Jena

Thinking without Limits

Nothing is very far away in Jena. One can live nestled in a forested area and can be in the center of the city in a matter of minutes, and vice versa. There are no clear-cut borders, neither urban nor intellectual. There are shortcuts in Jena, even in the figurative sense: through personal connections amoung the scientists/academics themselves and also between academics and the authorities of both: city and economy/business. In this manner, proposals for research and teaching receive a speedy and uncomplicated jump-start – and creativity can run wild. Many Jenaer academics attest to the fact that there are no mental restictions here, and they utilize this freedom for innovative projects above and beyond departmental limitations.

Rooted inTradition, Focused on the Future

The constant production of new ideas, or the reevaluation of the known – that is a main strength of this 1558 founded University on the Saale, the only university in the state of Thuringia with allmost all subjects. With the backing of great names such as Goethe, Schiller, Döbereiner, Hegel, Fichte, Schelling, Haeckel, Abbe and Zeiss, this "High School" founded by the provincial ruler Johann Friedrich I now presents itself as a modern university whose academics from varied disciplines belong to the elite researchers on the cutting edge of their respective fields.