Leibniz University Hannover
Universities and higher education institutions that can award doctorates
Founded 1831
28.078 Students
147 Study Programmes
"Cookie monster detective story"
Short information

Type of control

under public law

Location

Hannover

Semester dates

Winter Semester from 1st of October to 31th of March Summer Semester from 1st of April to 30th of September
University

Leibniz University Hannover

Welfengarten 1
D-30167 Hannover
Tel.: (+49) 511 762 0

University - The Particular

With a student population of around 28,000, Leibniz University Hannover is the largest university in Lower Saxony. Leibniz University offers a very wide range of study options, covering some 90 subjects and more than 180 degree programmes and partial study programmes. The scope ranges from the natural sciences and engineering to the humanities and social sciences, to economics, management and law. Research activities in the university's key interdisciplinary and international areas of mechanical engineering, physics and biomedicine are continuously expanding.

Study Programme - Main Focus

Leibniz University covers a wide range of subjects in both teaching and research, whereby it has a particularly long tradition of expertise in all technical subjects. Research activities focus on production technology, quantum optics/gravitation physics and biomedical engineering. Students can also specialise in these areas. Another area of specialisation at Leibniz University is teacher training, featuring its Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung, an initiative to improve the quality of teacher training, and the newly established Leibniz School of Education.

Background - The Insight

The predecessor of Leibniz University Hannover started out in 1831 with 64 students. The subsequent College of Technology became the University of Hannover in 1978. In 2006, it was given the name Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover. Several important scientists studied or conducted research here, including the chemical scientist Gerhard Ertl (Nobel Prize in 2007), the first German female with a Diplom degree in engineering Ilse Knott ter-Meer, and Fritz Strassmann, who discovered nuclear fission. In 2016, the physicist Karsten Danzmann and his team were instrumental in providing evidence of gravitational waves for the first time.

What's special here?

In 2013, Leibniz University became one of the settings in the "cookie monster detective story". Unknown perpetrators had stolen a brass Leibniz biscuit weighing 20 kilos from the façade of the Bahlsen building in Hannover. They demanded the donation of biscuits to a children's hospital and cash donations to an animal shelter. The biscuit finally turned up again – suspended from the neck of the Saxon Steed statue in front of the university.

Viele Studierende winken vom Schild der Universität Hannover vor dem Hauptgebäude

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Studierende in der Bibliothek der Universität Hannover

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Drei Studierende arbeiten im Elektrotechnik-Labor der Universität Hannover

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Studierende im naturwissenschaftlichen Labor der Universität Hannover

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Ein Lehrender erklärt zwei Studierenden etwas vor einer Tafel voller mathematischer Gleichungen

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Blick in den großen Wellenkanal der Universität Hannover

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Lichthof der Universität Hannover voller junger Menschen bei den Hochschulinformationstagen

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Historischer Hörsaal an der Universität Hannover

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Historisches Hauptgebäude der Universität Hannover

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Historisches Hauptgebäude der Universität Hannover

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Studierende in der Mensa der Universität Hannover

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Das historische Hauptgebäude der Universität Hannover hinter einem herbstlichen Park mit See

© Leibniz Universität Hannover

Sounds great! What's next?

Degree programmes of all universities in Lower Saxony can be found in our study programme search. Click here for all study programmes offered by Leibniz University Hannover: