Rector Ursula M. Staudinger is setting new milestones at TUD!

Rector Ursula M. Staudinger is setting new milestones at TUD!

On September 17, 2025, Prof. Ursula M. Staudinger was ceremoniously inaugurated into her second term as Rector of the Technical University of Dresden (TUD). The event took place in the Dülfersaal and was attended by over 200 guests from science, politics and business. The Saxon State Minister for Science, Sebastian Gemkow, presented the certificate of appointment and acknowledged Staudinger's commitment and her successes in the further development of the university.

Staudinger's second term builds on the first five years and aims to set new trends. Since 2021, fundamental strategic initiatives have been launched to further develop TUD into a globally oriented top university. Under her leadership, the university has achieved five clusters of excellence, which will be funded from 2026 and make TUD one of the TOP 5 universities in Germany.

Strategic initiatives and future visions

In the investiture, Staudinger emphasized the importance of the next five years for TUD, especially in the context of the University of Excellence, which will be an important milestone in March 2026, as well as the upcoming 200th anniversary in 2028. The Excellence Self-Report was submitted on August 1st, and international assessors will visit the university on November 11th and 12th to check its progress.

The rector plans to profile the TUD as a driver of innovation and a trustworthy social partner. A central concern is promoting breakthroughs in basic research. Important projects in this fundamental strategy include the expansion of the transdisciplinary Center Synergy of Systems (SynoSys) and the establishment of three innovation campuses. In addition, microcertificates are to be introduced in the winter semester in order to make studies more flexible and to appeal to new target groups.

Personal background and expertise

Ursula M. Staudinger, who started as Rector of TUD in August 2020, brings extensive experience from various positions. She was previously a professor of sociomedical sciences and psychology at the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University in New York, where she founded the center in 2013. Her research focuses on the plasticity of the aging process and its impact on demographic change.

Before moving to the USA, she was vice president of Jacobs University Bremen and founding dean of the Jacobs Center for Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development. Staudinger has received numerous awards for her research and advises the German government on issues of demographic change.

University reforms and social demands

The initiatives led by Staudinger take place in a context in which higher education reforms must increasingly respond to changing social demands. These reforms in Germany are often a reaction to demographic developments and the associated shortage of skilled workers. The reform movements aim to improve the quality, access and structure of studies and research and to strengthen the autonomy of universities.

The Bologna Process, which promotes the creation of a European higher education area, also has a significant influence. The TUD is therefore at the center of a dynamic development that includes both national and international perspectives. Staudinger's approach to opening the university to society and promoting diversity reflects the demands placed on modern universities.

Staudinger's investiture as rector represents not only a personal success, but also a crucial element in the ongoing development of the Technical University of Dresden and the university landscape in Germany as a whole.