Mission Statement and Teaching Constitution

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is committed to uniting excellent research with excellent teaching: Teaching on the pulse of science.

The superlative reputation of our graduates bears testimony to our successful union of professional training with cutting-edge research. The current Times Higher Education (THE) "Global University Employability Ranking" has ranked TUM 6th worldwide — framed by Stanford and Princeton. In the "Academic Ranking of World Universities" (ARWU, Shanghai Ranking), we have been included in Germany‘s top trio year after year.

The following TUM Teaching Constitution has been drawn up in response to the recommendations of the German Council of Science and Humanities in 2017 to document our institution’s self-concept as a place of learning and teaching. Taking our 2011 teaching mission statement as its starting point, the TUM Teaching Constitution goes a step further by providing a detailed set of transdisciplinary guidelines and principles of instruction drawn from current scientific, technological, social and didactic developments. In particular, we account for the new challenges and possibilities arising from digitalization that complement the range of contemporary instructional approaches, both in terms of teaching content and format.

This document serves as the basis for concrete and binding goals for the continued enhancement of teaching at TUM, which have been defined collaboratively by the TUM schools and departments, together with the Integrative Research Centers. TUM AGENDA 2030 heralds our commitment to the large-scale expansion of the humanities, social and educational sciences in an effort to imbue our graduates with an understanding of the social impact of our respective disciplines during their studies. A "Human-Centric Engineering and Future Design" thus replaces the traditional, narrowly disciplinary focus of educational content and structures with inter- and cross-disciplinary education (Scientiis et Artibus) that will prepare our graduates for the future.

Munich, 10 December 2018

Wolfgang A. Herrmann
President

At Technische Universität München (TUM), students are trained in scientific inquiry; for this reason, our academic programs place a special emphasis on the principles of research as well as advances in the sciences. TUM conveys in-depth knowledge in a wide range of fields, including interdisciplinary studies that transcend the boundaries of individual subjects. In this way, TUM strives to equip its graduates for successful careers in the international job market. As part of our multitier academic framework, our bachelor's programs offer a broad academic foundation, while our master's programs provide advanced training in specialized areas.

TUM's teaching staff and students are engaged in a joint effort to achieve their educational goals. Students are treated as partners and encouraged to assume responsibility for their studies by means such as course co-design, constructive feedback, and innovative follow-up techniques.

Good teaching yields optimum results when it is founded on a lively, open dialogue between teaching staff and students. Since both are heterogeneous groups - the former because of differing personalities and teaching styles, the latter because of distinctive study techniques and varying degrees of prior expertise – teaching methods can never be reduced to rules or checklists. Rather, academic instruction should be seen as a process in which the diversity of all persons involved is valued and utilized to best advantage.

In an open society, science and innovation are built on a solid foundation of freedom, democracy, human rights, and transparency. In this context, diversity stands for mutual respect and the integration of all qualified individuals into the scientific community - regardless of their gender, nationality, religion, worldview, disability, age, or sexual orientation. Only in this way can the talents and abilities of every member of society reach their maximum potential. Furthermore, as a technical university, TUM accords a particularly high priority to gender issues arising in all diversity contexts.

TUM's academic programs are geared towards scientific research. All members of our teaching staff are involved in research, which enables them to integrate up-to-the-minute findings into their course content on a continual basis.

Effective teaching makes the principles of scientific inquiry tangible and comprehensible - and calls for an assiduous quest for scientific insights, a readiness to take risks, the ability to cope with uncertainty, the capacity for critical analysis, the stamina for in-depth thematic exploration, and due consideration for intellectual property.

At TUM, all teaching and learning is centered around the skill set students are expected to acquire by the time they graduate - which encompasses not only specialized expertise but also extradisciplinary skills. By means of well-crafted instructional units interspersed with self-study phases and examination periods, students can attain these competencies step by step. With a particular view toward strengthening intrinsic motivation – which, after all, is the ultimate catalyst for learning - each teaching unit is designed to show a direct connection to the learning outcomes that have been defined for the respective degree program.

TUM's teaching staff provides students with ample opportunity to offer constructive input that can help shape course content, both within and outside the classroom.

TUM's academic infrastructure promotes effective teaching and learning by encouraging its students and lecturers to collaborate in the design of degree programs. Furthermore, TUM offers a strong incentive system as well as numerous avenues of recognition for its teaching staff.

TUM provides a variety of platforms where its students and lecturers can voice their ideas concerning the optimization of academic content. This strategy has already proven beneficial during a series of projects in which students collaborated closely with teaching staff and the Executive Board on a wide range of issues including the allocation of tuition funds, the conferral of awards for excellence in teaching, and the authorization of sabbaticals.

TUM attracts students from all over the world, and we encourage and support study sojourns at various distinguished universities abroad. With its superb global network and its numerous visiting lecturers and international students, TUM offers a thoroughly cosmopolitan academic milieu.

An academic community that has set its sights on excellence must constantly adapt to changing constellations of teaching staff, students, research findings, and degree program requirements. Toward this end, TUM has established a feedback, evaluation, and discussion system for all stakeholders directly or indirectly involved in university teaching – from degree program coordinators and teaching staff to students and university service center employees.