Hamburg University of Applied Sciences


The Hamburg University of Applied Sciences is a higher education and applied research institution located in Hamburg, Germany. Formerly known as Fachhochschule Hamburg, the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1970. In terms of student enrolment, the HAW is the second-largest university in Hamburg and the third-largest applied sciences university in Germany, with a student body of 17,100.

History

The Hamburg University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1970 as the Fachhochschule Hamburg. Four engineering schools and six vocational schools were brought together with the goal of developing a new form of higher education. The focus was on the application of knowledge, with degree programmes that included placements in industry, laboratory work and practice-related projects.
The Fachhochschule Hamburg initially had 13 departments. Its Business School was founded in 1994.
In 1998, as part of the increased internationalisation within higher education in Germany, the Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs allowed the Fachhochschulen to add 'university of applied sciences' to their names. In 2001, the Fachhochschule Hamburg decided to take this a step further and changed its German name to Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg, which more closely reflected the English name, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.
All of the Bachelor's programmes offered at the university are taught in German, with the exception of Information Engineering, which offers both English and German options.
At the end of 2007, the Faculty of Business and Public Management and the Faculty of Social Work and Nursing were joined to form one faculty. Today the university has four faculties at four different campus locations in Hamburg:
As of 1 January 2006, the Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geomatics departments joined the building faculties of two other Hamburg universities to become the new HafenCity University.

Faculties

HAW Hamburg has partnerships with various other universities, including the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, the University of Huelva and the Institute of Technology Tallaght in Dublin. A 'joint college' collaboration between HAW Hamburg and the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology offers Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering degree courses to Chinese students. A third of the courses take place at the University of Shanghai campus.
HAW Hamburg partners with California State University – Long Beach every fall and summer for a short-term study abroad programme. German students host CSULB students in the summer and are hosted in the fall in return.
HAW Hamburg also partners with the Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech.

Campuses

The HAW has four campuses. The main campus and official address is in St. Georg; the Bergedorf Campus is in Lohbrügge.