How did RWTH Aachen become that what it is today? An excellent university with around 40,000 students and outstanding reputation in research and industry. Let yourself go on an exciting trip through the history of RWTH Aachen. The University Archives has compiled its own, as well as from external sources, pictures and documents, to illustrate the history of RWTH Aachen.
With 260 institutes in nine faculties, RWTH Aachen University is one of Europes leading institutions for science and research. Currently around 31,400 students are enrolled in over 100 academic programmes. Over 5,000 of them are international students hailing from 120 different countries.
Work conducted in the research centres at RWTH Aachen University is strongly oriented toward the current needs of industry, commerce, and the professions. This has led to numerous innovations, patents, and licenses.The individual competence centres at RWTH Aachen collaborate very effectively across departments and faculties in interdisciplinary groups and forums, while still maintaining a strong focus on their own department specialisation. For instance, the computer science and biology departments - and even the social sciences - all have a clear connection to the school's engineering focus.
The university's innovative force is also reflected in the high number of start-ups in the area: Over the past twenty years, about 1,250 spin-off businesses were founded and created around 30,000 jobs in the greater Aachen region.Excellence in teaching and research constitutes the basis from which our university works with other leading institutions and technical universities from around the world: to give an example, RWTH participates in the IDEA League, a network of the leading Universities of Technology in Europe, which defines standards for degree programmes and academic training.
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Studyportals ranking look at the scores of the most used ranking systems and present you with one number of how well this University performs.
By TopUniversities
Climbed 1 places compared to 2026
QS World University Rankings is one of the top international rankings measuring the popularity and performance of universities all over the world. They measure university reputation based on the impressions of higher education experts, companies who hire graduates, and teaching quality. QS also considers the ratio of international teachers and students present at universities, as well as the times research papers were mentioned by researchers. After calculating and comparing these criteria, QS ranks the universities accordingly.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| 99 | 105 | 104 |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
By U.S. News & World Report
Climbed 2 places compared to 2026
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report presents all the top universities from the U.S. and 60 other countries around the world. They measure the rate of students going to their second year of studies, as well as the rate of students who graduate. It also asks university representatives on the performance of universities, and evaluates university resources, teacher salaries, graduation rates, student academic achievements and satisfaction. After calculating and comparing these criteria, U.S. News ranks the top international universities accordingly.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| 218 | 225 | 223 |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
By Times Higher Education
This university doesn’t have a ranking for 2027 yet. Rankings are updated yearly, so check back later for the latest info.
World University Rankings is a vital resource that provides the definitive list of the world's best universities. They look at how often they're producing new ideas, what their reputation is around the world, and how much they're contributing to science and academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, THE ranks the universities accordingly.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| 92 | 92 | - |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
By Shanghai Jiao Tong University
This university doesn’t have a ranking for 2026 yet. Rankings are updated yearly, so check back later for the latest info.
ARWU World University rankings is the first world university ranking. It ranks the world's top 1000 colleges and universities based on objective indicator. They look at the number of award-winning (Fields Medals and Nobel Prize) scientists who are located there, how much of their research is cited and referenced around the world, and how much they've contributed to different academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, ARWU ranks the universities accordingly.
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 201 | 201 | - |
We don’t have enough recent ranking data to show a 3-year trend for this university.
RWTH also offers special support to students with disabilities and chronic diseases. Two designated helpers performing community service stand at the ready to deliver meals, accompany students to their courses and offer other assistance when needed.
The conference focused on ways to improve equal access for students with disabilities and on creating greater awareness of issues of concern for disabled and/or chronically ill students and their special needs among teaching staff, in particular.In addition, a special room was set up in 2009 where students with disabilities can study or rest, and a conference on "barrier-free university teaching" was held in November, which was organised by the RWTH Integration Team Human Resources, Gender and Diversity Management in collaboration with the student union representative for students with disabilities and chronic diseases.
RWTH Aachen University Library
Help with literature searches
Aquisition requests
Courses on literature searches and procurement
Information on reference management with the programs EndNote and Citavi, financed by campus licenses
Information on the fees for printed and electronic dissertations
Equipment for and access to the library for disabled persons
Internet workstations
In Germany, you typically select and register with a General Practitioner (GP) who acts as your "family doctor" (Hausarzt). The GP will refer you to other specialists such as eye specialists, dermatologists, etc.
The way of life in the region around the River Meuse is relaxed. Here, high culture and subculture, past and present, science and the arts are not opposites but interesting facets of the same city. Living in one of the most densely populated and at the same time greenest city centres is something Aacheners take entirely for granted. In a region famed for both science and the arts.
And when the paths of academic disciplines cross inadvertently, the housewarming party with flatmates becomes a great place to discuss the sociological significance of mechanical engineering or the finer detail of business studies techniques. In an open, non-threatening atmosphere among friends like it should be.
The Center hosts extensive leisure and sports facilities such as gyms, fitness rooms, weights rooms, a pool, a beach sports area, a football field, a modern running track as well as tennis courts. For sports such as climbing or riding, the Sports Centre cooperates with various sports centres in and around Aachen. Most water sports courses offered by the Sports Centre take place at Wildenhof, a university-owned property the Rursee lake.
In addition, RWTH Aachen University has a very active staff sports association, which offers a range of sports and activities, from volleyball, football and table tennis to water sports and even the card game skat. Taking part in sport is a great way of meeting colleagues from different disciplines and departments. Partners of RWTH employees can also participate in the sports on offer.The city of Aachen has numerous private sports centres and gyms, tennis, squash and badminton courts, an ice rink and a climbing wall. There are also several golf courses within easy reach of the city, five indoor swimming pools and one outdoor pool.
The implementation of accreditation processes is based on decisions made by the German Rectors' Conference, HRK for short, and the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, KMK for short, related to the restructuring of the classification system. Accreditation is a particular tool for quality assurance and control.
Based on 100 reviews
Overall the experience has been good, level of materials and teaching depends on professors and institute, however the overall level is good. The theoretical things can be hard and stressful, but you can get through if you invest the time and energy. The reputation of the University in the industry is also great and helpful for finding a job.
Somewhat high turnover rate for staff in my degrees (e.g. History) and apparent focus on technical fields rather than social studies, but helpful for my career, and Aachen is a great place overall with short distances and good public transport
The university has a lot of to offer. There are free language and IT courses, workshops and lectures for every subject and a great support service for issues concerning students. The professors are great too. Also, the university offers a lot of student jobs so you can already gain practical experience in your field while still studying.
The Global Student Satisfaction Awards empower students across the globe to determine the best universities of 2025. Universities with a score above 4.0 (out of 5) in any of the 7 award categories, receive Badges of Excellence. Congratulations!
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