the Autobahn and the Munich U-Bahn. It has its own fire department.

Weihenstephan

The third TUM campus is located 35 km north of Munich in Weihenstephan, Freising. It hosts the School of Life Sciences.

Other locations

Additional TUM facilities are located in Ottobrunn (Department of Aerospace and Geodesy),^[9] Straubing,^[10] Heilbronn,^[11] and Singapore.

TUM Asia

TUM operates a subsidiary in Singapore. In 2001, the German Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) – TUM Asia was founded in partnership with the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, offering a range of Master's programs. In 2010, TUM Asia started offering bachelor's degrees in collaboration with the Singapore Institute of Technology.

In 2010, TUM and the Nanyang Technological University founded TUMCREATE, a research platform for the improvement of Singapore's public transportation.^[12]

Schools and departments

As a technical university, the university specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and the applied and natural sciences. Compared to a Volluniversität (a universal university), it lacks the Geisteswissenschaften, including law and many branches of the social sciences.

As of 2023, the Technical University of Munich is organized into seven schools and departments:^[13]

Other institutions include the Rechts der Isar Hospital, the TUM Graduate School and the Munich School of Politics and Public Policy.

The TUM School of Management is triple accredited by the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the Association of MBAs (AMBA).^[14][15][16]

Research

TUM has operated two research reactors on its Garching campus, the egg-shaped FRM I from 1957 to 2000 and the FRM II (with the curved roof) since 2004.

The Technical University of Munich is one of the most research-focused universities in Europe. This claim is supported by relevant rankings, such as the funding ranking of the German Research Foundation and the research ranking of the Centre for Higher Education.^[17]

Under the German Universities Excellence Initiative, TUM has obtained funding for multiple research clusters, including e-conversion (energy technology), MCQST (quantum mechanics), ORIGINS (astrophysics, biophysics and particle physics), and SYNERGY (neurology).^[18]

In addition to the schools and departments, TUM has set up numerous research centers with external cooperation partners.^[19]

Integrative research centers (IRCs) combine research with teaching.^[19] They include the TUM Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS), the Munich Center for Technology in Society (MCTS), the Munich Data Science Institute (MDSI), the Munich School of Engineering (MSE), the Munich School of BioEngineering (MSB), and the Munich School of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MSRM).

Corporate research centers (CRCs) carry out research independently of the schools and departments, cooperating with industry partners for application-driven research.^[19] They include the research reactor FRM II, the Center for Functional Protein Assemblies (CPA), the Catalysis Research Center (CRC), the center for translational Cancer Research (TranslaTUM), the Walter Schottky Institute (WSI), the Hans Eisenmann-Zentrum for Agricultural Science, and the Institute for Food & Health (ZIEL).

Partnerships

TUM has over 160 international partnerships, ranging from joint research activities to international study programs. Partners include:^[20]

• Europe: ETH Zurich, EPFL, ENSEA, École Centrale Paris, TU Eindhoven, Technical University of Denmark, Technical University of Vienna, NMBU
• United States: MIT, Stanford University, Northwestern University, University of Illinois, Cornell University, University of Texas at Austin, Georgia Tech
• Asia: National University of Singapore, Multimedia University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, University of Tokyo, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Amrita University, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology,
• Australia: Australian National University, University of Melbourne, RMIT University.

Through the Erasmus+ program and its international student exchange program TUMexchange, students can complete exchange semesters at partner universities.^[21]

Rankings and reputation

University rankings
Overall – Global & National
QS World 2024[22]  37  1 THE World 2024[23]  =30  1 ARWU World 2023[24]  =59  =2 QS Europe 2024[25]  11  1 QS Employability THE Employability 2022[26]  12  1
By subject – Global & National
QS Engineering and Technology 2023[27] 28 1 THE Engineering 2024[28] 22 1 ARWU QS Natural Science 2023[27] 28 1 THE Physical Sciences 2024[28] 22 1 ARWU QS Life Sciences and Medicine 2023[27] =80 3 THE Life Sciences 2024[28] 33 2 ARWU QS Computer Science and Information Systems 2023[27] =29 1 THE Computer Science 2024[28] 15 1 ARWU

Subject rankings

In the QS World Rankings, TUM is placed 49th overall and is the highest ranked German university in engineering and technology (28th), natural sciences (28th), and computer science (29th).^[22][27] In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, TUM ranks 27th in business and economics, 22nd in the physical sciences, 22nd in engineering and technology, and 15th in computer science, and is the highest ranked German university in these areas.^[28] TUM is also ranked first in Germany in several subject areas by ARWU, including computer science and engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, food science, biotechnology, environmental engineering, medical technology, management, and transportation science.^[34]

QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023[27] Subject Global National Arts & Humanities N/A N/A Architecture and Built Environment  24  2 Engineering and Technology  28  1 Engineering – Chemical  51  4 Engineering – Civil and Structural  40  1 Computer Science and Information Systems  29  1 Engineering – Electrical and Electronic  18  1 Engineering – Mechanical  20  2 Life Sciences & Medicine  80  3 Agriculture and Forestry  33  3 Anatomy and Physiology  101–150  7–9 Biological Sciences  50  3 Medicine  73  4 Pharmacy and Pharmacology  94  6 Natural Sciences  28  1 Chemistry  22  1 Earth and Marine Sciences  101–150  7–13 Environmental Sciences  70  2 Geology  101–150  7–13 Geophysics  101–150  7–13 Materials Sciences  31  4 Mathematics  43  2 Physics and Astronomy  15  1 Social Sciences & Management  177  6 Accounting and Finance  151–200  5 Business and Management Studies  76  2 Education and Training  101–150  2–5 Statistics and Operational Research  28  1 THE World University Rankings by Subject 2024[28] Subject Global National Arts & humanities  126–150  12–14 Business & economics  27  1 Clinical & health  65  4 Computer science  15  1 Education  50  2 Engineering  22  1 Life sciences  =33  2 Physical sciences  22  1

