Information Points

Macquarie University (MQ), a public research university founded in 1964 as Sydney´s third higher education institution, was named after Lachlan Macquarie, the first Governor of the State of New South Wales. The North Ryde campus is located about half an hour from Sydney´s city centre. MQ´s four faculties cover the humanities, business and social sciences, as well as medicine, natural sciences and engineering. The university has around 45,000 students, half of whom were not born in Australia.

Macquarie University in Sydney is one of JLU´s key partner universities; the two universities signed their first cooperation agreement in 2009. Cooperation is particularly close in the humanities and cultural studies. In addition, JLU students studying economics have the opportunity to pursue a joint PhD in finance through a cotutelle programme, which includes tailor-made online courses as well as a scholarship from the Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre (CMCRC).

Universidad de los Andes (Uniandes), a private research university in Colombia´s capital, Bogotá, is one of South America´s most prestigious universities and comprises ten faculties and centres offering programmes in, amongst other fields, medicine, law, economics and social sciences, as well as natural sciences and the humanities. Uniandes was founded in 1948 as Colombia´s first secular and independent private university and promotes pluralism, dialogue and tolerance. Situated at the very foot of the Andes, the university has around 19,000 students.

Incidentally, the university´s mascot is a goat called Seneca: in the 1960s, the goat chose the university campus as its home and was welcomed by students and lecturers alike. When the animal died in 1966, the university community was not allowed to replace it, but the symbol has been retained.

Since the 1960s, JLU has maintained an institutional partnership with the Universidad de los Andes (Uniandes), which has developed into an exceptional strategic alliance. Two centres of excellence, which JLU and Uniandes established jointly with other German and Colombian universities, have attracted international attention: The scientific and academic consortium, the Corporation Center of Excellence in Marine Science (CEMarin), has set itself the aim of training PhD students in marine sciences and conducting cutting-edge marine research along Colombia"s Caribbean and Pacific coasts. The German-Colombian Peace Institute, Instituto Colombo-Alemán para la Paz (CAPAZ), promotes the exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of peace work by building networks between universities, research centres, civil society organisations and government institutions.

Since the 1960s, JLU has maintained an institutional partnership with Universidad de los Andes (Uniandes), which has developed into an exceptional strategic alliance. Two centres of excellence, which JLU and Uniandes established jointly with other German and Colombian universities, have attracted international attention: The scientific and academic consortium, Corporation Center of Excellence in Marine Science (CEMarin), trains PhD students in marine sciences and conducts cutting-edge marine research along Colombia´s Caribbean and Pacific coasts. The German-Colombian Peace Institute  (CAPAZ), promotes the exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of peace work by building networks between universities, research centres, civil society organisations and government institutions.

   JLU and Uniandes – strategic partners in research and teaching (EN) 

The University of Lodz (UL) was founded in 1945 and has been one of Poland’s leading higher education institutions ever since. Around 20,000 students are enrolled on degree programmes taught in Polish, as well as in English, German and French. As an institution committed to social responsibility, the UL supports intercultural and social integration.

Under the motto ‘Equality through Diversity’, the UL welcomes students from many countries around the world and has over 1,000 international students each year taking part in existing exchange programmes. 

During the Cold War in Europe, the partnership between JLU and the University of Lodz (UL) was formalised in 1978. Today, the partnership is supported by almost all of JLU’s departments, as well as the Giessen Centre for Eastern Europe (GiZo) and the Centre for Holocaust Literature, and is thus built on a broad foundation.

Flagship projects in academic cooperation can be found, amongst others, in German Studies and the social sciences and history. The economics faculties at JLU and UL report a high level of student exchange. As part of a pilot project, the Doctoral School of Humanities at UL, in collaboration with JLU, announces annual scholarships for cotutelle projects.

  40 Years: Partnership between JLU and UL

The National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) is one of Ukraine’s leading research universities. The Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was founded as early as 1615 and is regarded as the historical predecessor of the state university, which was established in 1992.

Today, NaUKMA, with its six faculties, is dedicated to teaching and research in the humanities and social sciences, economics and law, the natural sciences and computer science. Located in Kyiv’s Old Town, the university has an extensive international network and has around 5,000 students.

The active collaboration between NaUKMA and JLU in teaching and research was first formalised in 2012 under an agreement. The joint activities are primarily centred on the range of subjects covered by the Giessen Centre for Eastern Europe (GiZo), the Institute of Slavic Studies and the Department of Chemistry.

As part of the German-Ukrainian university network ‘Ukraine in Europe’, JLU is launching a Master’s programme in Cultural Studies in collaboration with NaUKMA and is developing joint teaching modules in chemistry. Furthermore, since the winter semester 2025/26, NaUKMA has been offering face-to-face teaching for two of its Bachelor’s degree programmes on JLU’s premises, thereby supporting the studies of its students who are currently in Germany. NaUKMA is an associate partner of EUPeace, the European University Alliance for Peace, Justice and Inclusive Societies.