The University of Bremen is a medium-sized German university with around 18,000 students, and offers a wide range of subjects and degrees for its dedicated and talented students that includes more than 100 master’s and bachelor’s degrees, as well as the state law exam. The university has reimagined its project-based courses by incorporating research-based learning, a hallmark feature stemming from its establishment. The University of Bremen is working with nine additional universities to create a new model for European higher education as part of the YUFE (Young Universities for the Future of Europe) network.
2,300 academics – including 43% women – teach and conduct research across a broad spectrum of disciplines. Among them are 320 professors, 34% of whom are women. The university has a long-established tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration and excellent research in the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and teacher education. With its institutional strategy Ambitious and Agile, the University of Bremen was one of eleven universities awarded the title University of Excellence from 2012 to 2019.
Societies today and in the future will face numerous challenges that are addressed in five high-profile, interdisciplinary research areas: Marine, Polar, and Climate Research; Social Change, Social Policy, and the State; Materials Science and Technologies; Minds, Media, Machines; and Health Sciences. The marine sciences high-profile area is particularly prominent with their “Ocean Floor” Cluster of Excellence, which has received continuous Excellence funding since 2006. Starting in 2026, the university's second Cluster of Excellence, “The Martian Mindset: A Scarcity-Driven Engineering Paradigm,” will receive support from the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments.
Since its establishment, the university has viewed social responsibility as its fundamental guiding principle. This is reflected in the Sustainability Strategy adopted by the Academic Senate in 2025 and the goals of the Northwest Alliance, which was founded by the University of Bremen and the University of Oldenburg in 2025. The two universities are now jointly pursuing the goal of becoming a University Excellence Consortium as part of the second funding line of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments. Their institutional strategy focuses on linking excellence and social responsibility. These strategic lines of development align with the objectives of Strategy 2018-28 and can be considered its next iteration.
The university values diversity and has always encouraged innovative ideas, as well as the independence of its early-career researchers from the beginning of their professional journeys. Academics at all levels find an attractive environment here. The university was successful in all rounds of both the Female Professors Program and the Tenure Track Program for Junior Academics and received the maximum number of professorships from each federal program.
The university has long-standing and successful partnerships with the non-university research institutions in its vicinity. These include 13 federally and state-funded institutes that formed the U Bremen Research Alliance in 2016. The close ties between the university and these institutions are evidenced by more than 50 cooperation professorships.
| Acronym | UB |
| Colour | Red and White |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Location | Bremen, Bremen, Germany |
| Address | Bibliothekstrasse 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany |
Social responsibility has been the fundamental guiding principle of the University of Bremen since its establishment. For us, this means acting in a sustainable and climate-friendly manner. We are committed to our shared responsibility for the social and ecological changes needed worldwide, for democracy, diversity, and justice.
In line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, we are dedicated to social change that recognizes the value of social and ecological aspects and that these cannot be offset by economic factors. It is in this spirit that we set our goals and implement specific measures to meet them. We are continuing to develop our university structures to support a culture of sustainability within the university.
Shaping the future with our strengths
The University of Bremen is an excellent research university and an attractive location for outstanding scholars and scientists at all career levels. Advancing existing academic fields and carving out new lines of research, it encourages out of the box thinking and closely links teaching with its research activities. The University embodies the principle of interdisciplinary cooperation in education and research. It acknowledges its wider responsibility for the development of society as a whole. The teachers at the University are deeply committed to their students; they engage in dialogue with them on teaching and learning and are constantly striving to improve the didactical concepts.
Developing the next generation’s potential
Research-based learning and attractive undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes, together with a culture of critical thinking and open dialogue, creates excellent career prospects for graduates of the University. Equipped to assume responsible positions in the international labour market, our graduates have learned to think and act in awareness of their social responsibility and the principle of sustainability. To enable them to succeed, the University of Bremen provides its graduates with the requisite skill sets and qualifications – at the highest levels in their individual disciplines as well as beyond subject boundaries, with an orientation to practice and intercultural competencies. At the University of Bremen, students with diverse educational backgrounds can discover their potential and develop their individual talents. They benefit from flexible study formats that can be customised to fit individual needs. We reach out to students and academics of all backgrounds and from all over the world, attracting them with our open-minded and distinctly welcoming culture and our inspiring working environment. Early-career researchers receive strong support and encouragement in Bremen, along with exemplary support for independent research. The University of Bremen is committed to a participatory, communicative culture and offers students and employees excellent opportunities for personal development.
