Guiding Principle of the University of Siegen
The overall goal of the University of Siegen is to contribute to a humane future and to take responsibility for people and society. This is reflected in the guiding principle of the University of Siegen: shaping a humane future.
It is in the self-concept of the University of Siegen to link regional responsibility for education, training and societal issues with the internationally customary claims on teaching, study, research and knowledge transfer, and to pursue the evolution of these issues as a permanent task.
This includes:
- the targeted promotion of students and young academics
- the independence and freedom of scientific research and teaching
- the promotion of the idea of the European Higher Education Area, internationality and mobility
- the interdisciplinary research and teaching
- the professionalisation of teacher training
- the establishment of a quality culture
- the commitment to diversity and equal opportunities
- as well as the principle of participation and co-responsibility.
Studies and Teaching
The University of Siegen has gained in attractiveness in the past few years – as the significant increase in student numbers proves. From architecture to business engineering, the university offers a versatile, high-quality program.
Across all degree programs, students have the opportunity to choose individual areas of focus and take interdisciplinary courses. Students receive personalized and expert support and guidance—from choosing a major and organizing their studies to successfully graduating. The university offers many opportunities for students to get actively involved and put what they’ve learned into practice.
The University of Siegen has interesting research focuses that are incorporated into the corresponding degree programs. The university’s offerings are also distinguished by numerous unique degree programs whose combination sets them apart nationwide. One example is the “Plural Economics” program, which, in addition to business administration, also provides knowledge in areas such as communication, ethics, and organizational development.
The various degree programs in the field of media studies are very popular: Many students specifically choose the University of Siegen as their place of study to benefit from its wide-ranging and well-founded curriculum.
Another area of distinction is the outstanding teacher training program with a focus on special education. As the university’s central academic institution, the Center for Teacher Education and Educational Research (ZLB) coordinates and organizes the interdisciplinary and cross-school teacher training programs.
With its degree program in “German and European Economic Law,” the university has successfully introduced yet another innovative approach. The program combines business administration with business law, thus offering an alternative to traditional degree programs. As an internationally oriented university, the University of Siegen naturally also offers a range of English-language degree programs.
Research
The University of Siegen is a research university with the goal of promoting and expanding qualitatively excellent, internationally recognized research. The leitmotif "Shaping the future in a human way" characterizes the mission and the actions.
Four internationally visible and interdisciplinary profile areas and research foci focus the university's profile in research. They are characterized by long-standing research strengths in basic research. In addition, there are three areas of competence in which the university supports research activities that pick up on forward-looking trends and shape and help shape new areas of research.
Sustainability mission statement of the University of Siegen
Sustainability in its broadest sense refers to all efforts to shape human activities in such a way that the systems affected by these activities are permanently protected from damage, especially from irreversible depletion of resources, and that nature and society are preserved as livable environments for us as well as for future generations.
Sustainability is undisputedly a central topic of the present, which is reflected in the thinking and actions of the University of Siegen. Taking responsibility and acting as a role model for this is already laid out in the university's mission statement "Shaping the future humanely" and permeates all of its service areas:
- The University of Siegen pursues sustainability in research.
- The University of Siegen anchors sustainability in teaching.
- The University of Siegen strengthens its own sustainable actions and the sustainability of its infrastructures.
- The University of Siegen transfers the idea of sustainability to its regional environment and incorporates its self-image.
All members of the University of Siegen are committed to this sustainability model.
The University of Siegen's sustainability model is implemented against the background of its specific profile, which is oriented towards both society and basic research. Within the university, this is characterized by academic structures that allow for an interlocking of sustainability-related research, teaching and cooperation in and with the environment in the sense of transdisciplinary reflection. From an external perspective, the University of Siegen is integrated into international and regional networks with the context specifics of the rural area. This results in a characteristic combination for the University of Siegen:
- Networking with actors in the entire research cycle and project-based teaching concepts - regional to international.
- Civil society participative formats with direct resonance and feedback
- Possibility to create internal and external sustainability laboratories.
The University of Siegen combines theory-oriented basic research and application research and positions itself in many ways as a participant observer: On the one hand, the university as an institution addresses the topic of sustainability with a focus on "realization in a university"; in other words, it tracks and evaluates its own sustainability activities under the criterion of sustainability. On the other hand, the University of Siegen scientifically accompanies how sustainability impacts from a region into a region. It observes and moderates in a praxeological-reflexive process, in which all relevant participants are involved, how people shape the connection between intentions and consequences of sustainable action.