City of science

Hanover and its surrounding region are known far beyond their borders for their range of universities and technical colleges. With over 50,000 students, Hanover ranks among Germany’s leading centers of higher education. Hanover regularly hosts a wide variety of academic events and is an ideal venue for professional conferences and symposia.

Hanover Medical School

The Hannover Medical School (MHH) is the only university in Germany dedicated exclusively to medicine. It ranks among the best university hospitals and medical schools in the country and enjoys an excellent reputation throughout Europe and even worldwide, thanks in part to its outstanding achievements in the field of transplantation. In addition to medicine and dentistry, the university—located in the Groß-Buchholz district—offers degree programs in the fields of biological and health sciences. Alongside transplant medicine, the MHH’s research focuses on stem cell research, regenerative medicine, infectious disease and immunology research, and biomedical engineering.

Hanover University of Veterinary Medicine Foundation

Both nationally and internationally, the Hannover University of Veterinary Medicine Foundation (TiHo) is known as a center for veterinary education and research. Transformed into a foundation in 2003, TiHo is the only one of Germany’s five veterinary education institutions that is autonomous and independent. The university sees itself as “a major scientific institution that combines modern science with university tradition.” The university’s origins date back to 1775, when it was founded as the Roß-Arzney School.

Leibniz University Hanover

With its wide range of academic disciplines, Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) is as diverse as its namesake, the polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. In 2006, on the occasion of its 175th anniversary, the university was named after Leibniz, who once worked in Hannover. The university, home to the Welfenschloss, is one of the largest institutions of higher education in Germany, the second-largest in Lower Saxony, and ranks among the leading technical universities

Leibniz University can point to its leading international standing in the five key research areas of biomedical research and engineering, quantum optics and gravitational physics, optical technologies, production engineering, and science studies.

The university is part of a large national and international network through collaborations with more than 100 universities, as well as non-university research institutions and partners in academia and industry. The university maintains particularly close ties with the other universities in Hanover. Interdisciplinary research collaborations with the Medical University and the University of Veterinary Medicine strengthen the university’s research focus on biomedical research and technology.

Science Initiative

Dialogue, collaboration, and the exchange of knowledge among the scientific community, the business sector, and society are the hallmarks of the Hannover Science Initiative, founded in 2007. Today, this network includes many different stakeholders: all eight of Hannover’s institutions of higher education (including universities), the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM), the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), the Studentenwerk Hannover, the Volkswagen Foundation, the economic development agency hannoverimpuls GmbH, and the City of Hannover.
As a hub for higher education and science, Hannover is known both nationally and internationally for its collaboration in these fields. Furthermore, numerous leading institutions in Germany and abroad have recognized the activities of the Hannover Science Initiative as best practice in comparative studies and at conferences.