Strategic university development

Technical University of Applied Sciences (THWS) strives to further increase the internationalisation of the University. The aim is for THWS members to further develop their intercultural competences and to promote international mobility by target group specific measures. By this, international exchange and the global network of THWS will be expanded. As profitable cooperation partner, THWS strives to increase its visibility in the areas of study, teaching and research not only within Europe but also worldwide. In 2014, THWS was the first German higher education institution to offer the concept of TWIN degree programmes, which is unique in Germany. THWS is planning to create a network with international partner universities based on this foundation. The long-term goal is to establish World TWINdegree programmes, which follow the concept of bilingual teaching (English and the national language), and  which match the curricula of THWS programmes. Another important characteristic of these programmes is to promote networking between national and international students, and to qualify students for the international market. With the Internationalisation@Home-concept, THWS also contributes significantly to the Main-Franconian region. The looming skills shortage will be met by the (continuing) education of international students.

The digitisation strategy of the University aims to further expand transnational teaching, and to gradually adapt processes within the internationalisation strategy.

The internationalisation strategy at THWS is accompanied and driven by various, University-wide projects and cooperations and in particular by THWS International. For an overview of all strategic projects, please click here.

Our society is constantly moving towards a digitised future. Particularly the industries and the economy are facing major challenges due to increasing productivity and growing competitive pressure. With its significant competence in the area of applied research in robotics and artificial intelligence, THWS supports the creation of an interface between technology, industry and society.  The Institute of Digital Engineering (IDEE) is taking the lead with its numerous research projects.

To meet the digitisation strategy in the area of study and teaching, THWS set up the Centre for Digital Education as early as 2018. It’s focus is to create a symbiosis of digital teaching, learning and exam components, which optimally prepares all University members for the disruptive changes and challenges of society, economy and education.

The digitisation strategy is also applied to the university organisation. Looking ahead, the focus is increasingly placed on digitisation and automation of administration processes. One of the long-term goals is to completely replace paper-based processes with digital solutions.

The climate is changing. In the short- and long-term, targeted measures must be found to protect the natural shield of the earth against heavy CO2-greenhouse gas emissions. The Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt effectively contributes to teaching and research in order to help reduce climate-damaging emissions. The planned Institute “Zero Carbon” intends to promote research in the area of sustainable energy systems, and of applied energy and sustainability research. In order to educate specialists for industry and economy, THWS is expanding the study portfolio. The flagship of this endeavour, the Bachelor’s degree programme Hydrogen Technology, has been offered since 2021 and is unique in Germany.

The development strategy of THWS includes equality-oriented personnel recruitment and development, which THWS will increasingly take care of in the coming years. This task will be of central importance in the coming years, especially due to new professorships to be advertised in the High-Tech Agenda Bavaria. Therefore, the Women's Representative or Representative for Equality of Women in Science will also advise the faculties and the THWS management on all development issues.

In addition to the established possibility of organising individual cooperative doctorates with universities in Germany and abroad for graduates of THWS, institutional structures for this have existed since 2018 with the colleagues of the Bavarian Science Forum (BayWISS), which make it possible to recruit more women as doctoral candidates.

Employing women in particular to work in research and teaching is also part of the equal opportunities work at THWS. THWS has set itself the goal of implementing gender equality activities across the board and systematically anchoring and evaluating them at all levels.

The topic of gender equality is to be taken into account in all decisions regarding resources and personnel. An important step in the field of academic staff is the inclusion of the cascade model. The model is used to concretely determine the target proportion of women when filling professorships. The values of the target proportion make it possible to check the effectiveness of the measures at any time.

As a university of applied sciences, we value a study, research and work environment in which all people can feel safe. We live the concepts of equal opportunities, tolerance and openness and stand against any form of violence, harassment, discrimination as well as discrimination based on gender, sexual identity, origin, religion or belief, age or disability.

Equality concept of THWS with Gender Equality Plan (available in German) (Version: 8 March 2023)

Barrier-free equality concept (non-official publication, available in German)

In future, the Main-Franconian region is faced with the following challenges: the demographic change, the increasing digitisation of economy and industry, the change in mobility, and especially the growing skills shortage. The Technical University of Applied Sciences (THWS) acts as a strong, supportive partner for the region by providing national and international skilled workers with (continuing) education for the region. Due to the close collaboration of THWS with regional companies, the University holds an interface role connecting students with the economy and industry. By the establishment of the new research institutes and competence centres for robotics and artificial intelligence, like the CAIRO, the University supports the Main-Franconian economic location as a whole. Regional networks are strengthened by knowledge and technology transfer. Here, special emphasis must be placed on the Technology Transfer Centre for E-mobility (TTZ-EMO), which was founded already in 2012 and has since conducted current research and development in the areas electronic energy technology, drive technology and electric mobility. With the development of additional technology transfer centres, the region will benefit from the expertise in applied research at THWS.

High quality standards are expected in all university areas. Thus, the quality management and development of THWS not only focusses on study, teaching and research, but also includes the promotion of young academics and the University administration. Already for a few years, THWS has been implementing an integrated, process-oriented and systematic quality management with the expansion of the quality and project management unit. With support of the accreditation unit, all degree programmes of THWS regularly undergo programme accreditations. Teaching evaluations and internal surveys as well as participation in national and international rankings aim to secure and develop quality in study and teaching. The development of a University-wide process management strives to standardise administration and strategic processes and increase their transparency to secure efficient processes at the University.

The Quality and project management unit actively supports the University with the implementation of the quality strategy.