Bielefeld University

Infobox University
name = Bielefeld University
native_name = Universität Bielefeld

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caption = Bielefeld University logo
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established = September 5, 1969
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chancellor = Hans-Jürgen Simm
president = Dieter Timmermann
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staff = 1,585
students = 17,554
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city = Bielefeld
state = Northrhine-Westphalia
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country = Germany
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website = [http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/ www.uni-bielefeld.de]

footnotes = [cite web|title= Zeittafel zum Aufbau der Universität Bielefeld |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/Universitaet/Ueberblick/Geschichte/zeittafel.html |work= Chronology of the university's development |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |accessdate= 2008-06-13] [cite web|title=Rektorat |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/Universitaet/Ueberblick/Organisation/Rektorat/ |work= University board |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |accessdate= 2008-06-13] cite web |title = Zahlen und Daten |url = http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/Universitaet/Ueberblick/Organisation/Verwaltung/Dez_I/Controlling/daten.html |year= 2007 |language = German |work= Statistics and data |publisher = Universität Bielefeld | accessdate = 2008-02-04]

Bielefeld University ( _de. Universität Bielefeld) is a university in Bielefeld, Germany. Founded in 1969, it is one of the country's newer universities, and considers itself a "reform" university, following a different style of organization and teaching than the established universities. In particular, the university aims to "re-establish the unity between research and teaching", and so all its faculty teach courses in their area of research. The university also stresses a focus on interdisciplinary research, helped by the architecture, which encloses all faculties in one great structure.

It is among the first of the German universities to completely switch some faculties (e.g. biology) to Bachelor/Master-degrees as part of the Bologna process.

Faculties

While Bielefeld University offers many options to study, it is known for its faculty of sociology, the only one in Germany. It is associated with Norbert Elias and Niklas Luhmann, who were professors there. The faculty of history launched the "Bielefeld School" of Social History under Hans-Ulrich Wehler, while the Laborschule and Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) are projects of the faculty of educational science.

The university has the following faculties:

* Faculty of biology [cite web|title= Fakultät für Biologie |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/biologie/Index/ |work= Faculty of biology |publisher= Universität Bielefeld | language= German |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
* Faculty of chemistry [cite web|title= Fakultät für Chemie |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/chemie |work= Faculty of chemistry |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
* Faculty of history, philosophy and theology [cite web|title= Fakultät für Geschichtswissenschaft, Philosophie und Theologie |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/Universitaet/Einrichtungen/Fakultaeten/Geschichte_Philosophie_Theologie/index.html |work= Faculty of history, philosophy and theology |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
**Department of history
**Department of philosophy
**Department of theology
* Faculty of public health [cite web|title= Bielefeld School of public health |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/gesundhw/english/ |work= Fakultät für Gesundheitswissenschaften (Faculty of public health) |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
* Faculty of linguistics and literature [cite web|title= Fakultät für Linguistik und Literaturwissenschaft |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/lili |work= Faculty of linguistics and literature |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
** Department of art and music [cite web|title= Abteilung Kunst und Musik |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/Universitaet/Einrichtungen/Fakultaeten/Lili/Kunst_Musik/index.html |work= Department of art and music |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
* Faculty of mathematics [cite web|title= Fakultät für Mathematik |url= http://www.mathematik.uni-bielefeld.de/Math-Net/ |work= Faculty of mathematics |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= English index page |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
* Faculty of educational science [cite web|title= Fakultät für Erziehungswissenschaft |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/paedagogik/ |work= Faculty of educational science |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
* Faculty of physics [cite web|title= Faculty of physics |url= http://www2.physik.uni-bielefeld.de/7.html?&L=1 |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= English index page |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
* Faculty of psychology and sports [cite web|title= Fakultät für Psychologie und Sportwissenschaft |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/psychologie/ |work= Faculty of psychology and sports |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
* Faculty of Law [cite web|title= Fakultät für Rechtswissenschaft |url= http://www.jura.uni-bielefeld.de/index.html |work= Faculty of Law |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
* Faculty of sociology [cite web|title= Fakultät für Soziologie |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/soz/index.html |work= Faculty of sociology |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
* Faculty of technology [cite web|title= Technische Fakultät |url= http://www.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/data/eng/index.html |work= Faculty of technology |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |accessdate= 2008-06-13]
* Faculty of business administration and economics [cite web|title= Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften |url= http://www.wiwi.uni-bielefeld.de/en/index.html |work= Faculty of business administration and economics |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= English introductory page |accessdate= 2008-06-13]

Library

Bielefeld University Library occupies most of the first floor of the main university building and contains over 2.2 million volumes. It has long opening hours and is open every day of the year, from 08:00 until 01:00 Monday to Friday, and from 09:00 to 22:00 during weekends and public holidays. [cite web|title= Library Profile |url= http://www.ub.uni-bielefeld.de/english/biblio/profil/ |work= Bielefeld University Library |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |accessdate= 2008-06-13]

The library's projects include the exploration and development of tools and systems to improve access to an increasing number of electronic resources. It works with commercial system suppliers to meet the specific needs of academic libraries—collaborations that have resulted in developments such as BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine), by which metadata is collected from scientific repository servers and indexed, along with data from selected web sites and data collections, using FAST software. [cite web|title= About BASE |url= http://base.ub.uni-bielefeld.de/index_english.html |work= Bielefeld Academic Search Engine |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |accessdate= 2008-06-13]

Protests against tuition fees

Bielefeld University was one of the centers of student protests in the fight against the introduction of tuition fees. In the course of the protests, the central hall and the university president's office were occupied by protesting students for over a month.In a vote organised by the AStA and the students parliament, about 94 percent of the participants voted against the introduction of tuition fees, although only 22 percent of the students cast their vote. This is comparable to similar results at other German universities.

In its session of July 12, 2006, the university senate decided to introduce tuition fees of €500 per semester, beginning in 2007. [cite web|title= Senat der Universität Bielefeld beschließt Studienbeiträge |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/Universitaet/Einrichtungen/Pressestelle/dokumente/Senat_Studienbeitraege.pdf |work= Senate of the University of Bielefeld decides tuition fees |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |format= PDF |accessdate= 2008-06-13] [cite web|title= Einige wichtige Informationen zur Erhebung von Studienbeiträgen an der Universität Bielefeld |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/Universitaet/Einrichtungen/Pressestelle/dokumente/Informationen_Studienbeitraege.pdf |work= Some important information about the collection of tuition fees at the University of Bielefeld |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |language= German |format= PDF |accessdate= 2008-06-13]

In August 2006, a universal key for the university went missing during a senate session. After that, multiple cases of arson and defacement of university property were reported. University president Dieter Timmermann was a particular target of these attacks. The cost of the damage, mainly due to the replacement of thousands of locks, was estimated at over a million euro.

Location

The university is located in the west of Bielefeld next to the Teutoburg Forest. The main building, which houses all the faculties and institutes, as well as the large library, is a functional concrete structure, typical of the 1960s.

Intercity trains running between Cologne/Bonn and Berlin stop regularly at Bielefeld, and the university can be accessed by surban railway in about 10 minutes from the city center—or in about 15 minutes by car. The nearest airport, Paderborn/Lippstadt, is about 50 kilometres southeast of Bielefeld. [cite web|title= First Contact |url= http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/International/Students/First_Contact/overview.html |publisher= Universität Bielefeld |work= International Students |date=2007-07-30|accessdate= 2008-06-13]

tatistics

References

External links

* [http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/International/ Welcome to Bielefeld Universityl] Information for international students
* [http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/ Universität Bielefeld] de icon Official site