Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences (German: Hochschule Osnabrück, formerly Fachhochschule Osnabrück) is a university of applied science in Lower Saxony, whose administrative centre is in Osnabrück. It has existed in its current form since 2003, having originally opened in 1971. Some of its departments can be traced back to engineering schools and other colleges operating as early as the 1950s.
Since 1 January 2003, the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences has been a foundation with legal capacity under public law. The university has sites in the Osnabrück districts of Westerberg and Haste along with another site in Lingen in Emsland, which is due to be expanded under the terms of the Hochschulpakt 2020 (University Pact 2020) programme. The lecture halls, seminar rooms and laboratories belonging to the schools of Engineering and Computer Science and Business Management and Social Sciences are located in Westerberg. The School of Agricultural Sciences and Landscape Architecture and its teaching buildings, laboratories and greenhouses are located in the Haste district, in the middle of a 5-hectare park on the verge of the Wiehen Hills, they are a hill range in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in Germany.
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History
Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences was established in 1971 as a merger of several predecessor institutions, with the Department of Economics being founded at this time. The university’s origins can be traced back to the following educational establishments:
The School of Engineering and Computer Science evolved from the Staatliche Ingenieurschule Osnabrück (Osnabrück State Engineering School), which was founded in 1962.
The School of Agricultural Sciences and Landscape Architecture has its roots in the Höhere Landbauschule (Higher Agricultural School) in Quakenbrück, founded in 1936. This institution relocated to Osnabrück in 1952 and was later integrated into the Fachhochschule Osnabrück.
The Institute of Music originated from the Städtisches Konservatorium Osnabrück (Osnabrück Public Music Academy), which was founded in 1919. It became part of the Fachhochschule in 1996.
In 1987 the Fachhochschule established West Germany’s first ever professorship of nursing science.
From 1995 to 2000, the Fachhochschule was one of the model higher education institutions featured in the initiative “Modellvorhaben für eine Erprobung der globalen Steuerung von Hochschulhaushalten in Niedersachsen” (Model Projects for a Trial of Global Management of University Budgets in Lower Saxony), whose results have since been integrated into legislation concerning higher education in the state.
The university's transfer over to the foundation set up in its name ("Stiftung Fachhochschule Osnabrück") in 2003 brought about various organizational changes, such as the establishment of a foundation council (chaired by Helga Schuchardt). By 2006, the new foundation of the Fachhochschule had become one of the largest public law foundations in Germany by expenditure.
The new building on the Caprivi Campus in Westerberg was dedicated in 2004; the School of Business Management and Social Sciences has been using the barracks grounds since 1998. That year also saw the start of the German Network for Quality Development in Care, whose offices are located at the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences and whose role is to develop care and national expert standards in this sector.
Departments
The university is made up of four faculties and the Institute of Music.
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Landscape Architecture (AuL)
Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science (IuI)
Faculty of Business Management and Social Sciences (WiSo)
Faculty of Management, Culture and Technology (MKT, Lingen campus)
Institute of Music (IfM)
Research
A number of core areas for internal research were allocated for 2012 to focus the university's research activities and encourage more successful projects with greater potential for innovation. At present the university has 12 main research areas:
Forschungszentrum Energiewirtschaft Energierecht (Research Centre for the Energy Industry and Energy Law)
KOMOBAR – Decision Strategies and Communicative Structures for Cooperative Mobile Work Machines in Agriculture
Mobile Communications
Applied Research Focus – Automated Systems
Intelligent Sensor Systems
Precision Farming als Instrument der interdisziplinären potenzialorientierten Landnutzung (Precision Farming as an Instrument for Interdisciplinary, Potential-Oriented Land Use)
Optimisation of Business Processes in the Logistics Chain
Patient- and Client-oriented Concepts for the Systemisation of Nursing Practice
Development and Implementation of Expert Standards in Care
Reproductive Health for Women and Families
Konzeptionierung und Einführung einer praxisintegrierenden elektronischen Lernbasis (Conception and Introduction of Practice-Integrated, Electronic Learning Methods)
SafeConnect
From 2012 to 2016, the Volkswagen Foundation agreed to give Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences around 1 million euro to assist with the soil science research project "Rüwola" in cooperation with the HAWK University of Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen. In December 2011, eight research applications from the University of Applied Sciences for grants from the European Regional Development Fund (with a total value of roughly 1 million euro) were approved.
International collaborations
Most of the university's schools offer courses with a European or international basis, along with a year abroad at one of the institution's many partner universities.
In cooperation with Buckinghamshire New University in the United Kingdom, the School of Business Management and Social Sciences offers an MBA programme. It is a three-year part-time course with attendance periods and enables students to acquire understanding of management and leadership abilities. Lecturers for this course consist of academics from partner universities along with business experts. Graduates will receive a double diploma: one which awards them the title of Master of Business Administration from both Bucks New and Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. The British partner university is located in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.
Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences also collaborates with universities in China; alongside Hefei University, an international study course in logistics management (called "LOGinCHINA") is offered – this is based on Osnabrück's Business Administration and Management (B.A.) course. Along with Münster's university of applied sciences and the Saxion Hogeschool in Enschede, Netherlands, an MBA course in International Supply Chain Management is offered. In cooperation with Beijing Normal University, the Danube University Krems and the University of Tampere, an Erasmus+ Joint master's degree (Master in Research and Innovation in Higher Education) was introduced in 2012.
The university is one of seven members of the German university federation "Alliance for Excellence" (UAS7).
Study conditions and events
At Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, the student-to-lecturer ratio is relatively favorable. The campus features several green spaces, and while it includes numerous older buildings, many of these have been renovated, with ongoing improvements.
The university also hosts the Terrassenfest music festival, held annually in April and May, which attracts attendees beyond the student community.
In the 2005 CHE rankings, the Business Law program was recognized among the top courses, and in the 2007 CHE Bachelor's rankings, two programs offered by the School of Business Management and Social Sciences received high ratings.
Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences participates in the Formula Student Germany racing competition, with an interdisciplinary team, known as the "Ignition Racing Team," consisting of around 40 students from the Schools of Engineering and Computer Science and Business Management and Social Sciences.
Personalities and alumni
Notable teachers and former teachers
Kurt Bodewig, honorary professor in traffic logistics
Helge Breloer, lectureship in auditing and determining wood value
Andreas Frey
Heinz Rudolf Kunze
Roland Pröll
Florian Weber
Notable graduates
Reinhold Hilbers, member of the Landtag of Lower Saxony
Anne Ross, singer
Jendrik Sigwart, singer
Rainer Spiering, member of the Bundestag
Aloys Wobben, electrical engineer, former owner and manager of Enercon
The university in popular media
In the (Charlotte) Lindholm-centred 2007 Tatort episode "Das namenlose Mädchen" (The Nameless Girl), which takes place in Osnabrück, the murder victim attends a course at the university. Filming took place in August and September 2006 at various locations including Haste, the University of Osnabrück and also at a student residence. The Caprivi campus of the School of Business Msnagement and Social Sciences is also featured in the 2008 made-for-TV film "Vertraute Angst" (Familiar Fear) from ARD, in which it is used as the setting for a psychiatric clinic.
In 2007, filming of the 2008 documentary drama "Remarque – Sein Weg zum Ruhm" (Remarque – His Path to Fame) took place at the Caprivi campus; it revolves around the author Erich Maria Remarque, who underwent military training at the Caprivi barracks in Osnabrück.