Taking joint responsibility with partners
As a public university, the University of Bremen is mindful of its responsibility towards the Federal State of Bremen and the part it has to play in fostering its development as a science hub. Accordingly, it plays an active role in social debates and contributes significantly to cultural, political and economic life. University education, research, innovation and public engagement contribute significantly to the development of the whole region. Broadening its impact, the University seeks collaboration and partnerships with the non-university research institutes in the Federal State of Bremen and neighbouring higher education institutions in Northern Germany. The sharing of resources across the University and with our partner institutes gives rise to synergies. The University cooperates with selected scientific institutions as strategic partners at national and international level. Cooperation is one of our keys to success.
A European research university and an inspirational place of education??– diverse, socially responsible, cooperative, and creative. The University of Bremen is a leading European research university and an inspirational place of education – it is diverse, socially responsible, cooperative, and creative.
1 Strengthening interdisciplinary profiles
2 Stimulating new ideas
3 Promoting talent and academic independence
4 Innovative learning and teaching
5 Diverse learning opportunities
6 Developing staff potential
7 Building bridges to the world
8 Intensifying cooperation in the region
9 Shaping digitalisation
The universities of Bremen and Oldenburg have submitted their joint University Excellence Consortium proposal entitled “Northwest Alliance: Connecting for Tomorrow” to the German Council of Science and Humanities as part of the federal and state governments' Excellence Strategy.
The University of Bremen is a young, medium-sized research university and one of the world's top 50 young universities. The university carries out top-level research, both in interdisciplinary research networks and in an individual manner. Together with the local research institutes and cooperation partners, it constitutes the leading research hub in northwest Germany.
The University of Bremen’s teaching profile is consistently oriented toward research-based learning. This didactic principle encompasses activating teaching methods and close integration with current research and research processes, including their reflection. In recent years, the University of Bremen has embedded research-based learning concepts into numerous study programs across all departments, thereby strengthening the relationship between research and teaching.
As an international university, we welcome people from over 100 nations to our campus. They enrich our teaching and research and make a significant contribution to our success. Studying at the University of Bremen offers a wide range of international experiences and is globally networked. We support all members in getting involved in internationalisation and shaping it together.
Many degree programs, in addition to university entrance qualifications, stipulate further requirements that must be met to succeed in the program. Depending on the subject, these might include specific language skills or completed internships. Before applying, check whether you already meet these program-specific requirements for your desired course of study or whether you still need to do anything to achieve them.
The specific requirements for each degree program are listed on our course offerings page under the respective program. Specifically, the following prerequisites are required:
The prerequisites and selection criteria for each Master's program are defined in the program-specific admission regulations . To participate in the application process or to be enrolled later, all requirements stipulated by the Master's program must be met.
Some requirements must be fulfilled at the time of application, while others can be demonstrated later. If a requirement is not met, enrollment will not be possible. The admission requirements are described in the admission regulations under "Admission Requirements and Procedures" (usually § 1).
In Master's programs with restricted admission, specific selection criteria are used to allocate study places. Some criteria serve both as prerequisites and as selection criteria. The criteria for allocating study places are described in the admission regulations under "Selection of Applicants" (usually in § 4). The following section describes which prerequisites must be met in various Master's programs and to what extent they play a role as selection criteria in Master's programs with restricted admission.
Instructions for admission
The admission regulations for each Master's program specify which documents you need to upload to the application portal. The following are generally required at the time of application:
The grade and performance overview must be an official university document. Self-generated overviews or unverifiable printouts will not be accepted.
Additional documents may be requested:
Apply via the application portal (moin).
Email: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected]
Phone : +49 421 218-61110, +49 421 218-61111
System Accreditation
The University of Bremen received system accreditation by the Swiss agency AAQ on 16 September 2016. Currently, the university is in the reaccreditation process. The accreditation period is extended until the completion of the procedure.
Framework & Regulatory Bodies (Quality Standards)
Although not direct “institutional accreditors,” Universität Bremen’s accreditation system complies with:
These bodies define the standards and legal framework for accreditation in Germany and Europe.
