Faculty MIN at the University of Hamburg celebrates 20 years of success and innovation!

Faculty MIN at the University of Hamburg celebrates 20 years of success and innovation!

Today, October 10, 2025, the Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Natural Sciences (MIN) at the University of Hamburg is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The celebrations, which took place in the Audimax, offered a great opportunity to look back on two decades of interdisciplinary collaboration that combines mathematics, computer science and natural sciences. The focus of the event was greetings from university president Prof. Dr. Hauke ​​Heekeren and Dean Prof. Dr.-Ing. Norbert Ritter.

The MIN Faculty, which now has 8,500 students, including 1,800 doctoral and teaching students, is the largest faculty at the University of Hamburg and offers a total of 200 professorships and 370 academic staff. Former deans, such as Prof. Dr. Arno Frühwald and Prof. Dr. Heinrich Graener, recalled in their speeches the central milestones of this faculty, which consistently aims to promote exchange between disciplines.

Research in focus

A central theme during the ceremony was the responsibility of the faculty in a time of change and uncertainty, especially with regard to developments in academic freedom. In recent months there have been increasing attacks on research and teaching worldwide, which have not gone unnoticed in Germany. The faculty has set itself the task of sharpening its profile, intensifying interdisciplinary research and strengthening dialogue with society and politics. Prof. Dr. Christoph Dartmann and Prof. Dr. Kristin Merle will address these challenges in an upcoming lecture in the winter semester and address the tension between academic freedom, political commitment and international developments.

There will also be a scientific symposium on Friday at the Bahrenfeld research campus. Current projects in the areas of “Life Science”, “Materials” and “Quantum Science and Technologies” are presented here, making the faculty a hotspot for innovative research in many promising disciplines.

Diversity at events

Parallel to these celebrations, the PIER Graduate Week also takes place in the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science. This interdisciplinary week for graduate students includes a variety of lectures and workshops in areas such as particle and astroparticle physics, nanoscience, photon science, and infection and structural biology. Soft skills courses will also be offered from October 10th to 13th.

For all those interested in languages ​​who want to explore new horizons, language courses in Filipino (Tagalog) and Khmer start from October 13th at the Asia-Africa Institute at the University of Hamburg. There are also a number of events to promote science communication and support students, including an open event for new postdocs on October 14th.

Science, further education and cultural diversity are very important - and the University of Hamburg invites both faculty members and external guests to take part in these exciting events. The themes and formats of these events wink at selected areas of contemporary society that offer both challenges and opportunities.