Knowledge and Visions

Thinking and language, mind and brain. What do humans perceive? And how do they store it in their memory? The cognitive processes of learning are never more present than at a university. And nowhere do curiosity, the quest for knowledge, imagination, and creative genius reach so far into the future as they do in scholarship.

Potsdam’s alma mater pays special attention to human intellectual capacity. With the field of Cognitive Sciences, the university has created an internationally recognized area of excellence in research and teaching. It is a relevant field of research that links a variety of disciplines in a fine-meshed network.

The area of Functional Soft Matter works on developing materials for the future, for example highly efficient light-emitting diodes, new kinds of solar cells, and artificial muscles.The focus area Complex Systems, investigates the order in chaos. As a methodologically oriented science, it is uniquely suited to bringing the different disciplines together – be it in the investigation of cosmic structures, molecular systems, or cognitive processes.

Understanding the System Earth

In light of constantly shrinking resources and climate change, Geosciences investigate the interdependency between the earth’s interior and its surface as well as the climatic and biological processes in nature. The Focus Area Functional Ecology and Evolution is concerned with the impact of global change on ecological systems, biodiversity, and natural resources.

The rapid climate change also draws increasing attention to the adaptability of plants. The field of Plant Genomics and Systems Biology examines the role of genes and the molecular and cellular networks that steer these processes in plants.

Questions of Society become Questions of Science

The university also displays a strong profile in social sciences: The Focus Area Public Policy and Management scientifically analyses the governance and administrative processes of state, economy, and civil society. The Focus Area Unsettled Cultures is concerned with cohabitation of people of different origins in a globalized world. The Empirical Educational Studiesare addressing the challenges of the knowledge society by developing new methods of learning and teaching and testing them in practice.

In Dialogue

The University of Potsdam is not only well connected internally but also to institutions outside. The university has found scientific partners of international standing with the Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research and the German Institute of Human Nutrition, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics as well as the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – German Research Centre for Geosciences. Close cooperation and joint professorships also exist with the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, and many other research institutions. Furthermore, the university collaborates with two well-known institutes of the Fraunhofer Society in the Science Park Potsdam-Golm, a research campus that is growing in significance far beyond Germany’s borders.

With Brandenburg’s largest university and numerous extramural institutes, Potsdam is known as one of the regions with the highest density of research facilities in Germany. More than 8,000 people are already working in scholarship and science. Making the best possible use of synergies is selfevident. The “pearls • Potsdam Research Network”, a group of research institutions, is unique in Germany. It organizes the discourse on pressing topics and future research areas. It does so by paying special attention to the integration of young scholars. In order to realize ideas together, pearls is being expanded into a platform for the acquisition of new research networks. As a next step, innovations from Potsdam’s laboratories are to be put into practice and thus increase Brandenburg’s economic strength.

"The University of Potsdam is well networked with many extramural research institutes in and around Potsdam, which is a unique location advantage."

Prof. Dr. Robert Seckler,
Vice President for Research and Young Academics

Studies and Research - between Theory and practical Experience

"Teaching at the University of Potsdam is always closely related to research and geared to practice."

Prof. Dr. Andreas Musil,
Vice President for Teaching and Studies

The University of Potsdam is a lively community of teachers and students. Research findings are directly incorporated into teaching, and students can feel the intellectual dynamism in their fields. Comprehensive quality management ensures this on all levels, from Bachelors’ programs to graduate or postgraduate studies. Thoroughly structured curricula are considered a guarantor for completing studies within the standard time to degree. Students acquire all those skills that they need to be well-prepared for their future professional life. The University of Potsdam is among the first universities in Germany that is undergoing system accreditation.

As a winner in the competition “Excellence in Teaching” of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (the business community’s innovation agency for the German science system) and the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Laender in the Federal Republic of Germany, the University of Potsdam is implementing its concept to improve teaching consistently: as part of the program “Junior Teaching Professionals”, Ph.D. candidates are able to make their teaching lively and exciting by including their own research. The “Senior Teaching Professionals” model allows newly appointed professors and postdocs to gain further credentials in curriculum development. Here, experienced scholars contribute their skills to the continuing education of the university faculty. The “Online Student Panel” serves as an unbureaucratic evaluation tool and helps to further develop the instruments of quality assurance.

Funds granted by the Teaching Quality Pact of the federal and state governments enable us to employ additional teaching staff to better support students in those programs that are much in demand. This includes innovative projects for a well-structured introductory phase of studies, using digital teaching and learning media or further training of teaching staff. A service point will provide additional guidance and assistance for students looking for internships and working or studying abroad.

International Character

The University of Potsdam is extending its international relations and intensifying its contacts to strategically important partners in research and teaching. Students have the opportunity to study at 30 European partner universities and their programs become more and more compatible. Value and recognition of academic achievements abroad are increasing.

The Master’s and Ph.D. programs are also becoming more international and can increasingly be completed in English. The aim is to establish more joint programs with universities in other countries that lead to double degrees and include common curricula and obligatory mobility. There are, for example, well-established contacts between Potsdam’s Romance Studies program and the University Paris Ouest- Nanterre/La Défense and between economists and the universities in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The area Cognitive Sciences cooperates worldwide. In the future, further alliances are planned, for example with the Earth Sciences at Istanbul’s new Turkish-German University.

Particularly gifted students have the opportunity to get involved in ongoing research projects during their studies and to finish with a doctoral dissertation, which is an additional incentive for them to engage in a scientific career. To enhance academic support for Ph.D. candidates and to improve the quality of their work, the University of Potsdam has founded the Potsdam Graduate School that spans across different faculties, making the academic site Potsdam even more attractive for young scholars from Germany and abroad.

After the completion of studies or the Ph.D., the Career Service offers assistance in professional orientation during the crucial application period. Key skills alumni have acquired here ease the transition into professional life. This service also arranges for internships and establishes contacts to companies in business and management.

Graduates with business ideas can seek advice from the university’s start-up service that is supported by Potsdam Transfer, the Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Knowledge- and Technology-Transfer. For years, the University of Potsdam has been among the best in national start-up rankings. A visible sign of success is the GO:INcubator in the Science Park Golm, a start-up center that allows business ideas to grow.

In the area of knowledge and technology transfer, the university can count on a distinguished subsidiary company, the UP Transfer GmbH. It helps in transferring research innovations into practice. It is becoming ever more evident that Potsdam is not just a great place to study, but also provides excellent employment and career opportunities.

"Cutting-edge research and teaching as well as friendly service in all fields shall become a hallmark of the international character of the University of Potsdam."

Prof. Dr. Ria De Bleser,
Vice President for International Affairs and Strategic Development

Photos: Karla Fritze