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.

Hannover 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. The academic programs offered by the university in the Groß-Buchholz district include, in addition to medicine and dentistry, degree programs in the fields of life and health sciences. In addition to transplant medicine, stem cell research, regenerative medicine, infection and immunity research, and biomedical engineering are the main areas of research at the MHH.

Hannover University of Veterinary Medicine Foundation

Both nationally and internationally, the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover 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 to be autonomous and independent. The university sees itself as “a leading 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-Schule.

Leibniz University Hannover

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 took its name from Leibniz, who once worked in Hannover. The university, home to the Welfenschloss, is one of the largest universities in Germany and 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 partnerships with more than 100 universities, as well as non-university research institutions and partners in academia and industry. It collaborates particularly closely with the other universities in Hannover. Interdisciplinary research collaborations with the Hannover Medical School and the University of Veterinary Medicine strengthen the university’s focus on biomedical research and technology.

Science Initiative

Dialogue, collaboration, and the exchange of knowledge among academia, industry, and society are the hallmarks of the Hannover Science Initiative, founded in 2007. Today, many different stakeholders are involved in this network: all eight of Hannover’s higher education institutions (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 agencyhannoverimpuls GmbH, and the State Capital 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 high-profile institutions in Germany and abroad have recognized the activities of the Hannover Science Initiative as best practice in comparative studies and at conferences.