Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Erlangen, Germany • Founded 1743 • QS 2027 #218 =
Updated May 2026 · Source: fau.de · How we collect data
Overview
Founded in 1743, the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg) is a non-profit public higher education institution located in the urban setting of the small city of Erlangen (population range of 50,000-249,999 inhabitants), Bavaria.
This institution also has a branch campus in Nuremberg. Officially recognized by the Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst (Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Art), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) is a very large-sized coeducational German higher education institution.
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) offers courses and programs leading to officially recognized higher education degrees such as bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and doctorate degrees in several areas of study. This 281-year-old German higher-education institution has a selective admission policy based on entrance examinations.
The acceptance rate range is 40-49% making this German higher education organization an averagely selective institution.
International students are welcome to apply for enrollment. FAU also provides several academic and non-academic facilities and services to students including a library, sports facilities, study abroad and exchange programs, as well as administrative services.
Location & Contact
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg's physical location and contact details are listed below.
Academic Details
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg's student body, faculty composition, and recognition framework are below.
Academic Structures
The academic units of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg are listed below.
Unit 5 items
- Faculty of Business, Economics and Law
- Faculty of Engineering
- Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Theology
- Faculty of Medicine
- Faculty of Sciences
Degrees
Also Teacher Training Diplom (Lehramt) in Primary Education and Secondary Education; Staatsexam in European Union Law, Law, Applied Chemistry, Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry.
Bachelor's 13 programs
- Arts and Humanities
- Business Administration
- Education
- Engineering
- Fine Arts
- Health Sciences
- Information Sciences
- Law
- Mathematics and Computer Science
- Natural Sciences
- Performing Arts
- Social Sciences
- Technology
Master's 77 programs
- Accountancy
- American Studies
- Ancient Civilizations
- Ancient Languages
- Applied Mathematics
- Arabic
- Art History
- Arts and Humanities
- Asian Studies
- Bioengineering
- Biological and Life Sciences
- Biology
- Biomedicine
- Biophysics
- Business Administration
- Business Education
- Cell Biology
- Chemical Engineering
- Chemistry
- Computer Engineering
- Computer Science
- Earth Sciences
- Economics
- Educational Sciences
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Electronic Engineering
- Energy Engineering
- Engineering
- English
- Environmental Studies
- Ethics
- Finance
- Fine Arts
- Geography
- Germanic Studies
- Gerontology
- Health Administration
- Health Sciences
- History
- Human Rights
- Immunology
- Industrial Engineering
- Information Technology
- International Business
- International Studies
- Islamic Studies
- Islamic Theology
- Jewish Studies
- Latin American Studies
- Library Science
- Linguistics
- Literature
- Management
- Marketing
- Mass Communication
- Materials Engineering
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Media Studies
- Medical Technology
- Medieval Studies
- Molecular Biology
- Multimedia
- Nanotechnology
- Optical Technology
- Pedagogy
- Philosophy
- Psychology
- Romance Languages
- Secondary Education
- Social Sciences
- Sociology
- Sports
- Taxation
- Telecommunications Engineering
- Thermal Engineering
- Vocational Education
Doctoral 7 programs
- Business Administration
- Engineering
- Law
- Medicine
- Natural Sciences
- Philosophy
- Theology
Other 1 program
- Religion
Faculties & Divisions
All faculties operate under Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst.
FAU Campus Busan (Campus Abroad) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Bavaria California Technology Centre (BaCaTeC) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Bavarian University Centre for Latin America (BAYLAT) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Central Institute for Anthropology of Religion(s) (ZAR) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Central Institute for Research on Teaching and Learning (ZiLL) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Central Institute of Healthcare Engineering (ZiMT) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Centre for Applied Ethics and Science Communication (ZIEW) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Centre for Area Studies (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Centre for Scientific Computing (ZISC) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Centre for Teacher Education (ZfL) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Cluster of Excellence 'Engineering of Advanced Materials' (EAM) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Embedded Systems Institute (ESI) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Emil Fischer Centre (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Emmy Noether Centre for Algebra with a special focus on Representation Theory (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Erlangen Catalysis Resource Centre (ECRC) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Erlangen Centre for Infection Research (ECI) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Erlangen-Center of Plant Science (ERCOPS) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
FAU Graduate School (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Institute of Advanced Materials and Processes (ZMP) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Aesthetic Education (IZÄB) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research (IZKF) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Contemporary Literature and Culture (IZG) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Dialect Studies and Language Variation (IZD) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences (IZ Digital) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Edition Philology (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for European Medieval and Renaissance Studies (IZEMIR) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Gerontology (ICA) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Islamic Religious Studies (IZIR) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Lexicography, Valency and Collocation (IZLVK) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Media Studies (IMZ) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Molecular Materials (ICMM) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for Public Health (IZPH) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of the Ancient World (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre of Interface-controlled Processes (IZICP) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre of Neuroscience (IZN) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Interdisciplinary Centre of Ophthalmic Preventive Medicine and Imaging (IZPI) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Labour and Socio-Economic Research Centre (LASER) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Medical Immunology Campus Erlangen (MICE) (Centre) Faculty details available
Specialisations & Subjects
No specified subjects listed.
