Short version: UW/H in five minutes

Germany’s first private university was founded in Witten in 1983. We feel committed to Humboldt’s educational ideas and interpret them in new, even radical ways. Our focus is on the individual student, the development of his or her personal preferences and potentials. We strive to be an entrepreneurial university and to integrate research, teaching and practical application. Student education at UW/H has a strong reference to practice, value orientation and personal growth.

Witten/Herdecke University started with the intention to reform. In 1983 the founders wanted to revise the medical curriculum thoroughly, offering more and earlier patient contacts. The aim was to educate physicians who have the human being in mind and not the scientific case. Current approbation regulations for medical doctors follow the Witten model. The main focus at our Faculty of Health on outcomes research again provides us with a head start. Numerous universities have copied our concept of problem oriented learning. 

Our students get the time and scope for personal growth and development of individual talents. As a private non-profit company UW/H is organized like a business enterprise; the budget consists mainly of proceeds from services rendered and private donations, research grants and third-party funds. We start new study programs where we recognize a demand, like the new and consistently interdisciplinary Bachelor course in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, or Germany’s first Master course in Family Business Management. In research we also strive for new perspectives, e.g. in exploring family businesses – a much neglected topic in economics.

We aim to attract not most but the very best students. No numerus clausus for UW/H; personality and job experience are the core criteria. Applicants undergo individual selection procedures with extensive personal interviews. We do not ask for high school grades or financial background; we wish to get an idea of an applicant’s talents and motivation. 

To give you an idea: we prefer lateral thinkers, characters, individuals who are nor afraid to break new ground, who make the most of what is offered, career changers, globetrotters, social entrepreneurs. 

An inverse contract between student generations, a concept designed by our students in 1995 and unique in Germany, supports equal opportunities in education. The student association “StudierendenGesellschaft Witten/Herdecke e.V.” ensures that tuition fees are socially acceptable. Nobody shall be excluded from studies at UW/H for financial reasons. The idea is: study today and pay tomorrow. Tuition fees are an investment in a student’s future.

Witten/Herdecke students are encouraged to organize their studies like entrepreneurs. In the GründerWerkstatt (start-up factory), an educational approach that received several awards, first-year economics students develop marketeable ideas for their own business. These ideas are traded on a virtual stock exchange, and the idea with the highest market value wins a start-up capital for implementation. Many UW/H students and graduates are or will be active as entrepreneurs in their own right – not only physicians and dentists who in their majority are self-employed but also a rather high percentage (15 per cent) of economics graduates.  

Comprehensive job experience gained during university studies is a decisive competitive advantage in starting a career.

From the first semester, medical training is oriented to the job to be done after graduation: problem based learning and training in affiliated clinics and surgeries serve to keep the focus on patients and job experience. 

Close cooperation among theoreticians and practitioners is also the norm at the Faculty of Management and Economics, e.g. at the Reinhard Mohn Institute of Management and Corporate Governance (RMI), or at the Witten Institute of Family Business (WIFU) with a select circle of supporters from 40 family firms and a network of excellent connections. GründerWerkstatt, the mentor company concept, the so-called marriage market as a trading place for internships, and “Wittener Tandem” are all elements of our educational approach to prepare students for professional practice from the very start. As a result, 95 per cent of UW/H students already have a secure professional perspective upon graduation. 

The topics addressed with priority at UW/H are located somewhere between economics, culture and health, which is just as well, since future challenges will not respect the boundaries of academic disciplines. Fundamental studies are a core element of UW/H identity; often copied, but still unique, the concept stands for a wide range of perspectives between reflection, communication and arts. Fundamental studies help to think outside the box of one’s own academic subject and give a lead in solving complex problems. 

Witten leaves an impression. During their time at UW/H our students learn what it means to act as an entrepreneur, as part of a team. We demand and encourage initiative and responsibility; in university bodies, in the representation of student affairs, in the design of courses, congress organization or implementation of business ideas – but also in student-organized social initiatives, development of socially acceptable payment modes of tuition fees, even in university shareholder meeting. Our students show tremendous commitment and assume responsibility for their university, themselves and ultimately for society. 

Interested? Come and see for yourself. Our Open Days offer a number of seminars you may want to try, insights into fundamental studies, comprehensive information on the Faculties of Health, Management and Economics, and Humanities and Arts, and ample opportunities to talk to teachers and students. In addition, students present extra-curricular initiatives. If you want more information, you may spend an individually organized day here during lecture periods.

We are open to all kinds of suggestions, irritations and complaints. Put our relationship skills to the test, either as an applicant, prospective employee, or potential supporter and sponsor.   

This was the 5-minute presentation of UW/H. Do you want to know more, get a personal impression? Write or give us a call. We shall be pleased to answer your questions or arrange for an individual programme geared to your interests.

Dr. Eric Alexander Hoffmann
University Spokesman and Head of Communications
Witten/Herdecke University
Phone +49-2302/926-808
eric.hoffmannwe dont want spam@no spamuni-wh.de

Kristin Keitlinghaus
University Development
Witten/Herdecke University
Phone +49-2302/926-919
kristin.keitlinghauswe dont want spam@no spamuni-wh.de