TUM Campus Heilbronn
As part of an initiative of the charitable foundation Dieter Schwarz Stiftung, TUM has set up a facility for academic instruction and research at its Heilbronn Campus. TUM Campus Heilbronn focuses on the areas of digital transformation management, family-run businesses and information technology. It shares the vision, mission, values and strategy of the Technical University Munich, the TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology and the TUM School of Management. TUM Campus Heilbronn was inaugurated at the start of the winter semester 2018/2019.
TUM and the charitable foundation Dieter Schwarz Stiftung have signed an endowment agreement for eleven professorships in different areas of information technology. The professorships are completely financed by the private endowment initially for 30 years, including required equipment and infrastructure. Nine professorships are located at TUM Campus Heilbronn and the other two at TUM’s campus in Garching. In 2018, Dieter Schwarz Stiftung first sponsored 20 professorships in economics, 13 of which are based in Heilbronn. In 2022, Dieter Schwarz Stiftung increased its long-standing commitment by another ten to a total of 32 professorships at the TUM School of Management and the TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology in Heilbronn. The endowment funds are not tied to any conditions and the agreement is based on the TUM Fundraising Code of Conduct, which excludes donors from exerting influence on research and academic instruction.
From the sensor via the IT system to the business model
With this endowment, TUM Campus Heilbronn establishes a one-of-a-kind interdisciplinary profile in the intersecting fields of management and information technology. Information engineering will play a key role: New digital technologies provide companies with increasing opportunities to gather, link and evaluate information. Information engineering considers the entire chain from the sensor via the IT system to the business model and is thus an important element of the digital transformation. Interdisciplinary research involving the professorships in management examines how companies can shape the far-reaching and rapid technological transformation now underway, as this is one of the decisive issues for Germany’s future as an international business hub. The focus here is on technology start-ups and family-run businesses, which characterize the region of Heilbronn-Franken with its numerous “hidden champions”.
At this successful high-tech campus, TUM educates the next generation of managers and scientists, who will be optimally prepared for their roles in technology-driven companies. The degree programs available at the campus, which currently include two bachelor’s and two master’s degree programs (School of Computation, Information and Technology: B.Sc. Information Engineering; School of Management: B.Sc. Management & Technology, M.Sc. Management, M.Sc. Management and Innovation), are expected to be expanded by a new master’s program in each school in the coming academic year. Moreover, a part-time master’s program and a new MBA program are planned, which combine the disciplines of management and information technology.
Our degree programs in Heilbronn
- Bachelor in Information Engineering (pilot phase)
- Master in Information Engineering (start in winter semester 2024/25)
“Contribution towards shaping the digital transformation”
“We're delighted that the Dieter Schwarz Stiftung has again shown their trust and is expanding one of the most important endowments in the history of higher education in Germany,,” says TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann. “With the new professorships, we are creating an outstanding academic program in Heilbronn, combining informatics and management sciences, that will be unrivalled in Germany. It represents an important contribution to shaping the digital transformation. In this way, in times of the coronavirus pandemic, we are delivering power impetus to help secure future employment and prosperity in our country.”
“To strengthen tomorrow's society and economy, we need extraordinary innovations in the field of informatics, which will fundamentally transform our future working world” explains Prof. Reinhold R. Geilsdörfer, the Director of the foundation Dieter Schwarz Stiftung. “The 11 additional endowed professorships will contribute to the study of the transformation processes in our region and support companies in the digital transformation.”
Information Technology at TUM – among the top programs in Germany
The TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology works at the highest international level. For example, the Information Technology program at TUM is ranked in 10th place worldwide by the renowned Times Higher Education organization in its “World University Ranking by Subject 2023”. Students also give the academic instruction and conditions for studying at TUM top ratings (CHE-Ranking). The former TUM Department of Informatics, which merged into the School of Computation, Information and Technology, developed quite dynamically in the past few years with 49 professorships and was the largest department at TUM with 7,700 students until the School of Computation, Information and Technology was founded.
One of the strengths of the TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology is its close networking with the engineering, natural sciences, life sciences and social sciences departments. Thus, its collaboration with the School of Management in Heilbronn has strong foundations. Several programs are designed together with the School of Management, and numerous professors are members of both schools, such as Prof. Helmut Krcmar, the founding dean of the TUM Campus Heilbronn.