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Get to Know Our University!

With a population of around 15,500, the mountain and university town of Clausthal-Zellerfeld is a charming little town in the Harz Mountains in Lower Saxony, 600 meters above sea level. Its manageable size makes it easy to find your way around after just a few days and a familiar face is always nearby. Clausthal's surroundings are characterized by forests, ponds and mountains. The Harz Mountains offer fantastic opportunities for hikers, mountain bikers, canoeists, climbers and winter sports enthusiasts. With a total of 1,800 km of mountain bike trails, 200 km of cross-country ski trails, over 2,500 geocaches, 1,110 climbing routes and 10,000 km of hiking trails, sports enthusiasts are sure to get their money's worth. But even those who are less interested in sport can enjoy the 60 ponds of the Upper Harz Water Regal in the surrounding area. In summer, these ponds invite you to relax and bathe in the clean water.

You can also find out about things to see and do in Clausthal-Zellerfeld and its tourism and leisure facilities on the town's website.

You can get a good overview of Clausthal University of Technology in the brochure "The University in Figures". There you can view statistics sorted by year.

Here is some information in brief:

Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled at Clausthal University of Technology.

The staff at Clausthal University of Technology can be divided into several areas.

Almost 500 people are employed in the non-scientific area (technical and administrative staff) and almost 550 employees work in the scientific area (excluding professorships). Furthermore, around 80 professors are currently employed at Clausthal University of Technology.

Clausthal Technical University was founded in1775 as the "Clausthal Mining School".

In1810, the school was expanded to include a mining school for the training of miners and civil servants (no women).

In1864 , the "Bergakademie Clausthal" was founded and gained international importance as one of the leading educational institutions in mining and metallurgy.

In1920, the school was granted the right to award doctorates and thus the doctoral degree.

From the 1960s to the 1990s, the teaching and research spectrum was greatly expanded and the range of subjects modernized. This led to the renaming of Clausthal University of Technology in 1968.

Since 2006, six interdisciplinary, industry-oriented research centers have been established.

In 2015, Clausthal University of Technology reached its peak in student numbers with 4,963 students. Clausthal University of Technology is currently working on other future-oriented key topics such as the circular economy and digitalization.

Further information on the history of Clausthal University of Technology can be found here.

Clausthal University of Technology is a public corporation with the right of self-administration in accordance with Section 15 sentence 1 NHG and, in accordance with Section 47 sentence 1 NHG, as a state-run university, is also an institution of the state of Lower Saxony. It is managed as a state enterprise in accordance with § 49 para. 1 sentence 1 NHG and § 26 para. 1 LHO. The Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture is responsible for legal and technical supervision.

According to § 36 para. 1 NHG, the central bodies are

  • the Presidential Board
  • the University Council and
  • the Senate

The Executive Board of the university is responsible for managing the university and consists of the President, the full-time Vice President and three part-time Vice Presidents.

The Executive Board determines the strategic direction of the university and, among other things, deals with decisions on target agreements. Click here to go to the page of the members of our university's Executive Board.

You can find a detailed list of the current members of the Executive Committee and their areas of responsibility on the Executive Committee's website.

The administration of TU Clausthal is divided into five departments:

  • Department 1 Finance
  • Department 2 IT and Statistics
  • Department 3 Human Resources Administration and Development
  • Department 4 Technical Administration
  • Department 5 Study Center

Departments 1 to 4 are available to employees of Clausthal University of Technology as contacts for advice and support in the various areas, while Department 5 is the most important contact for students.

On the TU Clausthal website you will find a detailed description of the areas of responsibility of the various departments and their current management.

Senate

The Senate is a central body of the university. In its function as a collegial body, the Senate is made up of 13 voting members from the university faculty groups, staff and student groups and the group of technical and administrative staff. The Senate adopts the university's regulations, unless this responsibility is assigned to the faculties in accordance with the NHG or the basic regulations. It is also responsible for drawing up the development plan and issuing statements on target agreements and business plans. The Senate also has a comprehensive right to information from the Presidential Board.

Further information can be found on the TU Clausthal Senate website.

 

University Council

Alongside the Presidential Board and the Senate, the University Council is a central body of Clausthal University of Technology and consists of seven members, at least three of whom should be women. In addition, five persons familiar with the university system, primarily from business, science or culture, who may not be members of the university, belong to the University Council. The University Council works on an honorary basis and is not bound by orders or instructions.

The tasks of the University Council range from advising the Presidential Board and the Senate, to confirming the Senate's proposals for the appointment, appointment or dismissal of members of the Presidential Board, to commenting on efficiency and development plans, as well as on draft target agreements.

Further information on this topic can be found on the website of the University Council.

 

Faculties and faculty councils

Clausthal University of Technology is divided into three faculties in accordance with Section 36 (2) sentence 1 NHG:

The faculties are responsible for research and transfer as well as studying and teaching in the totality of their research projects, subjects and degree programs and are headed by deans.

Each of these faculties has a faculty council. In accordance with Section 44 (2) NHG in conjunction with Section 21 (2) of the Basic Regulations of Clausthal University of Technology, the Faculty Councils are made up of 13 voting members from the university lecturer groups, staff and student groups and the technical and administrative staff group. The Faculty Councils make decisions of fundamental importance in matters of research and teaching.

The areas of responsibility of the faculty councils and further information can be found on the faculty councils' website.

A list of the current heads of the faculty deaneries and institute directorates can be viewed here.

 

Academic Advisory Board

The Scientific Advisory Board advises the Executive Board of Clausthal University of Technology during the university's research profiling process.

Further information on the Scientific Advisory Board can be found here.

 

House of Research (HOR) and School

The House of Research and the School are two advisory bodies to the Presidential Board on research and transfer and on studying and teaching.

Information on the tasks and members can be found here.