Technical University of Munich QS #22

TUM is one of the world's most entrepreneurial universities, anchored by UnternehmerTUM, ranked by the Financial Times as Europe's best startup hub three times in a row, with a record 103 startups founded in 2024 and entrepreneurship courses integrated into degree programs.

• UnternehmerTUM, TUM's affiliated Center for Innovation and Business Creation, ranked the Financial Times' best startup hub in Europe three times in a row (assessed against 180 hubs in 39 countries)
• TUM researchers, students and graduates launched a record 103 start-ups in 2024
• TUM and graduates have produced 22 unicorns, including Celonis (valued over 10 billion euros, Germany's first decacorn)
• UnternehmerTUM and TUM Venture Labs supported more than 1100 start-up teams in 2024
• Most successful German university in the EXIST start-up grant program, with more than 250 grants since 2007
• TUM Venture Labs span fields from robotics and quantum technology to aerospace, biotech and energy; UnternehmerTUM courses count toward degree programs

The Technical University of Munich is one of Europe's leading research universities, with a long Nobel heritage and sustained top-tier German Excellence funding. It combines elite output in engineering, physics, quantum science and life sciences with deep ties to the wider Munich research ecosystem.

• Nobel laureates connected to TUM include Rudolf Diesel, Carl von Linde and Rudolf Moessbauer (physics); the university counts roughly 19 Nobel laureates among its researchers and alumni
• Designated a German University of Excellence repeatedly (2006, 2012, 2019, and again in 2026) under the Excellence Initiative and Excellence Strategy
• Seven Clusters of Excellence funded, including e-conversion (energy), MCQST Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology, ORIGINS (astrophysics and particle physics), and SYNERGY (neurology)
• More than 500 research groups; consistently strong in the DFG (German Research Foundation) funding ranking
• Embedded in the Munich research cluster with neighbors such as the Max Planck Institutes and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU)
• Faculty have won numerous ERC grants and Leibniz Prizes, Germany's most prestigious research award

TUM pairs a deep Nobel and award-winning tradition with many internationally famous professors who actively lecture, especially in AI, computer vision and robotics, where world-leading researchers teach core courses to students.

• Daniel Cremers, full professor of image processing and AI since 2009 and 2016 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award winner, teaches computer vision and machine learning courses
• Matthias Niessner, professor of visual computing, personally teaches core courses Introduction to Deep Learning (I2DL) and Advanced Deep Learning for Computer Vision (ADL4CV), offered in 2025 and 2026 terms
• Sami Haddadin, founding director of the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) and chair of robotics and systems intelligence, a globally recognized robotics expert who teaches at TUM
• Angela Schoellig, Alexander von Humboldt Professor for Robotics and AI at TUM since April 2022
• 19 TUM researchers and alumni have received the Nobel Prize as of 2024, with figures like physicist Rudolf Moessbauer (Nobel 1961) and chemist Ernst-Otto Fischer having taught at TUM
• TUM has more than 600 professors and awards a TUM Distinguished Affiliated Professor title to leading international scientists collaborating with the university

TUM has a large, globally reaching alumni network (over 80,000 alumni) and has produced more billionaires than any other German university, alongside historic inventors, Nobel laureates and major tech founders.

• TUM Alumni network counts more than 80,000 alumni in Germany and abroad
• Andreas von Bechtolsheim (co-founder of Sun Microsystems, early Google investor), net worth around US$28.9 billion in 2025
• Dietmar Hopp, co-founder of SAP, and Georg Nemetschek (Nemetschek Group, around US$4.9 billion) are billionaire alumni
• Historic alumni include Rudolf Diesel (diesel engine), Carl von Linde and Willy Messerschmitt
• Nobel laureate alumni and affiliates include chemists Hans Fischer (1930), Ernst Otto Fischer and Gerhard Ertl
• Linked startup ecosystem UnternehmerTUM has supported over 1,000 startups since 2002, including Celonis, Konux and Isar Aerospace

TUM is a major draw for high-profile figures, primarily through its student-run TUM Speakers Series (one of Europe's leading platforms) and its UnternehmerTUM innovation ecosystem, attracting world leaders, tech CEOs, and prominent founders on a recurring basis.

• TUM Speakers Series (founded 1999, student-run) has hosted 160+ events with 100,000+ attendees, including Bill Gates (2016), Kofi Annan, Eric Schmidt, Sam Altman, and Tony Blair
• Upcoming 2026 Speakers Series events feature NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (with Munich Security Conference) and an Amazon session
• 18 Nobel laureates associated with TUM, including Hans Fischer (Chemistry, 1930)
• UnternehmerTUM (co-founded by entrepreneur Susanne Klatten, 2002) backs founders of Celonis, Lilium, Konux, and Isar Aerospace, whose leaders give guest lectures
• Isar Aerospace founders Daniel Metzler and Josef Fleischmann named TUM Entrepreneurs of Excellence 2024, contributing workshops and guest lectures
• TUM Distinguished Affiliated Professor title (since 2007) brings internationally outstanding scientists into long-term residence and collaboration

TUM sits at the heart of one of Europe's densest research and innovation ecosystems, with its Garching campus co-locating four Max Planck Institutes, LMU departments, the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre and major corporate R&D, plus a world-class startup engine. Strong internal cross-disciplinary mixing and external ecosystem density make it world-leading on cross-pollination.