ARWU Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2023[34] Subject Global National Natural Sciences Mathematics  76–100  4–5 Physics  76–100  5–7 Chemistry  76–100  1–4 Earth Sciences  101–150  5–10 Geography  101–150  2–4 Ecology  47  4 Atmospheric Science  201–300  13–22 Engineering Mechanical Engineering  151–200  2–4 Electrical & Electronic Engineering  22  1 Automation & Control  51–75  1 Telecommunication Engineering  201–300  4–5 Instruments Science & Technology  151–200  1 Biomedical Engineering  76–100  1 Computer Science & Engineering  51–75  1 Civil Engineering  151–200  2–3 Chemical Engineering  201–300  3–4 Materials Science & Engineering  101–150  3–5 Nanoscience & Nanotechnology  101–150  3–5 Energy Science & Engineering  101–150  3–6 Environmental Science & Engineering  18  1 Water Resources  76–100  1–3 Food Science & Technology  51–75  1 Biotechnology  40  1 Aerospace Engineering  36  1 Transportation Science & Technology  51–75  1 Remote Sensing  6  1 Life Sciences Biological Sciences  76–100  5–7 Human Biological Sciences  51–75  5–7 Agricultural Sciences  51–75  2–4 Medical Sciences Clinical Medicine  101–150  5–7 Public Health  151–200  5–6 Medical Technology  9  1 Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences  51–75  5–8 Social Sciences Economics  151–200  5–8 Statistics  51–75  1 Political Sciences  101–150  5–8 Education  101–150  2–4 Psychology  201–300  20–25 Business Administration  151–200  2–3 Management  76–100  1 Public Administration  101–150  4–6

Student initiatives

Various initiatives are run by students, including TEDxTUM, the TUM Speaker Series (past speakers having included Ban Ki-moon, Tony Blair, Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt),^[35] and IKOM, a career fair.^[36]

A notable student group is the Workgroup for Rocketry and Space Flight (WARR), which won all SpaceX Hyperloop pod competitions in 2017 through 2019.^[37][38][39] In 2021, TUM Boring, won the tunnel-boring competition sponsored by The Boring Company in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[40] In 2023, a team from the university won second place at the Indy Autonomous Challenge, a autonomous racecar competition in Las Vegas.^[41]

Student government

The Student Council is the main body for university-wide student representation. It elects the General Student Committee (AStA), which represents the professional, economic and social interests of the students, by the Bavarian Higher Education Act. Each school or department will also have a separate Departmental Student Council.

Every year, university elections are held to elect student representatives in the Senate, the university's highest academic authority, and in the faculty councils.^[42]

Events

The Student Council organizes a number of annual festivals and events. TUNIX and GARNIX are week-long open air festivals held every summer. TUNIX is held at the Königsplatz near the Munich campus, while GARNIX is held at the Garching campus. GLÜHNIX is a christmas market held in front of the Department of Mechanical Engineering every December. MaiTUM is a Bavarian Maifest, held at the Main Campus in May each year.^[36][43]

Campus life

The Zentrale Hochschulsportanlage (ZHS) is the largest university sports facility in Germany, offering hundreds of different sports programs.^[36]

Music ensembles at TUM include the TUM Chamber Orchestra, the TUM Jazz Band, the TUM Choir, and the Symphonisches Ensemble München, a full-size symphony orchestra.^[36]

Nobel Prize laureates

17 Nobel Prize winners have studied, taught or researched at the TUM:

• 1927 – Heinrich Otto Wieland, Chemistry (bile acids)
• 1929 – Thomas Mann, Literature (Buddenbrooks)
• 1930 – Hans Fischer, Chemistry (constitution and synthesis of haemin and chlorophyll)
• 1961 – Rudolf L. Mößbauer, Physics (Mößbauer effect)
• 1964 – Konrad Emil Bloch, Physiology or Medicine (mechanism and regulation of the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism)
• 1973 – Ernst Otto Fischer, Chemistry (sandwich complexes)
• 1985 – Klaus von Klitzing, Physics (quantum Hall effect)
• 1986 – Ernst Ruska, Physics (electron microscope)
• 1988 – Johann Deisenhofer and Robert Huber, Chemistry (crystal structure of an integral membrane protein)
• 1989 – Wolfgang Paul, Physics (ion trap)
• 1991 – Erwin Neher, Physiology or Medicine (function of single ion channels in cells)
• 2001 – Wolfgang Ketterle, Physics (Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms)
• 2007 – Gerhard Ertl, Chemistry (chemical processes on solid surfaces)
• 2016 – Bernard L. Feringa (TUM-IAS fellow), Chemistry (molecular machine)
• 2017 – Joachim Frank, Chemistry (cryo-electron microscopy)
• 2022 – Anton Zeilinger, Physics (Quantum information science)

Scientists

• Friedrich L. Bauer, computer scientist, known for the stack data structure
• Rudolf Bayer, computer scientist, known for the B-tree and Red–black tree
• Rudolf Diesel, engineer, inventor of the Diesel engine
• Claude Dornier, airplane designer
• Emil Erlenmeyer, chemist, known for the Erlenmeyer flask
• Asta Hampe, engineer, statistician and economist
• Carl von Linde, engineer, discoverer of the refrigeration cycle
• Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, physicist
• Walther Meissner, physicist, known for the Meissner effect
• Willy Messerschmitt, aircraft designer, known for the Messerschmitt fighters
• Oskar von Miller, engineer, founder of the Deutsches Museum
• Erich Rieger, astrophysicist, discoverer of the Rieger periodicities that permeate the Solar System