Business, Economics and Law (Faculty) 10 subjects offered
Specialisations & Subjects
- Business Administration
- Business Computing
- Civil Law
- Criminal Law
- Criminology
- Economics
- International Law
- Labour Law
- Law
- Private Law
Engineering (Faculty) 11 subjects offered
Specialisations & Subjects
- Bioengineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Computer Science
- Electrical Engineering
- Engineering
- Information Technology
- Machine Building
- Materials Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Production Engineering
- Technology
Humanities, Social Sciences and Theology (Faculty) 28 subjects offered
Specialisations & Subjects
- American Studies
- Archaeology
- Art History
- Chinese
- Cultural Studies
- Economics
- Education
- English Studies
- Germanic Languages
- Gerontology
- History
- History of Religion
- Japanese
- Media Studies
- Modern Languages
- Music
- Musicology
- Oriental Languages
- Pedagogy
- Philosophy
- Political Sciences
- Psychology
- Romance Languages
- Social Sciences
- Sociology
- Sports
- Teacher Training
- Theology
Medicine (Faculty) 18 subjects offered
Specialisations & Subjects
- Anatomy
- Biochemistry
- Biomedicine
- Computer Science
- Dentistry
- Epidemiology
- Medical Technology
- Medicine
- Molecular Biology
- Occupational Health
- Orthodontics
- Orthopaedics
- Pathology
- Periodontics
- Pharmacology
- Physiology
- Social and Preventive Medicine
- Toxicology
Sciences (Faculty) 17 subjects offered
Specialisations & Subjects
- Astronomy and Space Science
- Biochemistry
- Biological and Life Sciences
- Biology
- Biotechnology
- Chemistry
- Genetics
- Geography
- Geology
- Information Technology
- Mathematics
- Microbiology
- Optics
- Pharmacy
- Physics
- Physiology
- Plant Pathology
Programs Offered
Browse Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg's programmes by level, or filter by name.
206 programmes on record. Each level below shows a sample. Compare these on the programs page All programs in Germany
Bachelor's Degree 73 programmes
Showing 10 of 73.
Master's Degree 133 programmes
Showing 10 of 133.
How to apply to Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
A five-step guide to applying to Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
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1
Find a programme that fits your goals
Start by exploring the programmes section on this page. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg runs 206 active programmes across multiple degree levels. Narrow by qualification tier and read each programme description before shortlisting.
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2
Confirm you meet the requirements
Before applying to Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, confirm you meet the academic, language, and document requirements for your chosen programme. International applicants should also check visa eligibility for Germany.
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3
Assemble your application package
Standard documents: official transcripts, identity proof, language test results, personal statement, and references. Confirm exact requirements with Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg's admissions office before assembling, as expectations vary by programme.
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4
Submit your application
Lodge your application through the official website (www.fau.de). Online forms are the standard route. Save your draft frequently and submit before the programme deadline.
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5
Contact admissions and follow up
Verify your application has been received by the admissions team. Reach the institution by phone at +49 (9131) 85 24444. Monitor the portal for status updates, interview invitations, or document requests, and respond within the stated deadlines.
Frequently Asked Questions about Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Common questions about Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, answered from data on record.
How old is Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg?
The institution opened in 1743 (approximately 283 years ago).
Where can I find Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg?
The institution is located in Erlangen, Germany.
Is Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg public or private?
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg is a public institution.
How many students does Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg have?
The institution has a student body of 37,575.
Where does Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg stand in university rankings?
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg is ranked QS 2027 #218 =.
What programmes are available at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg?
Programmes at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg cover bachelor's, master's and doctoral programmes.
How is Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg organised academically?
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg has 5 academic units.
Is Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg officially recognised?
Yes, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg is recognised by Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst.
How do I find Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg online?
You can find Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg online at www.fau.de.
Top-Ranked Universities in Germany
Graduate-school placement rates among Germany's top universities set the upper bound for that signal. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg's placement rate relative to leaders is one signal of academic preparation depth.
Members of European University Association (EUA)
Below: other European University Association (EUA) member institutions, alongside Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
Faculties at nearby universities
Also in Erlangen: universities located close to Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
Where Else to Study Education & Teaching
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