• Garching campus co-locates four Max Planck Institutes including the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ), plus LMU Munich facilities and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ)
• Munich Quantum Valley partners TUM with LMU, Max Planck Society, Fraunhofer, DLR, FAU and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences
• SAP Labs Munich Campus opened in Garching in June 2024 with 700 SAP employees and 120 TUM researchers working on AI
• On-campus corporate partners include SAP, Siemens, GE Aerospace, ITM Isotope Technologies Munich and OC Oerlikon; Industry Engagement Program (2023) includes BMW and Siemens
• Affiliated UnternehmerTUM (founded 2002, backed by BMW heiress Susanne Klatten) trains 5,000 people and creates about 50 new businesses per year; ranked Europe's top startup hub
• TUM generates more than 70 technology spin-offs annually; first unicorn Celonis (2011 spin-off) valued around 13 billion dollars

TUM provides a broad mix of university-administered support: the federally co-funded Deutschlandstipendium, Bavarian-funded one-time scholarships for international students, merit and need-based awards, plus an unusually deep entrepreneurship-funding ecosystem via UnternehmerTUM and TUM Venture Labs. Grant amounts are modest per student but the program range and startup funding pipeline are strong by global standards.

• TUM scholarships for international students are funded by the Bavarian government as one-time aid of 500 to 1,800 euros per semester, with a maximum funding period of 36 months
• Deutschlandstipendium (300 euros per month, half from the federal government and half from private sponsors) is awarded through TUM
• TUM awards standard scholarships, travel stipends, study-abroad grants, and allowances toward printing costs for theses and dissertations
• Manage & More is the scholarship program at the UnternehmerTUM Academy for outstanding entrepreneurial students
• TUM and UnternehmerTUM (Europe's largest entrepreneurship center) jointly run the TUM Venture Labs supporting deep tech and life science startups
• Both merit-based and need-based scholarships are offered, but they cannot be combined and double funding is not permitted

TUM is tuition-free for EU and EEA students (just a ~EUR 97 semester fee), and even non-EU students pay only about EUR 4k to 6k a year for a bachelor's, very low by global standards. The catch is Munich, consistently Germany's most expensive city, where students need roughly EUR 1,400 to 2,000 a month. Low or zero tuition keeps the overall package affordable despite the pricey city.

• EU/EEA students pay no tuition, only a ~EUR 97 per semester fee; non-EU bachelor tuition is about EUR 2,000 to 3,000 per semester
• Munich living costs run roughly EUR 1,400 to 2,000+ a month, the highest in Germany
• Accommodation alone ranges from ~EUR 280 to 400 for dorms up to EUR 1,000 to 1,500 for private flats
• Free or low tuition strongly offsets the expensive city for EU students
• Non-EU students still face the new tuition plus high Munich costs, but the total stays moderate globally

TUM offers a rich study-life balance with Germany's largest university sports program and 200+ student clubs plus dedicated TUM4Health and TUM4Mind wellbeing services, though Munich's very high rents and dorm shortages weigh on day-to-day livability.

• Over 200 student clubs and initiatives spanning academics, culture, sports and social causes
• University Sports Center (ZHS) runs the most extensive university sports program in Germany, including a sports campus at the Olympiapark with climbing, yoga, beach volleyball, martial arts and winter sports
• TUM4Health (physical health, check-ups, nutrition) and TUM4Mind (mental health support) wellbeing programs
• Psychological counseling and talk support via General Student Advising, Studentenwerk Munchen and Nightline Munchen
• Studentenwerk Munchen Mensa meals priced roughly 3 to 5 EUR
• Munich has Germany's highest rents; only about 13 percent of students get dorm places (around 280 EUR/month) with wait times of one to five semesters, and private rooms cost roughly 400 to 650 EUR/month

TUM is a global leader in graduate employability, ranking around 12th to 13th worldwide in the Global University Employability Ranking and topping German universities for employer reputation, with deep ties to Munich's automotive and tech industry that integrate internships and research with study.

• Ranked 13th worldwide and 4th in Europe (behind Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College London) in the Global University Employability Ranking, surveying over 13,000 international managers in 33 countries
• Best employer reputation score among German institutions in QS World University Rankings; TUM is Germany's highest-ranked university overall (28th worldwide, QS 2026)
• Top recruiters include BMW, Audi, and Siemens, reflecting strong ties to Munich's automotive and tech sector
• TUM School of Management reports roughly 85% of graduates secure employment within three months
• Reported graduate starting salaries around 50,000 to 60,000 euros per year, with TUM Master in Management averaging about 60,000 euros
• Offers research projects, departmental jobs, internships, and part-time roles via dedicated student job portals