Program Accreditation (Indirect via System Accreditation)
In her current role as president, she is committed to strengthening the University of Bremen as an innovative, leading research institution within the European Research Area. Under her leadership, the university has engaged in a strategic development process that includes the Excellence Strategy, the university’s Sustainability Strategy, and the European university alliance YUFE – Young Universities for the Future of Europe, to advance this commitment.
Prior to her time in Bremen, Jutta Günther worked in leading scientific positions at the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Halle (IWH), including positions as head of department and member of the board of directors. Further stops in her academic career were the universities of Jena (habilitation), Osnabrück (PhD), and Oldenburg (degree) with study and research stays in the USA (Fulbright), Japan, Norway, and Russia (DAAD), among others. Before embarking on her academic career, she undertook vocational training in a technical field and gained several years of professional experience, including work abroad.
It was during this time of change that the University of Bremen was founded. When the first semester started on October 19, 1971, the reform university had only 459 students and most of them were training to become teachers. However, the university was on everyone’s lips across the country. This was down to the fact that the “Bremen Model” was practiced on campus – a system that broke with some ideas of the traditional university. Many of the academic establishment re... read more
The “Bremen Model” anticipated many developments that were in store for all German higher education institutions. Its key elements remain untouched at the university today: interdisciplinary work, research-based projects, practical orientation, and responsibility towards society. New goals have been added over time: internationalization of teaching and research, gender equality, and environmentally friendly actions.
After various reforms during the beginning stages, an important phase of consolidation and growth followed in the 1980s. In 1982, a cooperation contract was signed with the newly established Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven. By doing this, the university laid the foundations for its broad expertise in marine and climate research, which has been expanded over the years thanks to many additional cooperations and foundings.
The university also positioned itself more broadly in research and teaching with new faculties – for example, Production Engineering (1983) and Geosciences (1986). The University of Bremen was accepted into the German Research Foundation (DFG) in 1986, and in 1988 with the establishment of one of many Collaborative Research Centers that were to come, it showed its continuing and outstanding strength in acquiring third-party funding.
From 1988 onwards, the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity’s (ZARM) Drop Tower, which received its 146 meter “crown” in 1990, was constructed on the Technology Park Bremen campus. In its form as a “sharpened pencil” and symbol of the university, it is no longer possible to imagine a Bremen landscape without it. More than 500 high-tech companies and more than 50 research institutes are part of the Technology Park.
Modernization and Excellence
The university has always gone down innovative paths in matters of structural modernization and been connected to the pioneering spirit of the early days in this way. In 2001, the university was the first in Germany to introduce the tenure track system for the support of assistant professors: This was the so-called “Bremen perspective.” The switching of the degrees into bachelor’s and master’s courses was also completed particularly quickly in Bremen.
Intense support of early-career academics, internationalization, and the shaping of the research profile elevated the regional and international visibility of the university and were finally rewarded with great recognition. Together with numerous partners from the fields of science, politics, economy, and culture, the university won the title of “City of Science 2005” for Bremen State. The university also celebrated great success in the three rounds of the Excellence Initiative and the subsequent German Excellence Strategy – for example for the Cluster of Excellence at MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, which is still in existence today. The university also held the title “University of Excellence” for several years. In 2013, a special award for the extraordinary supervision of international students followed: The Stifterverband and German Academic Exchange Service honored the University of Bremen as “International University 2012.”
The Present and the Future
Around 23,000 people from over 120 nations are learning, teaching, researching, and working at the University of Bremen today. Their joint goal is to contribute to the further development of society. With around 100 degree programs – from the deep sea into space – the choice of subjects at the university is broad. As one of the leading European research universities, the University of Bremen maintains cooperations with universities and research institutes across the world. Regionally, the university is part of the U Bremen Research Alliance.
The challenges of the future will only be able to be overcome if strong universities bundle their strength. The University of Bremen has recognized this and significantly expanded its international network accordingly. Since 2018, the university has been part of the YUFE (Young Universities for the Future of Europe) alliance. In the alliance, ten universities and four non-academic partners will create one of the first European Universities in the coming years. In the fight against climate change, the university is the only one in Germany to have been involved in the establishment of the worldwide International Universities Climate Alliance (IUCA) – a unique network made up of 35 universities that are global leaders in the field of environment and climate research.
The University of Bremen will continue on its path. As a “learning organization,” it will carry on striving to repeatedly redefine the role it wishes to have in the present and future scientific landscape.
